What my new hard cast looks like (sort of - color is a lovely rich purple in real life):
What my foot looks like inside this cast:
What my foot looks like on the inside:
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Fun photos for posterity
What my toes looked like while I still had the splint on:
What my new hard cast looks like (sort of - color is a lovely rich purple in real life):
What my foot looks like inside this cast:
What my foot looks like on the inside:
What my new hard cast looks like (sort of - color is a lovely rich purple in real life):
What my foot looks like inside this cast:
What my foot looks like on the inside:
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Post-Surgery
Wow. I have a pretty high pain threshold. I also have very little tolerance for any narcotic pain medication, so I tend to get pretty stoic about pain. And for whatever reason, it didn't occur to me how painful a foot could be. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
I had my surgery on March 15th. Everyone was super nice and super efficient. I was highly impressed when Krissy was able to get an IV going on me on the first attempt. That's never happened before. Apparently, my veins are 'valvey' which has proven highly painful and annoying in the past. Not this time. Smooth as silk except that the IV site did start to ache at one point. The anesthesiologist was great, too. I felt like I was in good hands!
I remember nothing of the surgery at all. I awoke with this odd sensation in my right foot, but little awareness to much else. My doc came by, but I only barely remember the conversation. He did say that it went well and he gave me two films of the post-surgery xray to keep. As I became more awake, I realized how nauseated I was. It got worse. And my foot started to really ache, too. Over the course of my recovery, they gave me three doses of whatever pain med was in my IV (it made me loopy and nauseated) and a Vicodin by mouth. They wanted me to demonstrate that I could eat and that I could pee before they'd let me go home. By then, my husband was there and he said I looked green. I managed to put down a little applesauce but kept refusing the offer of crackers or muffins. When Krissy came back, she remembered that I was paleo and asked if a little jello would be OK. I agreed since I had to eat something!
My husband eventually got the go ahead to take me home and I spent the whole ride trying really hard not to throw up in the car. I finally got a chance to look at those xray films and I had THREE huge screws in my foot! No wonder it hurt like hell - clearly there was some bone drilling going on there. The nurse said that a slight fever was common with bone work like that but to monitor it and if it went up, to call immediately. She also said that the pain would get worse before it got better as the localized numbing agent they gave me wore off. Oh fun. The doc told my husband that I'd completely torn the ligament from the bone in that joint.
I spent the next 4 days basically on the couch in a lot of pain and trying not to throw up everything I put in my mouth. I avoided taking any additional doses of the meds and survived on Tylenol and Advil (after approval from my doc). The foot pain was intense. I slept in the guest room so that I wouldn't keep my husband up and there was no danger of him accidentally banging into me.
Now it's 6 days post-surgery. There is still quite a bit of pain, but at least now it's manageable. Everything that I do takes forever. Putting away dishes, cleaning the kitchen, showering, cooking, etc. My husband has been doing it all for days, so I'm trying to pick up a few things here and there, but wow... I have my crutches that I use when out of the house, and when in the house, I mostly use a knee scooter. I'll write more on the scooter later, but it allows me more use of my hands than crutches do.
I know that some day I'll both walk and run again...but honestly, that's very hard to even imagine at this point. Ah well, each day brings new improvements, so I'll survive. I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other (so to speak)...right?
I had my surgery on March 15th. Everyone was super nice and super efficient. I was highly impressed when Krissy was able to get an IV going on me on the first attempt. That's never happened before. Apparently, my veins are 'valvey' which has proven highly painful and annoying in the past. Not this time. Smooth as silk except that the IV site did start to ache at one point. The anesthesiologist was great, too. I felt like I was in good hands!
I remember nothing of the surgery at all. I awoke with this odd sensation in my right foot, but little awareness to much else. My doc came by, but I only barely remember the conversation. He did say that it went well and he gave me two films of the post-surgery xray to keep. As I became more awake, I realized how nauseated I was. It got worse. And my foot started to really ache, too. Over the course of my recovery, they gave me three doses of whatever pain med was in my IV (it made me loopy and nauseated) and a Vicodin by mouth. They wanted me to demonstrate that I could eat and that I could pee before they'd let me go home. By then, my husband was there and he said I looked green. I managed to put down a little applesauce but kept refusing the offer of crackers or muffins. When Krissy came back, she remembered that I was paleo and asked if a little jello would be OK. I agreed since I had to eat something!
My husband eventually got the go ahead to take me home and I spent the whole ride trying really hard not to throw up in the car. I finally got a chance to look at those xray films and I had THREE huge screws in my foot! No wonder it hurt like hell - clearly there was some bone drilling going on there. The nurse said that a slight fever was common with bone work like that but to monitor it and if it went up, to call immediately. She also said that the pain would get worse before it got better as the localized numbing agent they gave me wore off. Oh fun. The doc told my husband that I'd completely torn the ligament from the bone in that joint.
I spent the next 4 days basically on the couch in a lot of pain and trying not to throw up everything I put in my mouth. I avoided taking any additional doses of the meds and survived on Tylenol and Advil (after approval from my doc). The foot pain was intense. I slept in the guest room so that I wouldn't keep my husband up and there was no danger of him accidentally banging into me.
Now it's 6 days post-surgery. There is still quite a bit of pain, but at least now it's manageable. Everything that I do takes forever. Putting away dishes, cleaning the kitchen, showering, cooking, etc. My husband has been doing it all for days, so I'm trying to pick up a few things here and there, but wow... I have my crutches that I use when out of the house, and when in the house, I mostly use a knee scooter. I'll write more on the scooter later, but it allows me more use of my hands than crutches do.
I know that some day I'll both walk and run again...but honestly, that's very hard to even imagine at this point. Ah well, each day brings new improvements, so I'll survive. I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other (so to speak)...right?
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Training Plan
I know that my surgery is only two days away, but I can't help but think about how I'm going to get back into shape once this is done. Many people with similar experiences (and one who is a PT who deals with injury rehab all the time) have told me how important it is to maintain as much of my muscle mass as possible. My calf is going to wither away to nothing and there is very little I can do about that....BUT, there are lots of things I can do to maintain the rest of my strength.
My plan will be to do a lot of upper body workouts, lots of core stuff and even a few lower body workouts that are floor-based. I've got one or two from my old collection of FIRM videos/DVD's that I need to pull out. I also have plans to remain as active as possible. This means doing a lot of things for myself around the house. It also means traveling by crutches whenever it is practical to do so. I may even consider a lunch time walk out around the tiny lake out behind my office building once the weather improves. I know it'll freak people out to see me out there by choice, but I often freak people out so I'm not concerned. ;-)
It has been a very long while since I've done any workout videos. Once I've had a chance to preview all the ones I think might work, I'm going to create a little training plan for myself. I expect that they'll be fairly short in length, so my goal will be do to at least one per day with a pretty significant focus on core stuff.
Someday, I'll get to swim again...but until then, this will have to do.
My plan will be to do a lot of upper body workouts, lots of core stuff and even a few lower body workouts that are floor-based. I've got one or two from my old collection of FIRM videos/DVD's that I need to pull out. I also have plans to remain as active as possible. This means doing a lot of things for myself around the house. It also means traveling by crutches whenever it is practical to do so. I may even consider a lunch time walk out around the tiny lake out behind my office building once the weather improves. I know it'll freak people out to see me out there by choice, but I often freak people out so I'm not concerned. ;-)It has been a very long while since I've done any workout videos. Once I've had a chance to preview all the ones I think might work, I'm going to create a little training plan for myself. I expect that they'll be fairly short in length, so my goal will be do to at least one per day with a pretty significant focus on core stuff.
Someday, I'll get to swim again...but until then, this will have to do.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Hop-along Junker
We talked about me working from home. I can do that on occasion, but to do that for months would be bad. I'd be left out of stuff, I'd lose connection with people and frankly, I don't think I'd be all that productive. I could do some work from home and some where he drove me, but then our schedules would have to mesh and we'd both have very little flexibility.
We talked about renting a car. Too expensive
We talked about buying a scooter. Too dangerous because they are heavy and if I leaned to the wrong side, I'd either destroy my foot for good...or destroy the scooter!
The final option was to buy a junker for me to drive. I spent a lot of time researching cars and decided that I wanted a mid-90's Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra or Toyota Camry. These cars would get the best mileage, would be the cars most likely to come in an automatic transmission, and would have decent resale. Of course, thanks to 'Cash for Klunkers'...there are very few cheap daily-drivers on the road anymore. And the ones that are out there are in demand.
We spent ALL day on Saturday driving around trying to get our hands on a car that would work. We ended up with a 1993 Honda Civic with 170K miles on it. It drives fine, but it's a bit on the gross side. Smells mildewy (common for cars left to sit in this climate for too long), it has no radio, no glove box, no cup holders and the driver's side-view mirror is non-functional and hanging on by electrical tape. The windshield is badly cracked and it needs a muffler...but it runs! I drove it to work today and laughed out loud when a full tank of gas was only 8.1 gallons!
So now, I am independent in terms of getting to work. Phew!
Changing Directions
This blog started out as my way to document my journey for my own purposes as I progressed from a fat farm lady back into an athlete. Along the way, I lost almost 30 lbs, became a runner, learned to swim again and fell in love with triathlon. I also changed from a traditional diet to a paleo lifestyle. In fact, as I began documenting that journey, I quickly found that I didn't have much to write about. I didn't really struggle. I embraced it and haven't looked back.
A week ago Saturday, I was carrying a bin of hay (heavy!) out to our goats when two of our three dogs ran into me causing me to lose my balance. I tried to recover while still holding on to the hay but my right foot slipped in the mud and somehow ended up underneath me, twisted upside down. I felt a snap. I screamed in pain. I laid in the mud while the dogs tried to lick my face, crying. I had worst-case scenarios running through my pain-addled brain..."I'll never run again!". Unfortunately, I was closer to correct than I'd like to admit.
That morning, my husband was not home. I didn't expect him back for about 4 hours, so I knew I had to figure out a way to at least get back in the house. Turns out, I could move my toes and put some weight on my heel. That was good enough for me...I finished my chores (the goats still needed water!) by limping my way around and got back inside. Right then, my husband called asking me to pick him up because he had to leave the truck for work. I didn't think I could drive (this was my right foot!) but when I tried, it was ok. I picked him up, we ran some errands and by the time we were done, the truck was done and I drove the car home. By mid-afternoon, the swelling and pain was too much to bear and we went to the ER. X-rays ensued and they said I'd broken my 4th metatarsal.
I did a bunch of reading online but it seemed to be pretty rare where someone broke the 4th metatarsal only. Usually it was the fifth one or multiple ones. From all the reading I did, I'd convinced myself that my recovery would be simple and short and that I'd only miss a race or two. In fact, I was so convinced that it would be fine that I walked into the orthopedic surgeon's office wearing a tight pair of jeans because I figured I'd be getting a walking boot that I could remove. I was wrong.
He had a different story for me. Yes, 4th metatarsal was broken, but that wasn't the worst of my troubles. I also damaged my Lisfranc joint and will need surgery. He couldn't give me all the details because he won't know how bad it is until he goes in there. The x-ray with me barely putting any pressure on the foot, showed a 3 mm difference between my good joint and my bad joint. 2 mm usually requires surgery. My separation is probably significant if I could put real pressure on the foot to show it! They have to essentially put my joint back together and hope it heals properly. If it doesn't arthritis will ensue and probably necessitate fusing the joint. If that happens, I will never run again. BUT, that's getting a little ahead of things. I have surgery scheduled for Thursday (3/15). We'll just worry about that for now.
All my runs, triathlons, bike events and hiking trips for the summer have been cancelled. The sale of our home will have to wait another year. We have too much to do and there is no way only one person could do it...never mind the actual moving process itself.
The road to recovery will be long. I will walk it (or crutch my way down it) as best I can. I will document the journey here. My goals are to maintain as much of my strength as I can, keep my weight in check (thank heaven for paleo!) and have a quick recovery. I know my tri season is over. I assume most of my races are a no go and only expect that *maybe* I'll get to run in the Girlfriends Half Marathon next October. Again, we'll see.
A week ago Saturday, I was carrying a bin of hay (heavy!) out to our goats when two of our three dogs ran into me causing me to lose my balance. I tried to recover while still holding on to the hay but my right foot slipped in the mud and somehow ended up underneath me, twisted upside down. I felt a snap. I screamed in pain. I laid in the mud while the dogs tried to lick my face, crying. I had worst-case scenarios running through my pain-addled brain..."I'll never run again!". Unfortunately, I was closer to correct than I'd like to admit.
That morning, my husband was not home. I didn't expect him back for about 4 hours, so I knew I had to figure out a way to at least get back in the house. Turns out, I could move my toes and put some weight on my heel. That was good enough for me...I finished my chores (the goats still needed water!) by limping my way around and got back inside. Right then, my husband called asking me to pick him up because he had to leave the truck for work. I didn't think I could drive (this was my right foot!) but when I tried, it was ok. I picked him up, we ran some errands and by the time we were done, the truck was done and I drove the car home. By mid-afternoon, the swelling and pain was too much to bear and we went to the ER. X-rays ensued and they said I'd broken my 4th metatarsal.
I did a bunch of reading online but it seemed to be pretty rare where someone broke the 4th metatarsal only. Usually it was the fifth one or multiple ones. From all the reading I did, I'd convinced myself that my recovery would be simple and short and that I'd only miss a race or two. In fact, I was so convinced that it would be fine that I walked into the orthopedic surgeon's office wearing a tight pair of jeans because I figured I'd be getting a walking boot that I could remove. I was wrong.
He had a different story for me. Yes, 4th metatarsal was broken, but that wasn't the worst of my troubles. I also damaged my Lisfranc joint and will need surgery. He couldn't give me all the details because he won't know how bad it is until he goes in there. The x-ray with me barely putting any pressure on the foot, showed a 3 mm difference between my good joint and my bad joint. 2 mm usually requires surgery. My separation is probably significant if I could put real pressure on the foot to show it! They have to essentially put my joint back together and hope it heals properly. If it doesn't arthritis will ensue and probably necessitate fusing the joint. If that happens, I will never run again. BUT, that's getting a little ahead of things. I have surgery scheduled for Thursday (3/15). We'll just worry about that for now.
All my runs, triathlons, bike events and hiking trips for the summer have been cancelled. The sale of our home will have to wait another year. We have too much to do and there is no way only one person could do it...never mind the actual moving process itself.
The road to recovery will be long. I will walk it (or crutch my way down it) as best I can. I will document the journey here. My goals are to maintain as much of my strength as I can, keep my weight in check (thank heaven for paleo!) and have a quick recovery. I know my tri season is over. I assume most of my races are a no go and only expect that *maybe* I'll get to run in the Girlfriends Half Marathon next October. Again, we'll see.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Paleo divergence and a half-marathon
Sunday was a day of firsts. I ran my first ever half marathon and followed it with my first non-paleo meal in 7 weeks.
The half marathon went well. I finished in 2:15 which is a 10:22 min/mile. That is 0:10 sec/mile faster than my stretch goal, so I'm pleased. I'm also super sore today, but that's to be expected. I've now got 8 weeks until my next half marathon and I just picked out my training plan. Yay!
And then there was pizza. Honestly, it tasted amazing. I savored every bite AND I savored getting to eat at home, watching football and not having to cook or clean up anything. I ordered a small pizza with spinach, mushrooms, onions and diced tomatoes and I ate almost all of it. I figured I had the calories to spare after running 13.1 miles. I was worried about what the crust was going to do to my gut and to my cravings, but my body has behaved well. I did have some stomach discomfort last night as I was trying to sleep, but really, compared to my leg discomfort, it was barely noticeable! This morning, I moved immediately back to paleo (I threw out the leftovers) and I feel fine. I'm still sore of course, and I haven't had a 'movement' yet, but I don't think I'm any worse for the wear. I didn't like the bloated feeling from eating the pizza, so I certainly don't want to make this a common occurrence, but really, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It looks like if I want to occasionally splurge on pizza (once I make my weight goal), then I think I can do it.
We'll see if this triggers any cravings in the next couple of days...
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Paleo Journey Continues
I can't believe that it's been a month since I last posted! My, how time flies.
I've been eating following the paleo guidelines for a little over 6 weeks now. I lost a ton of bloat in week one. I stayed the same on the scale for weeks two and three but I was feeling so good, it didn't matter. In week four, the scale started to move. I'll do my week 6 weigh in on Friday, but based on a weight I saw a couple of days ago, I'm thinking I'm down more than 10 lbs since I started! Wow!
I'll also be taking my full list of measurements including body fat over the weekend, so it'll be interesting to compare. I haven't measured any of those things since the end of my summer challenge which was also the end of my first paleo week. I can't wait to see the difference. I know there will be a difference because my clothes are all fitting differently on me.
What else am I noticing?
I am sleeping better. When I sleep, I'm sleeping soundly. That's amazing to me. I've always been a lousy sleeper, so knowing that I'm getting better at it is truly exciting.
I no longer worry about digestive issues when I run. Ever. It doesn't matter when I last had a 'movement' - it's just no longer an issue. I go when its appropriate and when it's not, I don't. Period. (and also unreal based on my history!)
I'm thinking more clearly. I don't forget stuff as much and I'm not in a constant state of panic that something important is going to slip my mind. I'm seriously feeling like my brain is working as it should again. I swear that for the last few years, I started feeling like my brain had reached 'full' and that I couldn't put any more info in there without deleting old info. Now I know that's not the case!
My period was a piece of cake. Typically, I have light flow nowadays, but I do often have other issues from zit flare-ups to cramps to digestive problems to sore breasts. Not anymore. Now, I've only had one period while on paleo so far, so it might have been a fluke, but we'll see.
Speaking of skin - mine looks fantastic. No more zits. None. I swear that the bags under my eyes (with the exception of last weekend when I had a cold) are smaller too. Of course, that could be merely from the better sleep.
I don't think about food anymore. OK, let's be honest...I don't obsess about food anymore. I swear, I feel 'normal'. When it's time to eat, I don't care what it is as long as it's paleo. I don't get cravings. I don't think about food every second of every day. I don't long to eat things I shouldn't. I'm not even slightly tempted by non-paleo foods floating around the office.
Well, that's not entirely true. I'm still having this obsession with pizza. I'm not sure what to do about it, either. I'm not a huge pizza person or anything but for some reason, pizza is the one non-paleo food that I keep thinking about that I cannot shake. It doesn't help that I see about a billion ads for pizza everywhere I go or that I smell it often. I'm either going to just have to splurge and eat pizza (and then suffer the consequences and hopefully get past the craving) or I'm going to have to make one of the paleo pizza recipes I've seen floating around and hope that it'll be good enough to kill the craving. My guess is that eating the actual non-paleo pizza is the smarter move to truly kill this craving once and for all. Maybe after my half-marathon on Sunday?
I've been eating following the paleo guidelines for a little over 6 weeks now. I lost a ton of bloat in week one. I stayed the same on the scale for weeks two and three but I was feeling so good, it didn't matter. In week four, the scale started to move. I'll do my week 6 weigh in on Friday, but based on a weight I saw a couple of days ago, I'm thinking I'm down more than 10 lbs since I started! Wow!
I'll also be taking my full list of measurements including body fat over the weekend, so it'll be interesting to compare. I haven't measured any of those things since the end of my summer challenge which was also the end of my first paleo week. I can't wait to see the difference. I know there will be a difference because my clothes are all fitting differently on me.
What else am I noticing?
I am sleeping better. When I sleep, I'm sleeping soundly. That's amazing to me. I've always been a lousy sleeper, so knowing that I'm getting better at it is truly exciting.
I no longer worry about digestive issues when I run. Ever. It doesn't matter when I last had a 'movement' - it's just no longer an issue. I go when its appropriate and when it's not, I don't. Period. (and also unreal based on my history!)
I'm thinking more clearly. I don't forget stuff as much and I'm not in a constant state of panic that something important is going to slip my mind. I'm seriously feeling like my brain is working as it should again. I swear that for the last few years, I started feeling like my brain had reached 'full' and that I couldn't put any more info in there without deleting old info. Now I know that's not the case!
My period was a piece of cake. Typically, I have light flow nowadays, but I do often have other issues from zit flare-ups to cramps to digestive problems to sore breasts. Not anymore. Now, I've only had one period while on paleo so far, so it might have been a fluke, but we'll see.
Speaking of skin - mine looks fantastic. No more zits. None. I swear that the bags under my eyes (with the exception of last weekend when I had a cold) are smaller too. Of course, that could be merely from the better sleep.
I don't think about food anymore. OK, let's be honest...I don't obsess about food anymore. I swear, I feel 'normal'. When it's time to eat, I don't care what it is as long as it's paleo. I don't get cravings. I don't think about food every second of every day. I don't long to eat things I shouldn't. I'm not even slightly tempted by non-paleo foods floating around the office.
Well, that's not entirely true. I'm still having this obsession with pizza. I'm not sure what to do about it, either. I'm not a huge pizza person or anything but for some reason, pizza is the one non-paleo food that I keep thinking about that I cannot shake. It doesn't help that I see about a billion ads for pizza everywhere I go or that I smell it often. I'm either going to just have to splurge and eat pizza (and then suffer the consequences and hopefully get past the craving) or I'm going to have to make one of the paleo pizza recipes I've seen floating around and hope that it'll be good enough to kill the craving. My guess is that eating the actual non-paleo pizza is the smarter move to truly kill this craving once and for all. Maybe after my half-marathon on Sunday?
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