So this has been a simply exhausting day.
First a very long appointment with Dr. Idjadi. Followed by CT scans. Followed by picking up a wheel chair. I now have crutches (can't use right now), a walker (ugh, but way more stable for me than crutches) and a wheel chair. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that i am not going to be independent for quite some time. I don't like it.
The post-op appointment was definitely not as positive as we all would have liked.
My left ankle is definitely broken. Weighed my options, and since I'm more focused on long term recovery than on near term convenience, my left ankle is now in a bright green fiberglass cast. So far, I actually like the protected and secure nature of the cast; we'll see how long that lasts.
News is worse for my right ankle. Not only did I really break it quite badly (a big plate, 10+ screws, several ligament anchors and some tendon repair), but at least one bone fragment that wasn't visible during the surgery is now visible by x-ray. If I recall correctly, its a small part of the fibula, and will need to be screwed back to the main section of the bone.
Additionally the talus (sort of the hinge bone directly beneath your tibia and fibula), should sit in the u-shaped channel created by the tibia and fibula in such a way that it is centered between the tib and fib. Right now, it is definitely not centered.
All this means that I will be going in for additional surgery. Yuck. It will be 10-14 days from now, as I wait for the extensive swelling in my ankle to reduce.
I'm also looking at a tentative, and optimistic timeline of 3 months before I'm tentatively walking again and 6 months before I'm active again. Ouch.
I hope to have some time tomorrow to post more photos, and more about what I learned today. For now, good night.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Two photos
I was able to quickly download a couple photos from my phone this morning. The first was taken by the very cool paramedic, Ty, that was riding in the back with me as I was being driven to the hospital (Thanks Ty!). I took the other the morning I got out of surgery. Ohh, ahh, look at the new splint/cast.
More soon, I'm off to the doctor!
More soon, I'm off to the doctor!
Starting the Blog
So I'm exhausted (Friday morning around 1am) but I can't sleep so I decided to get started on this thing - which has been kicking around in my head from about day 3. I seriously want to return calls messages to folks asking how i'm doing, but we all know that returning calls is something i fail at miserably.
Turns out I fail at it even more miserably when i'm downing pain meds.
Hence the efforts here. I can update one source, and everyone who cares can know. Makes the slacker in me dance with joy.
I'll be posting a bunch more tomorrow, once am able to upload some photos. I will also be going to a my first post-op appointment with my surgeon, so I should learn tons about where we go from here.
Until then, here's the gist.
I was rock climbing at an area known locally as Exit 38, east of Seattle just off I-90.
I fell badly.
More details about the route and the climb and the fall and the fun we had afterwards another time. (I do want to note that we were climbing safely. I can't think of anything we could have done to prevent this from happening. And, trust me, I've been over it in my mind more than once.))
It appears that I managed to break both ankles on the way down. One was pretty catastrophic, with bone sticking out and my foot hanging off at the wrong angle. This required immediate surgery (obviously) and I was rushed quickly to Overlake Hospital in Bellvue.
The other wasn't (mostly) confirmed until the day I left the hospital. At first, i though it was just a little banged up and the muscles were a little strained. We're pretty sure now that there is a small fracture (Which hardly shows on an x-ray) that is preventing me from doing much with my left foot. I'm hoping to learn more about what's wrong, and what I'm going to be doing about it, at my appointment tomorrow.
Fast forward 5 days, and I'm lying inn a hotel bed near my house. Not actually in my house, which not only has stairs, but - most importantly - also has no air conditioning. If you haven't heard, we've got a major heat wave going out here right now and I have no interest in sweating through 100+ degree while immobile with my legs elevated.
Add to it that the heat is pretty darn humid and extremely still (we've actually had Stagnant Air warnings issued by NOAA).
Add to all that, that houses in this part of Washington are simply not designed to deal well with extreme heat, something they've never had much need for.
Last, but definitely not least, add the fact that my gas fireplace is putting off heat even though it is switched off. I'm not sure what the deal is, but the glass front is hot to the touch. As is if it wasn't hot enough inside already. Hope to get this sorted soon, to say the least.
So off to the hotel we go. (Thanks Mom!)
My mom came out to join me Monday. Partly because she can't help NOT helping. Partly because she know that I'm going to need LOTs of help. And mostly just because she's my mom. My dad has stayed home for now, he's taking care of things on the home front so that my mom can be here. I know that he wants to come help so badly that it's nearly killing him, but for now, it's actually easier for me to just have Mom here. Too much confusion if everyone was here; a too many cooks in the kitchen sort of thing. But I'm hoping that he will be coming out here very soon and we're talking about it now.
In case you didn't notice, I'll point it out: my parent's freakin' rock. I love them dearly and do not know what in the world I would do without them.
My current pain level? The awesome folks at OverLake would certainly ask (0 is no pain at all, 10 is the worst you can imagine). I'm somewhere around 3 or 4 right now. Enough that it definitely bothers me. Not so much that I couldn't manage to write all this. I will hopefully be asleep soon and it will be gone entirely for a couple hours.
In any event, that's all for now.
Good night and thanks for coming.
Turns out I fail at it even more miserably when i'm downing pain meds.
Hence the efforts here. I can update one source, and everyone who cares can know. Makes the slacker in me dance with joy.
I'll be posting a bunch more tomorrow, once am able to upload some photos. I will also be going to a my first post-op appointment with my surgeon, so I should learn tons about where we go from here.
Until then, here's the gist.
I was rock climbing at an area known locally as Exit 38, east of Seattle just off I-90.
I fell badly.
More details about the route and the climb and the fall and the fun we had afterwards another time. (I do want to note that we were climbing safely. I can't think of anything we could have done to prevent this from happening. And, trust me, I've been over it in my mind more than once.))
It appears that I managed to break both ankles on the way down. One was pretty catastrophic, with bone sticking out and my foot hanging off at the wrong angle. This required immediate surgery (obviously) and I was rushed quickly to Overlake Hospital in Bellvue.
The other wasn't (mostly) confirmed until the day I left the hospital. At first, i though it was just a little banged up and the muscles were a little strained. We're pretty sure now that there is a small fracture (Which hardly shows on an x-ray) that is preventing me from doing much with my left foot. I'm hoping to learn more about what's wrong, and what I'm going to be doing about it, at my appointment tomorrow.
Fast forward 5 days, and I'm lying inn a hotel bed near my house. Not actually in my house, which not only has stairs, but - most importantly - also has no air conditioning. If you haven't heard, we've got a major heat wave going out here right now and I have no interest in sweating through 100+ degree while immobile with my legs elevated.
Add to it that the heat is pretty darn humid and extremely still (we've actually had Stagnant Air warnings issued by NOAA).
Add to all that, that houses in this part of Washington are simply not designed to deal well with extreme heat, something they've never had much need for.
Last, but definitely not least, add the fact that my gas fireplace is putting off heat even though it is switched off. I'm not sure what the deal is, but the glass front is hot to the touch. As is if it wasn't hot enough inside already. Hope to get this sorted soon, to say the least.
So off to the hotel we go. (Thanks Mom!)
My mom came out to join me Monday. Partly because she can't help NOT helping. Partly because she know that I'm going to need LOTs of help. And mostly just because she's my mom. My dad has stayed home for now, he's taking care of things on the home front so that my mom can be here. I know that he wants to come help so badly that it's nearly killing him, but for now, it's actually easier for me to just have Mom here. Too much confusion if everyone was here; a too many cooks in the kitchen sort of thing. But I'm hoping that he will be coming out here very soon and we're talking about it now.
In case you didn't notice, I'll point it out: my parent's freakin' rock. I love them dearly and do not know what in the world I would do without them.
My current pain level? The awesome folks at OverLake would certainly ask (0 is no pain at all, 10 is the worst you can imagine). I'm somewhere around 3 or 4 right now. Enough that it definitely bothers me. Not so much that I couldn't manage to write all this. I will hopefully be asleep soon and it will be gone entirely for a couple hours.
In any event, that's all for now.
Good night and thanks for coming.
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