A Small Setback

If I had to be laid up, at least I had good company

I am impatient. I know many of you are probably in the same boat. When they told me I'd be out of my brace in a few weeks, I believed them. And actually, I had two weeks where things felt great. I went for bike rides, even went for a walk (woohoo!) and was happy that spring was here.

Then, last Wednesday I trained several of my new museum educators, which included a full scale tour and walking across the uneven fields of my site. 

Thursday, I attended an Earth Day event and had to park my car half a mile away. By Thursday night, I could hardly walk.

Friday, I woke up crying. The good news is that I had physical therapy scheduled first thing. Usually, we start with heat and/or biking to get things warmed up, do my exercises, then use ice and the electrical stim to cool everything off. Friday, we did stim and heat, I biked for ten minutes, did a few stretches, and then we did stim and ice. Both of my PT's expressed concerns about the screw on the outside of my ankle. They felt like it was more pronounced than it had been previously. I took the day off of work, slept, and kept it elevated. 

Saturday I went to work, and tried my best to not move at all. Sunday I felt like I had moved backwards three months. I really wanted to go to the gym or go for a walk, but I knew my ankle wouldn't tolerate it. Instead I sat on the couch and watched Princess Diaries.

Monday is my other usual PT day, so yesterday I went in. The swelling is a little better, but the screws are insanely sensitive. Like, I can't set my bare heel down on the PT table.

At this point, we're going to check back in on Friday. If it is still swollen, I'm going to call the surgeon and move up the screw-removal consultation. My new goal is to be as gentle to it as possible, all while not going nuts. Unfortunately, that will only get more complicated as we move into May and June, as the field trips to my museum start in earnest and there is a potential exciting life thing happening that will require mobility. But, we'll see.

What is your solution to setbacks? Currently, mine is binging on flavor-blasted goldfish and HGTV.