A week plus some later

I figured I'd update while I'm all sore and just sitting around.

School started yesterday, my final year at UNM. I had what could only be described as a briefing at my new job- lots of protocol, lots of In Case of Emergency plans (which apparently get enacted quite a bit, since the crazy people know where the senator's office is). After that I had some errands to run, which I got through with a minimal amount of pain (towards the end I started suffering from both my ankle and the heat), which was just in time for classes. The school part was easy- the periods of sitting down countered the walking nicely and although I was sore (and still am), there wasn't any pain.

It's always kind of funny to see all the people who come back to school with casts and boots and crutches, and it was entertaining to be one of them. They should sell School Spirit Medical Wear, like boots with (in my case) Louie the Lobo or the UNM logo on them, in bright cherry red. Or red and silver crutches with UNM written on the sides. There could be an industry in this. :)

EDIT- I may have taken a few steps back. Because I've been walking, I haven't remembered to do the little exercises the hot doctor told me to and have lost some of my flexibility. Though that may be because of the moderately severe swelling this evening. What happened was, there were zero parking spots on campus, so I made an executive decision to go park in the commuter lot (where I did before all this) and take the free shuttle to campus.... By disregarding the whole reason I have the temporary handicap permit (so I DON'T have to deal with buses and walking and all that until I'm healed more), I have reaped some punishment this evening. When I got home after class I was having moderate pain, and this evening I've got a nice sore throb going on.

Moral: Just get to campus three hours before class on Tuesdays/Thursdays and find something to do to pass the time instead of merely hoping I'll find a parking spot. Hopefully the swelling will go down with some ice and pain meds. Doctor appointment on Friday to determine how to go about things like physical therapy for the next few weeks.

Still Convalescing

I had several major concerns when I started walking again on Friday- would it be harder some days than others, would it take long to build up strength, and how hard will being on campus all day be when school starts next week?

So far it is not harder some days than others- it is about evenly difficult every day so far regardless of how the previous day went. When I first get up, whether it be from bed in the morning or from briefly sitting at my desk, the first two or three steps are the hardest, and then it lessens to a bearable soreness.

Building up strength is actually a lot easier than I thought- on Friday I barely made it the 30 yards to the GRE testing room. By Sunday I could vaccuum. Today I ran two hours of errands back to back with no break and no problems. I'm figuring if I continue at this rate I'll be able to go on the day trip up to Santa Fe (chaffeuring a friend to a job interview, and we're going to play tourist too even though we live nearby in Albuquerque and either stroll in the plaza or go to a museum like the Georgia O'Keeffe one) this week without any problems. School, which usually happens sitting down, shouldn't be a problem.

Mostly I just wanted to be able to brag about how I went back to school shopping and didn't have to take anyone with with me to open doors or carry things. I did it myself!

Walk Hard

Walking is hard.

It turns out the doctor had to actually physically take my crutches away and make me walk some without them before I trusted myself enough to try it on my own (he gave them back but said not to use them anymore). I'm still in my boot- the same one I've been in pre- and post-surgery- and I'm supposed to ditch the crutches and walk with just the boot.

The doctor was fairly impressed with my range of movement in the foot, and lack of pain. The swelling at my ankle disappointed him, but at least it doesn't swell more or less- it's always the same amount. He tightened up my boot and kicked me out. In two weeks after hefty walking I go back to see him (Friday 27th) and then start physical therapy for strengthening.

So I WALKED to my car (very slowly and fearfully), and then when I got back to my apartment building I WALKED to my apartment (a neighbor stopped and asked if I was okay, and I explained that I was walking. I don't think she understood). Around 11:45 I'm going to WALK back to my car and then to the GRE testing center, and this evening I'm going to go celebrate.

Currently, my ankle is very confused that it doesn't get to ride along anymore, and my thigh is already sore from the minimal walking I've done so far. This is really odd but I think my favorite part of my newfound mobility is that I'll be able to take my own trash out again instead of asking my friends to.

EDIT- (Later on, same day)

I took my own trash out, and walked into and out of the GRE just fine. I did pretty well, not sure if it's the best score I could have gotten but it's better than any I have so far. I wrote the crap out of the essays. They're 5's or 6's for sure!

How I Chill

Most of my time is spent sitting or laying around in my apartment. Because it's not very large and the furniture provide obstacles, I have difficulties using my crutches here. So this is how I usually get around:

My desk chair and its five wonderful wheels. I turn the chair around, look over my shoulder, and propel myself backwards. Using the amazing desk chair I can sit and cook in the kitchen, get to the front door, open windows, and reach the television and my laptop without having to get up. The cable guard on the floor cuts off my bedroom and bathroom from the realm of the chair, so I still have to crutch to get to those. A perk of this furniture layout is that it's easy to transfer to the couch or prop my feet up while still in the chair.

Another useful trick is when I'm sitting around and realize that something that I want is a few feet out of reach. I have provided a scenario in the following photos, using my ice pack as the thing I want (which I really did want). Those chips and salsa are for snacking after I finish this blog.

First, I locate the desired object- my ice pack.

I use the armpit part of the crutch to scoot the object to the edge of the table and push it to the floor. Objects to avoid are the bowl of salsa, chips, and my stack of GRE study cards (the white things).

Once the ice pack is on the floor I can just scoot it to me, where my gimp foot is waiting for refreshing coolness.

And that is how to be as extremely lazy as possible.

Palm calluses

One of the non-leg-related issues that may come up with crutches is wear and tear on hands. Apparently, I crutch around more than most people. I hadn't become aware of this until recently. I crutch around to the point that my hands, through the crutch hand pads and bike gloves, are still callusing pretty bad. In addition to the rub spots on my wrist, I look like something bad happened.

Doing Good

Except for not walking with it, my foot is slowly regaining the shape and activity it had before- I don't wear the boot unless I'm outside my apartment doing things. The sort of things I do outside my apartment aren't strenuous (for the foot at least, the arms disagree), but food places won't let you in with only one shoe on. The boot's more of a courtesy and health regulation thing. I don't feel like I need it until I start walking.

Yesterday I watched the entire second season of Survivorman. Today is Season 4 of Man Vs. Wild. I've been doing other things, of course- I have a first draft for most of my application essays for grad school, and today is GRE practice day. I'm currently scoring about 900, and I need to be scoring about 1100 points in order to get into some of the schools. I ate dinner out last night, which was nice.

Time for foot healing photo, because it's recognizably a foot now, even after the trip I just made to check the mail. Still some swelling around my toes and especially around my ankle and heel, but the scar is beginning to look much less intimidating already.

The homemade crutch bag

Making the crutch bags

Things needed:

Fabric scissors

Needle/thread or sewing machine (I don’t own a sewing machine, sadly)

Fabric, preferably a thicker one like flannel or fleece ($4)

Sew-on velcro strips, 3 ft x ¾ in ($2)

Measuring tape or ruler

I also had a cheese quesadilla while I made this but that’s not mandatory.

To make:

I got a pretty dark purple fleece that matches a lot of my wardrobe, and black Velcro for the straps. The gap between my crutches’ two poles is 4 inches, and the space from the handle to where the poles join is about eleven inches, but my bag will only go to about nine inches. So I’ll cut a 5 x 20 piece of fabric (lengthwise so that the bottom of the bag doesn’t have stitching holding it together). For a smaller front pocket I cut a five by six square.

I flipped the fabric so it is inside out, sewed it up, sewed the bottom of the small pocket, and then muscle-sewed the Velcro on- four pieces paired off for the straps, and a small square inside the top pocket so that one closes. Later I added a velcro strap around the bag near the bottom to keep it from flapping around while I'm in movement.

And then I still had a ton of fabric so I made the armpit- bits up there by measuring the length and how far over it I wanted the fabric to go, sewing it up and putting it on. And then I made a second of those too. But I haven't technically finished it so there's no photo.