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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One of my dear friends (and I know occasional readers, hello Debbie!) has also dealt with some unfortunate ankle issues, and the other day asked me about the realities of keeping my cast dry while bathing. I was more than happy to answer her, but if she has questions maybe some of you do as well so today I thought we'd get up close and personal. Obviously everyone's experiences are going to be a little different, and as always I am not a healthcare professional, but here is my reality of bathing with a cast after three ankle surgeries.
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!
In light of scheduling my third (and please, final) ankle surgery, I decided to sign up for my first Stitch Fix. I'd actually registered for an account like two years ago, but had never pulled the trigger, but really needed an emotional boost and hoped that some cute new clothes would help.
Here's how Stitch Fix works. At its most basic, you pay a $20 styling fee, get matched with a stylist, let them know your style, and they send you five pieces whenever you request a fix based on your profile. If you buy any of those pieces, your styling fee gets refunded. Pretty simple, right?
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, there went my New Year's Resolution. I bet you didn't make it nearly this far with yours, did you! My resolution for 2016 was to make it through the year without any major surgeries, but alas it appears that I will not make it. On Monday, May 9, I will be having a "modified brostrum" surgery to reinforce the anterior talofibular ligament on the left ankle.
The good news here, because this is actually good news, is that the diagnosis is a lot less severe than we thought. Officially, a chronic sprain requiring surgical intervention. Rather surprisingly, the MRI showed no major tears in the ligament, which is really great. So, rather than having to do a major repair, we are reinforcing the anterior talofibular ligament using local tissue, going in through the same incision we used during the December 2014 All-American Surgery. He'll also clean out any scar tissue that is certainly not helping with the inflammation that has been building up in there.
I will be in a cast for about two weeks, in a walking boot for 2-4 weeks, and will get to head into physical therapy at 8 weeks post-op. The trick, of course, is that we aren't really sure right now on how quickly I'll be able to return to work. Hopefully no more than two weeks out, but my job in the summer requires a lot of mobility so I will just have to be careful with that.
The one downside, but honestly the thing that was no different before this whole chronic sprain, was that my ankle function will never be 100%. With this procedure, we're hoping to get it up to 75-90% functionality. He did say the two things we'll need to watch out for will be any future injuries (so we'll invest in a bubble, maybe?) and arthritis, but that is a bridge that we will cross when we get to it. As my mom said, time to get on taking those omega-3 supplements. I wonder if they make a chewable version...
There are, of course, a couple of upsides. One, we now live in a house instead of on the top floor of a three-story apartment. Huzzah for not having to climb three flights of stairs! Two, I get to pull my old peg-leg buddy the iWalk 2.0 back out of the basement and make small children think I am missing a limb! Three, I am an old hat at outpatient surgeries at this point, so I am really not too stressed at this point. not to say that I won't be stressed right before, but it won't be three weeks of stress, just a few days.
I'll try to post a couple of times about my process for getting ready for surgeries, which hopefully some of you find helpful! Plus, some post-surgical downtime on the couch should give me a chance to catch up on the rest of my Disney trip reviews!
Hello Friends,
