All American Surgery Update - Four Months

Yesterday I had my four month check-up with the Physician's Assistant to touch base about my continued recovery from the All American surgery. I am still doing physical therapy twice a week, and my limp is definitely less noticeable. My ankle is still stiff in the morning, and swollen at night, but there is progress.

The other big news is that I will be going back in six weeks to schedule a surgery to remove the screws in my heel and ankle. They are still exceptionally tender, and you can actually palpate the edges of the screw in the heel! I'm glad we are doing it, but definitely not looking forward to more surgery. But, more on that as it gets closer. Now, the updates!

What I Would Have Done Differently - Changed PT's Sooner
Since the surgery, I've worked with two different physical therapists. One is the one I did pt with previously when we thought the ankle was sprained, and the other who has filled in when my regular was gone or sick. They work side by side, and are both very nice and friendly and smart, and I don't want to misconstrue that at all.

Delaying the Half Marathon

My big motivation that has kept me going through the last two months has been that, in a year's time, I'd be running through Cinderella's Castle on my way towards the finish line of my first half marathon. That mental image helped me push through when we were stuck in the hospital, it has given me the strength to get through being sick from the pain medicine, and it has helped me be a good girl and follow the doctor's orders to the letter.

All American Surgery Update - Two Month Update

What I Would Have Done Differently - Talked About Mental Health
These last few weeks have been really, really difficult. My poor husband. He's already stretched thin between work, grad school, and the professional choir that he's in that rehearses a full weekend every month. Add to that a snippy, grumpy, mobility limited wife who usually handles the meal planning and cooking and splits the rest of the housework, and he's had a huge burden added to his already too full plate.

I've also had, in the last three weeks, five nights where I've gotten less than four hours of sleep due to over-thinking and worry. The blame for that is squarely on my foot. I have had a lot of anxiety about the reintroduction of weight, and especially how soon I'll be able to return to work comfortably. If I was thinking, when I had my regular visit with my doc a few weeks back, I would have talked with her about this and seen what my options were. At the very least, now that my cast is off and I'm a little more mobile, I'll be setting up a haircut (because nothing says steps forward like a new do) and a full body massage asap. Maybe I'll go all out and get a mani pedi while I'm at it.

Disney Movie Half Marathon

I love Disney, as anybody who knows me is aware. And although I am moving around a lot more now, I'm still pretty limited. I can do a quick trip to the grocery store as long as I come back and sleep for a few hours. This afternoon, we're actually going to try a quick trip to the mall to return some Christmas clothes. I probably will just do the returns, and save trying on a lot of things for later on in the week. That's been a big lesson I'm trying to get better at learning, if it is possible to break activities down into smaller bites, do that!

So while I'm still spending most of my time on the couch, I decided that in honor of my goal to run a Disney half-marathon, I'd do my own version: watching a half marathon's worth of Disney movies. Now, I could go by the 16 minute minimum pace for 13.1 miles and find 209.6 minutes worth of movies, but that is so few! Instead, I've selected one movie for each mile, plus my favorite Disney short for little extra tacked on at the end. Granted, Silly Symphonies is years worth of shorts, but you can't pick just one! This time around, I went with the films that absolutely everyone should see in order to truly have a well-rounded Disney experience.

My Big Post-Surgery Goal

In 2016, I will run a half-marathon at Disney World.

New Year's Eve, 2010

This, my friends, is my big recovery goal. I'm really excited about this for many reasons (awesome RunDisney community, running in Disney themed outfits, getting back in shape), but there are three in particular that really make this a goal I am excited to work towards.