A Busy Weekend

Saturday was a day packed with activity. We started the morning at a local bakery, then ate our donuts etc at a coffee shop across the street. On to the farmers market, then to Best Buy, Target, Cost Plus and our neighbor's church. All before noon!  In the afternoon we went to Pet Smart and Fred Meyer.

There was quite an array of accessibility options during the morning.  Obviously the bakery, coffee shop nor farmers market had any facility for mobility.  Best Buy had a wheelchair which my kids enjoyed pushing for the first few seconds then I took over because of the extreme danger to me and others around me while my kids were in control.  The foot plate on the left side was loose, so my cast kept slipping to the floor.

Target had a motorized cart. I picked up the only available one but there were at least 3 others that I encountered in the store (it is funny how you are more prone to notice these things when you are faced with the prospect of using them yourself). This experience was somewhat better than my first except that the route we took around the store ended in going through the clothes section which was too tight a space for the cart and I pulled to the ground an entire line of clothes.

Interestingly Cost Plus had nothing. No motorized carts, no wheelchairs... I hobbled around the store successfully but had I not had someone with me, I would not have been able to carry any merchandise!

I stayed in the car for the Pet Smart trip so I'm not sure how I would fared there.  Fred Meyer wins today with about 8 motorized carts at the entrance (one of 3) in through which I went.   The cart was a little jumpy (it started and stopped abruptly) but it was fine.

My new cast is tighter than the old one. Not tight enough to cut off circulation or anything, but tight enough that my foot and lower leg have no wiggle room at all. This makes it more comfortable during the day but more difficult to find a comfortable position at night.

Sunday we decided at the last minute to have breakfast at a favorite restaurant before church.  After church we came home, but later we went back to Best Buy and then on to our local mall.  I was impressed with the mall facilities for the disabled.  I crutched in the main entrance and a security guard came over (on a Segway) and asked me if I would like her to have a wheelchair brought from the guest services (in the middle of the mall).  I agreed and within a few minutes, they had the wheelchair for me.  It pulled to the left (so my left arm was sore by the time I was done) but they looked after my crutches while I had the wheelchair and returned them to me when I was done with the wheelchair.

Praying for a good night sleep as this coming week is busy at work and Dear Wife is back to work until Thursday but we are thankful for the wonderful friends and family that we have surrounding us who have rallied around us with offers of meals (we accepted two meals this coming week) and dear friends who are willing to look after the kids during the few hours each of the 4 days while DW is at work.

The Fall

A week had now past since the procedure. It was been quite tough. In some sense I feel guilty saying that, because I have been very lucky with how my family has rallied around me, how my co-workers and boss have been understanding and how supportive my friends hand neighbors are yet I still feel somewhat entitled to a pity-party. Shame on me.

On the whole the most unexpected part was the reaction to the drugs and how I felt while coming down off them. I know it was just for a few days, but it was thoroughly unpleasant. On Monday I sat on the deck outside our bedroom and watched a sprinkler. While I watched, I convinced myself that the drugs were not having any effect on me and that I was still my normal self. It wasn't until my family arrived back from wherever they had been that I realized I had been sitting watching the sprinkler for over 30 minutes. I had drool coming out of my mouth. Yeah.... they were not having an effect alright....

On Thursday evening, I had my first (and hopefully last) fall. I was crutching through the kitchen and must have hit a wet patch or something. The crutch slid off yonder and I was in free fall. I remembered that they said at all costs not to bear my weight on my foot, so I spun around so I would land on my butt. Moments later, my casted leg hit the ground (on the heel) and I had a shock wave of pain resonating up my foot toward my toe. Not fun. The pain stayed with me most of the evening but seemed to mostly subside. It is really hard to judge pain that you are in now with pain that you were in previously. I simply can't recall if the burning that I felt last night was worse or better than it felt the previous day.

We had a bad night, some due to my foot pain but mainly due to bad news received about a dear friend of ours. Having had a complete cardiac arrest at the gym, he is in far worse shape than me and my toe. On Friday morning when I woke up, my toe was still hurting so I decided to contact the ortho and see if I could come in for a quick check. They have an urgent care facility so I was able to be seen without a previous appt. We all got in the car (I still can't drive) and packed into the surgery. The kids and dear wife went to the plush waiting room with coffee shop, which I found out later closes early on Fridays (it was 11am and it was closed already), kiddie area etc and I went to the urgent care area. Given how recent my surgery was, they were hesitant to do much with me but s it turned out, my ortho had an opening in his schedule just about 30 minutes after I arrived so he agreed to see me (instead of dealing with the urgent care dr).

They took some more xrays to check that the wire was still in place (it was) and the dr came in and had my bandages and cast removed. He looked at the wound and poked, prodded and probed and declared it all fine. My original post-op appointment (for next week) was to be cancelled and I am to see him again in 3 weeks. I asked about driving and his recommendation was to hold off until the remaining 3 weeks. He also said that if all looks good, he would put me from the cast to a boot at that time too. He said that the pin will come out at 6 weeks post op. Apparently that just 'wiggles out' with no anesthesia.

They bandaged me and casted me back up. It was quite the production. They use cool plaster-embeded strips of gauze that are wetted down with warm water, then they fix the strips in splint shapes around the leg. Within 15 minutes, the strips were rock solid. The new cast is a little different in position to the old one. My foot it at a more acute angle and slightly twisted down. I assume that was what they were aiming for... My only complaint with the way my foot is held now is that my calf muscles are a pulled a little tight - I assume that it will setting out in a day or two.

Perambulation and Paninis

I've been feeling well enough to head out with the family for the past few days. Yesterday we went to the grocery store and I rode along in one of those motorized shopping carts. I have to say that it took a few minutes to figure out how to get it unplugged, switched on and ready to use. The first one I sat into (and got configured) had a left foot pedal to make it go. I assumed that it would have pedals on both sides, but alas no. So I had to switch to one with hand controls. It was all a learning experience (not the least of which was where I was going to put my crutches). Once I got settled in the hand-control cart, with my crutches to my side, I took off at top speed (maybe 3 mph). In the time it took me to get on the road (so to speak) my wife had wrangled the 3 kids out of the car and into the store. My kids were fascinated by the motorized cart and had to be told on multiple occasions that they could not ride along with me.

I'm sure that I had been guilty in no small part of being oblivious to people in wheelchairs and motorized carts but something that never occurred to me until being in the situation myself was the situational perspective that you have while seated. It really puts you at a communication disadvantage because you are not at eye level. Even saying "excuse me" is more difficult when you are not being looked at in the face. So as I scooted around, I found myself in several situations where I couldn't proceed forward and the barrier was a shopper who was completely unaware of my presence. I tried excusing myself, I tried beeping the horn, I even said loudly to my children "we can move forward when this lady gets out our way". Most of the time, they just moved on without so much as a tip of their hat. It really amazed me that sitting in this big cart, I suddenly became invisible!

Sleep was OK - each night for the past few nights I have been having nightmares. I'm not sure if this is related to the way I slept each night or if I still have some odd chemicals in my system. I used to believe that I had nightmares when I slept on my back and that would seem to have a ring of truth to it given that I seem to return to my back as it is the most neutral position for my foot/toe. Last night was must the same as those before it - I woke up in the middle of the night with discomfort in my toe, mainly joint pain. I suspect that in my dreaming, I'm wiggling my toes which is irritating the whole toe and in particular the pin in my joint).

Talking about chemicals in my system, I've gotten quite a ribbing from my friends relating to what seemed to be an almost immediate physical addiction to the narcotics and the related withdrawal thereof. I still feel like I have rogue junk swimming around my bloodstream. In particular I'm still suffering from occasional nausea, sweating, tingling, not to mention my entire gastrointestinal works which haven't been right since the operation. (Too much information?)

Today, my wife had arranged to bring the kids to a museum for kids (with fun exhibits for kids to interact with). They have free admission on the first Thursday of the month. The original plan was to take the kids away so that I could get some rest, but I was feeling good this morning and decided that I would tag along. It is fun to see the kids play around and learn at the same time. It was a bit crazy there (because it was free admission) and on multiple occasions I had to swipe my cast away at great speed to avoid a child stomping on me. When we were done we went to a bakery for lunch. We had been there once before and thought the food was good.

I asked my wife to order me a Ham and Swiss grilled panini. Assuming that it came with a bunch of other items that I didn't want, I asked my wife to specifically say "just ham, cheese and bread". I was sitting over at our chosen table but overheard the conversation so I know for sure that my order was meticulously communicated. More than 10 minutes went by and we received our order. Dear wife's salad, the kids' simple sandwiches and my grilled panini were all delivered to the table. Right away I noticed that my panini had sliced tomatoes. I have to say that I am a very picky eater but having had to wait for our sandwiches to arrive, and the kids were already tearing into their meal, I chose to remove the tomato slices and put up with whatever taint would be on the sandwich (not much I grant you). I bit into the sandwich and immediately tasted very strong mustard (I guess it might have been a mild horseradish either). This was the deal-breaker. I could deal with the tomato but not the dressing. I hobbled over and one of the kids brought my plate. I explained that I wanted only ham, cheese and bread but that it had come with tomatoes and mustard. I said that I had removed the tomatoes but unfortunately the mustard had ruined it for me. She apologized, seemed to understand what I was saying, and told me that she would have a new one made immediately and it would be ready in 5 minutes or less.

15 minutes later, they returned with panini #2. This time it had Ham, Cheese and Bread only. Oh and mustard..... I returned to the lady at the counter and explained that the replacement sandwich also had mustard. She gruffly muttered under her breath and stormed off to the kitchen. At this point I should mention that my 3 kids were done with their meals, my wife done with here salad and I was done with my coffee. The kids were ready to go home. When she appeared back, a member of the kitchen staff followed her with a sandwich which was loaded into the grill:

"I watched them make it this time, and they didn't put anything but ham, cheese and bread in it."

Hmm - I thought about it for a few seconds. She had clearly gone in and told the kitchen staff that the guy from table x was complaining again and why had they put mustard on his sandwich. They probably said that they didn't so she decided to "watch them" make another one so that she could be sure it was just sill Mr X and his odd taste-buds.

"My family is ready to go home now, they have finished their lunch and I don't have time to wait until this sandwich is ready. I will just take a full refund please."

Interestingly she was completely taken a back at my request. It was though I was the first person ever to ask for a refund! She went off and consulted with coworkers (who all looked bemused) and eventually went to the register and punched in some numbers, and withdrew cash from the drawer.

"Sorry about that."

Being of the analytical type, plus having had some experience in the hospitality industry, I dissected the entire situation with my wife on the journey home. We both agreed that I was the victim of a poor system in place for communicating orders from front of house to the kitchen. For the record, the other sandwiches, the salad and the beverages were all very good and yet I suspect that we will not give them any more patronage in the future.

Oh, another fun TMI activity for today was a bath. I'm not providing any details except to say that it is very difficult to bathe while keeping one leg completely dry.

Feeling a Little Brighter

Yesterday was not pleasant. I was resigned to the fact that I was not going to take Norco anymore. Even though today wasn't as bad, I still felt like I had the drugs in my system.

When I woke up this morning it was clear to be that I was not going to be ready to return to work the following day. While I felt significantly clearer, there was still a heaviness that was unusual and not just related to the 8lb weight on my left foot. I was feeling good enough to get up out of bed and come out to the sitting room.

My family were going to a "story time" at the local library, and by the time it came to go, I decided to risk my sanity join them. It was fun and I appreciated being out of the house.

At lunch time I felt up to eating something more substantial than crackers and took a nap after lunch which seemed to help too.

I was actually feeling pretty good by about 4pm and decided that I would prepare dinner. I made up a meat sauce from scratch and boiled up some pasta. I even used tomatoes from our yard. I have to say that I probably over-did it because I was feeling a little "off" while the dinner was cooking. After eating and getting the kids to bed, things have calmed down. I think that a cup of hot tea will top off the evening and tomorrow I will be ready for feeling better again. I'm not returning to work until Friday afternoon - hopefully I will not need to reschedule that again.

Norco Withdrawal

Today wasn't my best day.

Having slept well over night, I woke up determined to reduce my pain medication dosage to one pill per dose (instead of 2 pills) because it was making me feel groggy and spaced out. I figured that I would ramp the dosage down slowly and if the discomfort was too great, I would go back to taking 2 pills per 6 hours. Having taken my single dose at the alloted time, the day started rough. My dear wife brought me granola, yogurt and strawberries for breakfast, but I didn't want/like it. She brought me coffee which I drank, but it made me feel sick. The nausea stuck with me for most of the morning, and I had some sweating and was agitated (more than normal). I should note that my toe wasn't really hurting me much during this time - I just felt... off.

I took another single dose at noon. I wasn't hungry for lunch and not long after taking the meds, I lay down and slept. When I woke up, I was queasy and sat watching TV in a sort of stupefied state until it was time for dinner. At 6 I made the decision not to take any Norco. I'm done with feeling like crud when it is just a side-effect of the pain medication. I'm not taking it any more. I will manage the toe pain with Tylenol. I have renewed empathy for people who have quit their narcotics abuse. I think that I got a glimpse through a tiny window into what it would be like after a lifetime of addiction to a drug like Norco, to then give up and deal with the physiological effects of withdrawal.

Take it from me, it's not fun.

Moving Around

It is coming up on 48 hours since the surgery. Last night I didn't sleep very well. It was hard to find a good comfortable position for my foot in which I didn't worry about it being below the level of my heart. I probably shouldn't have been too focused on that, but it resulted in my waking up every 20 or 30 minutes. I'm fairly well used to waking up frequently during the night (after all I have a 1 year old, a 3 year old and a 5 year old) however when I finally woke up I felt quite refreshed. In fact I felt well enough to get prepared and set myself up out in our sitting room. We have a reclining chair, and I piled up some cushions on the foot-rest and all was good.

After I ate breakfast however I have to say that I didn't feel great. I felt very lethargic - and somewhat nauseous. It seemed to go away until I ate again at lunch. My meals were small and light but they still seem to cause me to feel unwell. I assume that this is just a function of the various medication in my body coming to a new equilibrium. I'm sure that it is nothing to be concerned about. I'm considering taking only half of the prescribed pain meds at my next dose to see if that helps with my stomach.

I'm supposed to be back to work on Wednesday - not sure at this point if that is going to work out OK.

Coming up on dinner time now, my toe has been mildly throbbing for the past few hours. Nerves a little frayed and irritation levels with activities around me are high. Now I'm rethinking the reduced pain medication dosage. I fully appreciate that my quick temper is a function of me, so I'm trying to bite my tongue.