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.

Medicated coma

Oh everything was just fine and dandy when I had the femoral block and the sciatic catheter nerve block. No pain... happy as a clam. When the femoral block wore off, I tried not to abuse the NURSE button on my little remote control. Last night.. I have those ladies and gents quite a work out. Is it possible that this pain is worse than the x-fix or the break itself? Is the brain that kind as to not accurately recall pain?

Today is my 1st round of PT and I think I get a new half plaster cast/ace bandage dressing. If I can time things perfectly I hope to have some wicked pics of the incisions.

Bionic Woman

Picture of a photocopy of my x-ray following yesterday's surgery. Kinda crazy! Click the pic for a closer view.

Day after surgery

My surgery went well yesterday. It took longer than expected (5 hours vs. 2.5 hours that was originally estimated) apparently my surgeon is a perfectionist and wanted the bones to be lined up perfectly too... yay me. I have photocopies of the x-ray showing all the hardware in my ankle now.. it is really kinda crazy. I am going to post that here when I get electronic copies.

I received 2 nerve blocks; 1 sciatic and 1 femoral. I couldn't feel my leg at all last night which was so bizarre .. it was like a leg full of Novocaine.. which of course equals no pain. I can't believe I was scared of these nerve blocks and all wishy washy about having it done. It was a life saver. This morning the femoral block wore off... so send in the drugs ;) My nurses are fabulous!

If all goes well in the next few days they will kick me out of here on Sunday -- woo! I will most likely stay with my parents for a few days to get use to my crutches.

Thank you all for your kind words, support, cards, flowers, balloons, knuudles, knitting needles, vixen pink care package (the blanket is like my wooby) derby books & mini helmet, beautiful wrap, treats galore, chocolates, a pink pony, "it sucks to be me" t-shirt and many, many visits from so many dear friends/family. I am very fortunate to be surrounded by so many that care.

All and all I am in good shape. Glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel and can't wait to sleep in a comfy bed.

Recovering :) Yay

I climbed onto the table at 9:00am and was en route to recovery around 2:00pm today. I am doing remarkably well and will write up a more proper post when I am a little more "with it".

Finally!

It has been confirmed that I am going to finally have my surgery tomorrow at 8:30am. Hallelujah! The anaesthesiologist is going to give me an epidural for pain management which totally freaks me out (I've never had kids)

I have no idea what state I am going to be in tomorrow and the days following surgery. I'd like to ask that if you please call ahead or shoot me an email message to check in to see if I am in a proper state to entertain guests. Thank you all for your kindness and support.

Whoah! Seriously?

One doc stopped by this AM and said that they have tentatively scheduled my surgery for tomorrow. While this is really freakin awesome I have oodles of questions.. why did we wait so long? The swelling really hasn't gone down much in the past week.

My favorite RN stopped by this morning (and he isn't even in the ortho dept!) to check up on me and serve as the UW Hospital to DOA building shuttle service. He pumped me up on having the procedure tomorrow (he knows I want to get the hell out of here but am wiggly about non traditional closures) He helped me feel better about the potential of the vac dressing that may be needed because I am short on ankle wrinkles. (Thanks Pat!)

Something just feels wrong.

I will post an update as soon as I know anything!

up far too early

I really had my hopes riding on a good night sleep last night courtesy of Prince Valium. Sadly not the case last night. I've been up since 2:30, bathed, got dressed, prettied myself up and now I am twiddling my thumbs waiting for the residents to come in and poke and prod me. They'll probably say that my ankle redness is going down but that but the swelling has stayed the same :(

Operation Snugglefest

As you all know my dear friend from derby -- The Heat has been taking care of Cricket (my dog)whilst I patiently *cough* wait for surgery. We were chatting on the phone the other day and she came up with a brilliant idea -- smuggle Cricket in to the hospital in The Heat's trench coat so we could have some snuggle times. If you didn't know any better you would have thought that she was carrying a newborn around in one of those baby slings that seem to be all the rage. We had a few close calls in which we thought that the nursing staff were going to raid my room. All went well and we hope to try this again soon