Puppy Doggo helping me decorate the tree on Saturday!
Actually, technically speaking, I won't be overdue until December 14. That's right, we are expecting a little girl, arriving sometime in the next couple of weeks! We are thrilled and terrified, which I think is a pretty normal reaction. At this point, I am so impatient! I know our lives are about to radically change, and I am just ready for it to start. And to meet this little lady who has been kicking and punching away for all these months!
When we decided to start trying to get pregnant, I was really anxious about how my body would hold up - between the multiple ankle surgeries and the chronic shoulder problems, I was not sure I was up for the task of carrying a pregnancy. But, I am happy to report that at 38 weeks, things are going very, very well. I have complaints (oh boy do I) but none of them are outside of the usual "being pregnant is not fun," particularly at this late stage. My back aches all the time, my hands keep puffing up, and I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a month, but all of this is totally normal and has nothing to do with my ankle or shoulder. Huzzah!
Now my big anxiety is how my shoulder will react to motherhood. First, of course, is the not sleeping for awhile portion. That tends to make it flare up; actually, right now it is a little grumpier than it has been in a while because sleep and I are not getting along. Second is the physicality of motherhood. The good news is that she won't all of the sudden be 30 pounds, so I can do some "baby weightlifting" and get my shoulder in tip-top shape. I even got a special baby carrier that is supposed to be very little strain on your shoulder; if it works out well for us, I will write up a review on here!
The one big baby bummer is that, because of the timing, we are not going to be going to Walt Disney World with my family in January. If you've read any of my other posts, you know how much I LOVE Disney, but with Baby Girl being so little at that point, and also holy cow do you know how much baby stuff costs, we decided that at this stage we couldn't justify the expense.
I have no idea how often I will update this blog going forward, as our lives are about to change pretty dramatically, but I really appreciate everyone reading and commenting!
Two weeks ago, I had my four-month follow-up appointment with my ankle surgeon after my third surgery on the left ankle.
AND
I am completely released from my ankle surgeon's care.
We're DONE!!!
Granted, the ankle is still a thing, and it'll never be 100%. Case in point, that following Saturday I went to a wedding and danced like an idiot, then this weekend had a big event at work and so now it is a little grumpy, but nothing some ice, aleve, and my wrap brace can't handle.
But I can't tell you how relieved I am after four years and three surgeries to finally be done with this.
Today was my six-week follow-up appointment after getting the stitches out after my Modified Brostrom surgery. The appointment itself was a pretty quick, he checked the flexibility of my ankle (a little stiff) and we discussed the knee swelling (shouldn't be an issue now that I'm out of the boot) and the game plan for the next six weeks. Here's how it looks:
Heavy-duty brace (seen in photo) all the time for the next four weeks
After the first four weeks, transition out of the brace, the wear it when on grass and rough terrain for the foreseeable future
Physical therapy on my own, unless I feel like I'm not improving
I've been in physical therapy more often than not over the last four years, and "you know the drill at this point. No point in wasting your money on co-pays when they're not going to tell you anything you don't know, and I don't see the need for any physical manipulation at this point." His recommendations were using a theraband to do 12/6s, 9/3s (although not pushing the 9:00 side, as that's where the repair is), as well as doing calf raises, towel toe scrunches, and building up from there. All the stuff I'm used to doing. I will keep you updated!
I'm sorry I haven't given much of an update but at this point, there hasn't really been a whole lot to report. The last month has been one of the more difficult ones I've dealt with in awhile. While I'm still dealing with the headaches and migraines, the most difficult part has been coming to terms with the fact that my family lost my beautiful, vibrant cousin Sarah in a car accident earlier this month. Needless to say, it has not been an easy few weeks, and traveling out to Oregon in a walking boot while using a cane was a bit of an adventure, but it was good to get to spend some time with my family, even if it was for a very sad reason.
On the ankle front, things feel like they're stuck in a holding pattern. I don't have my follow up with the ankle surgeon until the 5th, so at this point am just sort of waiting, clomping around in the walking boot until that point. Hopefully, when I do go back in, I'll be able to gradually start weaning out of the boot, as well as being able to get into physical therapy. I'm pretty frustrated that I haven't been allowed to start that at all this time around, but I understand the need for patience. Sort of.
Over the last week, one of the problems I have encountered as a result of using the walking boot has been swelling and pain in my left knee, the same side as the boot. I know what this is, as it is the same problem I had while using the boot after the first surgery. It is a result of an uneven gait for too long, so I've started using a cane again. It is 100% the last thing I want to do, but it really does help. One recommendation? Be careful how many waterfalls you agree to hike up. Granted, I only went two viewing points above the bridge, but it definitely left me hurting a bit this week. Hard to resist the view, though.
I apologize for being a bit slow to update you with my progress following this latest surgery. Unfortunately, I'm still battling this darn migraine on top of the ankle, so I've been limiting my time on the computer, which seems to aggravate everything. Sorry, but thanks for sticking with me!
On the plus side, the ankle recovery seems to be going smoothly. The first few days immediately post-op were a little rough. I was a little surprised by the initial pain levels, but that was purely my own fault for expecting this to be more in line with the hardware removal, rather than an actual surgical procedure. Silly Jenna. Added to that my stomach's usual disagreement with pain medications and it was a slow start, but once we got a prescription filled to help that out everything settled down quickly.
I spent a very long two weeks and two days stuck on our couch, keeping my ankle elevated and being entertained by the kitty cats. I did a full read-through of my favorite book series (Percy Jackson), watched a few movies, had some great friends stop by and say hello, and took a lot of naps. I'm not a good sit and wait person, so honestly I'm so glad to be back at work and back in the swing of things.
Last Wednesday, I had my first post-surgical follow-up appointment. I didn't see the surgeon himself but saw his PA who I've seen before and like quite a bit. I also met with a student that studying with them for the year, and a nurse who was there to remove my stitches.
After the stitches were out, the student physician and the PA took a look over everything. They were quite happy with the lack of swelling and redness around my incision, but apparently during the surgery, both the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments were exceptionally thin. Although they were still able to do the surgery as planned, that did change their post-op a bit. Initially, they thought I'd be in the boot for 2-4 weeks after the splint/cast, but now I get a full six weeks at least. Woohoo.
I'm a little frustrated by that, but after three separate surgeries on this ankle, I'm trying to remind myself that it is better to move slowly and do this correctly than to rush this and risk injuring everything all over again. I'm bummed I won't even be able to touch physical therapy until July, but I guess this is a good opportunity to practice being patient.
Initially, when the student physician came in and talked to me, he said that a lot of people who have had this procedure go into a half boot at this stage, rather than the full walking boot. But upon looking at my surgical notes and the thinness of the ligaments, plus hearing the demands of my job (outdoor historic site, chasing after 4th graders, giving walking tours that cover uneven grounds) they put me back into my old friend/enemy/frenemy, the walking boot. Check out my first, painful little baby steps below. By day two back in the boot my calf had stretched back out enough that I was walking comfortably again, but that first day or so was not super comfortable.
The next morning following my appointment was my first day back to work. And of course, it was an insane chaotic day where we had one 4th grader pass out from heat stroke (because why wouldn't it be 90 degrees in May) and had to deal with a volunteer being exceptionally rude to my new intern (wheeeee), plus just the general chaos that comes with trying to shepherd 75 ten-year-olds around a historic site. According to my Jawbone Up Move activity tracker, I went from taking about 300 steps on Wednesday to taking almost 4,000 on Thursday and 5,200 on Friday.
So, from here, it is really just trying to be patient with myself, not pushing too hard at work, and doing what I can to keep the rest of my body healthy while I wait until July 5th, which is my next appointment. My stamina levels are slowly returning, so after another few days of work I'm going to try heading back to the gym and will start doing some upper body weights. Gotta start somewhere!
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I won't write much now as I'm on some pretty serious pain meds and quite exhausted to boot, but today's surgery was very successful. The ligament was very thin, but the doctor was pleasantly surprised by how little scar tissue was in the area. Just goes to show why sticking with a PT who does a lot of hands-on manipulation is a good thing!
I got the paperwork for my pre-operative physical, and I now officially know that the name of my surgery next month is a Modified Brostrom surgery. I tried very hard to find all of you some nice anatomical photos so you could see what exactly the surgery is but to no avail. This is the best one I could find.
As you can see there are different versions of the actual repair itself. I'm not 100% positive which version we will be doing. I will be calling the surgical center tomorrow to try to schedule a time to chat with the anesthesiologist about my migraines, and I will also be asking them for a few more details about this. My surgeon did say he would be borrowing tissue from a neighboring ligament, so perhaps it will be a graft?
In the meantime, I did find a very interesting slide presentation about the Modified Brostrom procedure. If you're not okay with seeing surgical photographs, even fairly mild ones which I would say these are, this link is not for you. But, if that doesn't bother you, it is pretty interesting to see at least one version of this surgery.
Well gang, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Two weeks ago I had (another) MRI of the left ankle, and tomorrow afternoon is my follow-up appointment with the ankle doc. In our last appointment, he was fairly certain I had a tear in my anterior talofibular ligament. At this point, it is really a question of to what degree. I've pretty much resigned myself to this being a surgical fix, which means that if tomorrow he says it isn't, I will be very pleasantly surprised.
Before any big doctor's appointment, it is a good idea to come up with a list of questions to ask your doctor to make sure that you have a good understanding of exactly what is going happen. If possible, it is also a great idea to bring along a buddy to your appointment. Tomorrow my hubby is actually coming with me. He wasn't able to come with me for the appointment before my last surgeries, but I had a dear friend who did, and she was a great advocate. Hubby will be perfect for this because while I get very emotional which sometimes makes it hard for me to listen, he is very analytical and can stay calm in stressful situations, which this will be for me.
