Ahem. Dr. Carbomb was mistaken.

So the cast didn't come off on Tuesday as reported in the last post... after talking to the brilliant and all knowing Robin last night we have concluded that we don't need to rip this cast off quite yet... I suspect that I'll be able to make it until Friday (I've been warned that the Ortho clinic will have a skeleton crew... but there will be someone from casting... might it be Paul?)

The quirky thing about this cast is that while it is really loose in the heal, it is killer tight through the bridge of my foot (which is still rather swollen due to the breaks and the x-fix I suspect) and it just pounds all day/night long. The meds help a bit but not completely.

Have I mentioned lately that I am sick of this and ready to get back to normal? Ugh!

On to a series of good news....

#1 - Sparkles arrived today from our favorite fashonista - Hell Kat (Thank you darlin') I think I'll experiment with placement on this cast and really bling up the next one (since it will hopefully be my last before the boot)

#2 - Mom, my sister and I will be hanging out at my place this coming weekend to ready it for my prophesied return. Cleanup (there are vittles in my fridge from before the fall on 10/8 - that need to be chucked...ew!) kind of handicap enabling my place AND my sister wants to put up my Christmas tree...YAY!! I am thrilled! She said of any year this is the one to have it up since I will be perched on the sofa right next to it all season.

So please stop by when I am back in Madison and entertain me whilst we enjoy the tree.

The new cast....

... is pink and coming off tomorrow. The idea was to make sure my foot and ankle are at a 90 degree angle... somehow it became rather loose. Between gravity and everyday movement on my part... my ankle slips right out of the position that Dr. Lang and Robin want me to be in. So my dad drew the short straw and he will be driving me back to Madison again tomorrow.

Now for the good news! Swelling is down, my leg is no longer funny colors, incisions look great and I am on the road to having a boot sometime near December 15th ... and maybe a little weight bearing after that. Merry Christmas!

Cast #3

...and of course it is pink (only because black isn't an option). I was having many problems with the last cast and this one seems to be doing the trick.

Monday the 24th is my next appointment. I expect that I will will be wheeled out out of the UW with a fourth hot pink cast. I think we'll need to make a detour to Hobby Lobby on the way back to New Berlin so I can bedazzle this bad boy.

All and all... spirits are up (I think a lot of that has to do with the narcotics --- which were severely lacking today due to poor planning by Nurse Ratchet). I am however missing my friends in Madison. I am looking forward to moving back home...but I haven't a foggy clue when that will be.

Isn't she pretty in pink.

My Dad and I made the trek to Madison from New Berlin w/ lots of pillows around my leg for the bumpy ride to UW Hospital for my 2 week follow up appointment following surgery.

Thank god they took "the beast" off (a plaster/cotton batting/ace bandage splint) my leg. The incisions look great... but the hole in my heel (right pic) (with a matching one on the other side of my heal) still creeps me out. The hole next to the incision on the right side of my leg (left pic) is the compound fracture site. The thought that the bone did break and come out of my body still gives me the heebs.

There were some x-rays to be had and lots of chatting with Dr. Lang (best derby ortho doctor evah) and Robin his PA (seriously... this girl knows everything! I was very impressed with my time with her -- fountain of knowledge doesn't even come close to describing her) Britnee Smears praises of the two of them were accurate indeed. If you are ever in Madison, WI and have a serious need of an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Lang is your man.

So after all the chatting, I finally got my bright pink fiberglass cast put on. Now I thought this was going to be a pleasant experience. Sweet fancy Moses... I was wrong! We had to get my foot\ankle into a 90 degree angle. OMG where was Nicole with the IV meds? That hurt more that I thought it was going to. Unfortunately the only Kodak moments my dad captured was of unhappiness (left). It is what it is. I am looking forward to the day when the Vixens bling it up because this cast installment is only going to be around until November 24th. Va Va Va Vixens!

You are wondering what that pink thing is wrapped around my wrist and thumb. Believe it or not it is a splint for a syndesmosis wrist sprain. Unfortunately this will not get better until I am off crutches and can rest it for over a month. This happened when I had my fall... the funny thing is... I didn't even notice my wrist hurt until I was in the hospital for 3 days.

Deja Vu -- Pack vs Vikes

If any of you saw the 2nd quarter of the Packers/Vikings game today you might have seen a reenactment of my injury. During a Viking punt return, cornerback Charles Gordon almost had his foot twisted off his ankle. Yep me too. They refused to show the replay (I assume due to the gruesomeness) but thanks to Tivo..I saw it again and cringed remembering the pain of October 8th. I just did a quick YouTube search and found a few posts of the replay from different angles... I can't bring myself to watch them. I hate the Vikings...but not Charles Gordon.... at least not at the moment. ;)

Must be on the mend....

Because I am starting to get a little cranky ;) I want to go somewhere...do something. That somewhere/something was the Friends and Family bout that we had been working all summer/fall to get to. I was so horribly disappointed that I wasn't going to skate in it....even more disappointed when it was decided for me by my parents that I wasn't "up" for going. It is hard to make decisions for yourself when you are:

1. 80 miles from all your friends
2. without a car
3. medicated
4. have an enormous bulky plaster cast on my leg.

The upside is I am now the proud owner of a very sexy wheelchair. It just needs rhinestones or skulls on it. The Vixens will help me fix it.

Ow!

In the very lonely city of New Berlin, Nurse Ratchet (um I mean my Mom) has begun to to ration my pain medication. I don't think I am ready.... my ankle is still all hurty :(

Nicole where are you?

Feelng a bit guilty

So I knew a few weeks ago that I would have trouble making it to the polls today. So I printed off the request for an absentee ballot. I was able to trick um... I mean convince someone at the hospital to agree to accept my ballot when it arrived in the mail. Meanie Cooper signed and confirmed that I was in fact in the hospital and unable to make it to the poll today. I was released from the hospital and swept up and taken to my parents in New Berlin before the ballot arrived (to be fair... I wanted to get the hell out of dodge and voting was the last thing on my mind at that moment).

Home again....kind of

I am officially out of the hospital (yay) I was released around 11 on Sunday. We figured that gave us enough time to crash derby practice. It was wonderful to see all my girls again...lots of hugs and snuggles. While I was sharing some of my gruesome x-rays with the Vixens, Meanie was kind enough to take my dad aside and explain what he was seeing on the rink. Now I think he has a derby crush ;)

Last night and today has been an ongoing challenge getting pain management under control. My Mom and Dad have been fantastic. They are bending over backwards to make sure I have everything I need. My Mom even set her alarm last night to make sure I had the pain meds that I needed. They are the sweetest.

The prophecy has come true!

I am going home today. WOO! The ortho residents replaced my plaster/cotton batting/ace bandage splint, I've been cleared by PT, no IV meds for the past 48 hours. So now I am waiting of the pharmacist to dole out my meds, the nurses to go over what to expect when I leave the hospital and finally, I am waiting for my Dad to get here :)

Stupid DST

I woke up a 2:45 this morning (I suffer from insomnia) and decided to just take my bath, get dressed, primp, wrangle my things as best I can to go home and then and wait for the residents to show up between 5:00 and 6:00 and tell me then plan.

So that is what I did...I used my new crutches, the walker, hopped around on one foot from time to time. I got ready remarkably fast...I was all teaked and clean when the clock read 3:50. Not bad. So since I wasn't dreadfully sleepy, I decided to catch up on all the Grey's Anatomy episodes that I've missed (which is almost all of them). Then I checked the corner of my laptop and it read 2:50. UGH! Spring ahead Fall backward!! How did I forget that (I blame narcotics for all future memory lapses)

Now I've now been ready and waiting for over 3 hours and still no residents. Ankle is now rather sore from the tidying process (I believe some of my insomnia is due the constant lack of tidiness in my room) and did I mention that I am starving? Kitchen opens up in 20 minutes ....... yay.

I can't believe it...

Signs are pointing to me going home tomorrow. I was able to walk around on crutches & went up and down stairs twice (whew that wiped me out) If I can keep my pain under control overnight and not need (or ask for) IV meds.. and the doc thinks the swelling has gone down "enough" I might end up with a fiberglass cast and my chance to go home.

At last!

the pain

Seriously.. I thought I would never feel pain as bad as when the ER docs moved my bones around to set my ankle on day one of this adventure (this is day 25 for those of you that are counting along with me). For those of you that called me yesterday afternoon, I am pretty sure you could hear the pain in my voice.

The nerve block was turned off at around 2 and I went down hill quickly. I was agony and totally inconsolable (think ugly cry) the pain medication that was being pushed was coming close to touching my pain. Then shift changed and Jill came on board. I don't know what her magical combination was but after about 2.5 hours she got me down to a level in which I could communicate and relax a bit. Around 11:00pm sweet Nicole took over for Jill and she continued to work her magic to keep me at a level in which I wasn't miserable. Actually I was almost comfortable. As always... she checked in on me regularly all night (I don't know why the evening hours are so much harder than during the day light hours).

I don't know how I could have gotten through this without Nicole, Jill, Sylvia, Riley, Todd, Morgan, Sue, Karl and Heidi.