Day 8. Cast off

Today was removal of cast day. Stitches were also removed. J took pics, but they're pretty gruesome, so don't scroll down if you're squeamish. The poor old foot is very swollen still, and feels like some alien creature attached to my leg without its supportive cast. It's very shaky and sore.
I hobbled to the Physio next to the Dr's room and got fitted with a boot. It's huge!
I have to wear it 24 hours a day, apart from when I shower. I also can't weight bear at all for another 5 weeks. I need to do basic foot up and down movements in the shower, but that's it 'til the end of March.

Day 6

Yesterday was a bit of a down day. My ankle hurt a lot and I'm trying not to reach for the morphine too frequently. I've only got a couple left, so I'm only allowing myself to take them at night.
Today is a bit better. The effort of showering is still huge, it's such a major faff taping the leg into a plastic bag, arranging the chair in the shower etc etc etc.
If nothing else, this period of being disabled is giving me some idea of how challenging it must be to live with a permanent disability. I really need someone around to help most of the time.

I've also been pondering what to do on my upcoming birthday. Usually I'd go out for dinner with a group of friends, but the thought of trying to find a place that can accommodate my needs is daunting. The crutches necessitate a certain amount of space, few steps and a loo big enough to manoeuvre with crutches. I'm sure many places exist which fulfil these criteria, but buggered if I know any of them!
A compromise might be to host a dinner here, but get everyone to bring a dish. I'd prefer to go out, though, as I've been stuck inside since last Thursday.
I'm getting quite excited about my trip to the hospital on Friday. It will be good to put on some proper clothes and see the outside world.....

Recovery days 1 - 4

The first few days have been much harder than I'd anticipated. Not being able to weight-bear at all on my left leg is REALLY annoying.
Straight after coming round from surgery I braved a trip to the loo on my crutches. It was terrifying. The combination of dizzyness post GA and total lack of crutch experience made me very slow and unsteady. A very humbling experience for me. I'm very active and physically fit, so take movement and dexterity for-granted. Now I feel like a total invalid - everything is an effort.
In addition, the pain is fierce. About 4 hours post-op the local anaesthetic injected while I was under General anaesthetic wore off.
Morphine is a great drug, but the accompanying nausea and dizziness are awful. I spent one night in hospital, completely off my face on morphine and temazepan, alternating between throwing up and sleeping.
Note my intact pedicure! A girl friend who is an anaesthetist informed that there's absolutely no need to remove nail polish before GA - there are plenty of ways to ensure a patient is oxygenated.

The following day I came home, and am now settled into my 'home' for the next few weeks: the study downstairs. Our house has terrifyingly steep stairs, so there's no way I'm attempting those on crutches. Our bathroom is, luckily for me, downstairs, so easily accessible on my crutches.
The children and J are being amazing - fetching me stuff and attending to my needs. Not sure how long the novelty of having an almost bed-ridden mother will last.
I seem to have sorted out my morphine dosage so that I'm taking enough to dull the pain, but not enough to make throw up.
The other very glam thing I have to do every day is inject myself in the stomach with Clexane.
This is a drug to prevent blood-clotting in people post-operatively. It's a good job I don't mind needles.....

Only 4 more sleeps until I return to hospital to have this cast removed. If all goes well, I'll have a boot instead, which will make showering a lot less of a faff.

Surgery

Here's a picture that my surgeon (Kim Slater) took during the op. the tendon is grossly inflamed and has a huge split down the middle.
I'm very lucky that my employer's insurance covered all of this. Dr Slater is apparently one of the best at ankle surgery, which gives my great confidence!

A very long break....

I've neglected this blog for the past 6 years! Pretty lazy really, although in my defence I work full-time and have 2 children.
I've decided to resurrect the blog to document my recovery from surgery on my Peroneal Tendon.
Here's a précis of the story to date.
Last October, I twisted my left ankle on the cobblestones at work. I was rushing across campus wearing flat sandals and twisted it outwards. I remember it hurting a fair bit, but I could walk, so I hobbled back to my office and tried to rest it for the remainder of the day. I've sprained my right ankle numerous times, but this injury didn't feel the same, so I presumed it wasn't serious. It didn't hurt too much and the swelling was minimal.
3 months later, after an MRI, ultrasounds and numerous visits to specialists a diagnosis was reached of a split tear to my Peroneus Brevis tendon.
I had surgery to repair it 4 days ago on 14th Feb, and thought I'd document the process here, seeing as I'm unable to walk for 6 long weeks.

Just a word of warning: I'm planning to post pics of it, some of which may be unpleasant, so if you're squeamish, beware!