Welcome Home

Well I have been home now for most of the day but I just now awake enough to start this post. It has been a rough couple days as I am sure you can imagine. After going to bed around midnight on Sunday and pretty much sleeping through the night I was back out the door about 5:30a to head to the hospital. Guess what... I waited. It wasn't too long though. Off to the recovery room to change into the stylish, drafty gown. I noticed lying there in the bed that my gown matched the curtain between me and the person next to me.

Then the barrage of questions. Nothing difficult, just the same question again and again. Sometimes by the same people and then by different people. Obviously they are just checking to make sure that I am who I am supposed to be, that I am not allergic to anything, and that we are working on the left ankle, right? No... CORRECT. When dealing with left and right anything you answer with yes, no, and correct. If you say right, then next thing you say is Who's on first.

It's 7:27 and I have just about met with everybody, the nurses in the recovery room, the nurse that was going to be in the OR, a cute anesthesiologist she was asking about doing a nerve block in the leg for pain management after the surgery, the other anesthesiologist and his intern, some random people, and finally some chief surgery dude that came and did one last final verification of the LEFT ankle and he signed my foot. Notice how I never met the doctor. More on that later.

They wheel me into the OR, I climb onto the table and they strap me down. I wish I could remember what music they had playing. They started hooking up PO2, EKG, and a bunch of other sensors. It all starts to get a bit fuzzy now. I remember hearing the anesthesiologist telling the intern to make sure he keeps the mask on me and keep telling me to breath deeply. (I think he got side tracked a couple times). That was about the last thing I remember. I was told all in all the total OR time was about 3 hours. About 1 for anesthesia and 2 for slicing, dicing, and drilling. The actual procedure was an Open Reduction Internal Fixation of the Left Ankle. *unfortunately I have no pictures of the operation, and at this time I don't have the post-op x-rays. But I am hoping to get some soon*

Now I am in the recovery room. Starting... my recovery. Hung out there for a bit. I asked if they told my mom I was out of surgery. Nurse said she was sure the doc would have told her. Nope, in fact it is possible if I didn't tell the transport guy to stop at the waiting room we would have just kept going up to my room. I pretty much slept off the anesthesia the rest of the day.
I tried to have my first nurse get in touch with my doctor so I could figure out how things went. She kinda blew me off. At least my next nurse got in touch with an Orthopod resident that was familiar with my case. Be he couldn't really answer the questions I had.

I ate a little Jello and had some juice but wasn't quite ready for whatever they call dinner. I'm not sure if I wasn't ready or if it was the food. At this point Mom was beyond exhausted and hungry and she couldn't find a way to get comfortable in that silly chair. So she left around 7.

Jacqueline stopped by around 8:30. She brought me a surprise. A bag-o-goodies with play-doh, silly putty, bubbles, some Reese's Pieces, and a Captain Jack Sparrow action figure. I guess they didn't have an Elizabeth Swan action figure. So it all should keep me entertained for about 35min.

I think I was up at least every hour if not every 45min through out the night because of all the people coming in and out to take x-rays, taking my blood pressure/temp, some alarm for the stuck elevator twice, finally I am sleeping and somebody comes in with breakfast. Oye. I want to sleep!

Mom got there around 930a just in time to watch me sleep a little more. Finally the Orthopedic Attending came in to talk to me about what would kinda happen next. Which basically was, don't put weight on it and go home and call the doctor to make an appointment in about 10 days. Shortly after I met with the physical therapist. He told me about exercises I could be doing with my leg to work on preventing atrophy in my quad and help with blood flow through the lower leg. Then he had me go for a walk down the hall so I could show him I knew how to use crutches and could get around. Success.

Ok now I just have to get the IV out sign discharge papers and let's go! Finally go the student nurse to pull my IV out backwards and bleed a bit. Who pulls out an IV without some gauze or even a bandaid? All she had was an alcohol swab and yes I said backwards. Some reason she pulled the needle out in the opposite direction it should have been. haha. So I had to assist in holding the alcohol pad while the nurse got some gauze and tape. But she didn't bring enough tape. By the time she left to get more and was back I had stopped bleeding and needed a bandaid.

Got my prescription for percocet, signed the discharge papers and they wheeled me out the door. w00t!

So since I've been home I have assembled my new shower head and shower stool so I can sit in the shower with my leg out and get all nice and clean. I did FINALLY get to talk to the doctor. He said the procedure went well and he was happy with the results. He also mentioned that typically when they fix a broken ankle they match it to the other foot. But that my right ankle was too screwed up from previous sprains the left one was done differently but should perform better once we are all done. He wants me to see him in about a week and a half and said I could drive once I am off the meds and I can sit with my foot down for extended periods of time. Once I meet with him I will probably get a removable boot but still won't be able to put weight on it for still a couple months.

Well, percocet is kicking back in, it's time for bed.

And now the real recovery begins. Thank you all again for your support. I'll keep ya posted.

Winer Out

It's the night before

Well I figured I'd post about the last few days. It's been pretty uneventful. I haven't taken any percocet in 3 days now. Figured I'd save it up for next week when the pain is 10x worse. I've been warned that after the surgery when I go to stand up my leg will feel like its on fire. Sounds exciting.

Mom's been in the kitchen stocking and prepping meals for me so it's easier to eat healthy while I hop around the house. See.... Prior to breaking my ankle I have been really good about my eating, exercising, and overall staying healthy. I mean in the past month I've put over 200 miles on my bike, plus probably another 30 in my spinning classes. I've lost about 23lbs and overall feel great. So when I broke my ankle not only was I pissed about not being able to ride, or even walk for a while but I really didn't want to gain back the weight I've lost.

Well, last night we went out to dinner with my boss and his wife (Alex and Lourdes). Went to Ortanique on the Mile. It was a delicious Caribbean fusion type place that Lourdes picked. Good food, good conversation, and good company. So thank you again to Alex and Lourdes for everything.

Today... You never would have guessed it but I spent basically the entire day on the couch. Just kept the leg elevated as much as possible. My toes are so black and blue, I can only imagine what my ankle looks like under the splint. Can't wait to see tomorrow.

*edit* (added at 11:40p 6/10/07)
So I figured I wasn't really tired yet and I hadn't posted or even taken any pictures of my leg since the ER wrapped it up. So here are the pics of the toes and compared to my good foot and a picture of my leg. (Please excuse the gross toes but this is all in the name of science, or something like that)








We ended the day pretty well. Mom and I had dinner with Rev. Jacqueline and her niece Dr. Ivy at Maroosh Mediterranean Restaurant also in the Gables. We all had a good time and shared some great stories. I believe some of the stories most people would say are probably not common dinner conversation. You know... stuff like throwing horse placenta into the bay, people with their eyes popping out, giving births to cows and horses. But who says we are common? Good times, good times. So again thank you Jacqueline for everything.

Well it's about 11pm now, can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight and I have to get up early so maybe I'll call it a night. Mom's picking me up at 5:30a. Surgery is scheduled for 7:30a. I will be spending the night in the hospital so I won't post again until Tuesday maybe Wednesday depending how I am feeling. I am going to try to ask the doctor for pictures of the surgery, but we'll see.

So take care and thank you all for your support and best wishes.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzz

I crutched across the street last night for dinner. We went to The Oceanair. New seafood place that opened up. Luckily they have booth seating so I could prop my leg up and a coat check for my crutches.

A couple weeks ago I had dinner at the Oceanair, just sat at the bar by myself. I have kinda gotten to know one of the bartenders (he used to tend at PF Changs). That night he was telling me that he's been out for a couple weeks cause is twisted his ankle pretty badly. We swapped stories, I told him about the two times and the 4 month of PT for my right ankle. Well last night on my way out of the restaurant I stopped over at the bar, he just looked at me and laughed. I guess I win. Dinner was good... but it's back to the couch. Got to get the leg up.

This morning I was awoken by mom calling my cell phone. I was asleep all nice and peaceful in bed. But I can't complain she's helping me out quite a bit. So I figured I would make my way to the couch. Time for meds. I am only taking one percocet at this point. The pain (for now) is pretty bearable. I can't exactly tell how swollen my ankle is, cause it is still wrapped up in the splint.

Mom came by (she's staying at a hotel) and made some breakfast as I continued to elevate my leg. That is basically my job for now.

So off to the hospital for a 1pm appointment for registration/pre-op blood tests. We got there at 12:45 and waited about 2hrs until we met with the first person for registration. Another hour
later until we met with the nurse practitioner. She took history, BP, and temp. Then wait another 20min to meet with the RN so they could take one tube of blood for CBC and a UA. Finally about a total of 4hrs later I was out and heading back home.

So all in all it was a pretty boring day. Did a little bit of work and talked with one of the techs at a job site. So, the highlight was The Price is Right this morning. Don't you just love day time TV?

Ok I think I am going to take a nap and I think we are heading out for dinner or something in a bit.