Well, the reason I haven't written anything for so long is because in January I broke my right heel and sprained my ankle!!! I had jumped out of my window (only about 6 feet up and my legs were out first so.. roughly 3 feet) and I landed on a rock. I completly shattered my entire heel. When we looked at the X-rays in the ER, we could see a fissure down the left side of my foot and a chip off my ankle on the right side. The doc was worried because I was so swollen and in a place that I shouldn't swell if that was the only thing wrong. He ordered a cat scan. The inside of my heel is in 9 pieces. He sent me home with a half cast and we scheduled surgery for a week and a half later.
I am quite lucky though. The surgeon who perfomed my surgery is world renound. He is the "Best in the West" and has won many awards for his specialties. I could have had my surgery sooner, but I decided to wait until he was available. If I am going to fix my foot, I might as well wait for the best person for the job!!
I had to be flat on my back for three weeks. I was under strict instructions to not get up unless I had to pee or take a bath. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people!! My home teacher and a neighbor came to give me a blessing. My neighbors cooked meals for my family for the entire three week period. I had neighbors stop by my house for a visit and just to see how I am doing. My mom came over every day to bring the kids home (they still attend school by her house, so my husband would drop them off in the morning and she would bring them home), to dish out the dinner that had been made, keep up on the cleaning of my house (laundry, dishes, kids' rooms, front room, etc.), and to put the kids to bed. My husband works all the time and would always come home late, so there wasn't much he could do to help out. It was such a blessing to have so many people help me.
My boys were "off-track" from school and they helped me throught the day. Lucky for us, school started just as they were getting stir - crazy and not being very helpful anymore. Then Kim & Brandon were home. I am amazed at how well my children were able to help around the house and were so willing to help me get things. They are really good children and I thank God that we are a strong family.
I was finally able to get up off the couch, but I had been having so many problems with my foot, I was there most of the time anyway. On the day of surgery, I was the first one scheduled that day. I had 12 screws and a plate put into my heel and the doctor had to move the heel back 2 cm to put it in the correct place. The doc had told me that he had left a little bit of room in my cast for my foot to swell, but he wasn't sure he had left enough room. He told me to come back if my foot hurt. I forgot all about those instructions. I was just coming out of the anestesia when he mentioned it. Well, in the afternoon, it really started to hurt!! I was screaming from the pain. It felt like someone was trying to stick two screwdrivers into the bottom of my foot!!
My sweet nurse Sheryl had decided to call me at the end of her shift. She usually doesn't call patients, but we had forgotten to pick up my wallet from the hospital safe before we left the hospital and she had just remembered. (I am so glad she listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost!!!) When she heard my cries, she told me to come back. She was able to get a hold of the doctor and he was in the parking lot getting ready to drive home to American Fork. Since we live so close to the hospital (you can see it from our house) he said he would stay to check out my cast. We went back and he cut down the sides of the cast and loosened it a bit. There was immediate relief!! It still hurt like crazy, but it wasn't excruciationg anymore.
The next day, it was the same thing. But this time I was smarter. I called as soon as I felt the screwdrivers starting to dig in. The assisting doctor lives nearby and he agreed to meet us at the clinic on the other side of town. My Relief Society President drove me over and he took off the top of the cast all together. What relief!! We put on an ace bandage and I had half a cast. Everything seemed to be ok now.
When I got my staples taken out a few weeks later, I got a new cast to go with it and the same old problems. I wasn't sleeping at night and I couldn't stop crying. I thought it was just because I couldn't get my foot comfortable in the new cast. I thought I just didn't have the same amount of room to move around and so I just had to deal with it. I didn't feel the same "screwdriver" pain like before, it was just constant pain. I was trying to go back to work and I couldn't do that either. I was going every other day. I would have a good day, and then one where I just couldn't move. It made me so sick that I would just lay on the couch and throw up all day long.
Finally, after over two weeks of this, I decided to go to the doctor. I had to drive to his American Fork office because he is only out here on Tuesdays & Fridays. I didn't care how far I had to drive, I was going to see him. I had only been sleeping for an average of two hours a night and I was tired of hurting. He cut my cast off and I had instant relief. I could feel my foot expanding immediately!! It was totally purple and looked like a foot that would be better suited for Andre the Giant than for me. It was humongous!!
The doctor decided to take out my stitches a week early (since I was there anyway) and he gave me a boot. He told me that although I have the boot, I am still forbidden to put any pressure on it. Absolutly NO WALKING!! We took X-rays and he was very pleased with the results. I knew the bones would be healing correctly because my dad had given me a Priesthood blessing and I was told that my foot would heal better than anyone could imagine. The doctor went on and on about how great the spacing is, the bones are in the right position, my S curve is correct, and the chip on my ankle is growing back in. He couldn't believe how great it looked "bone wise". But he was very concerned about how it looked "skin wise".
My foot was HUMONGOUS!!! He was so stumped because the blood was pooling in my foot and not circulating back up my leg, and he didn't know why. He told me just to keep it elevated and do my best to drain it. I went home and put my foot straight up in the air for an entire hour. It hurt SOOOO Bad!! I screamed (again). My kids were so cute. They were bringing me their stuffed animals and blankets and asking if there was anything else they could do. They smothered me in kisses and hugs and Kim kept telling me not to think about the pain. They were really kind and thoughtful to me, but my nerves were on overload. There was so much blood pumping through them that it was almost unbearable.
The best way to describe it is to think of a water balloon. When you push on one side, it goes flat, but expands to the other side. That's what my foot was doing. At one point, I felt a pop and the top half of my foot went flat. That's when it really started to hurt and I watched my foot get fatter and fatter on the bottom. After an hour, it was all I could stand. My foot was still a little fat, but it was drained enough to get the blood flowing again. It took a few more days for the swelling to receed to where I look somewhat normal again.
It's amazing how much of a difference it has made!!! I can now sleep!! I can loosen my straps to give my foot the room it needs and the blood is flowing more freely. I still have a few more weeks where I am unable to step on my foot, then I can walk with the boot for 4 weeks, and start on 10 weeks of physical therapy after that. It's still a long road but I have a lot of help along the way.
I know my Heavenly Father is watching out for me and my family. I have been blessed immensely with a good boss who has put up with all of this ordeal. He even set it up so I could work from home. I only squeezed in a few hours, but I felt very lucky to be able to do even that much. I have been blessed with good neighbors and friends, and an incredible family. I know they love me and are happy to help. I believe that when we go through something like this, it's for a darn good reason. I think I am supposed to learn to be patient. It's so hard for me to depend on everyone else to get anywhere. I would much rather drive myself than bum rides or ask for so much help. There might be other reasons that I discover as I go along, but for now, I am glad I am not doing it on my own.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment