My Leg Log

[Rommie]

That's awesome! Glad you're on the mend!

[pumpkinpi]

8 weeks, 3 days post break. 2 weeks in to walking with the boot. I'm feeling strong.
Last night I took a shower standing up and OMG it felt so good! Sitting in the shower or taking a bath just isn't the same.
Doc said I could try to start walking without the boot, and with a brace, in 2-3 weeks. So I just tried it. Wow, it's nice to feel normal! I have to ease in to it. And the brace is pretty damn tight so I don't want to wear it all day. But I am so close to walking on my own....It's so exciting!

[Thumper]

Keep pushing, just don't push too hard too fast. I know you're listening to your body and your doc.

[geonuc]

[pumpkinpi]

Argh! I can walk again, but of course it's not enough. I want to drive! I was going to test drive last weekend, but there was a snowstorm. And this week it's been raining, which is causing the snowpack on our streets to kind of melt, but not all the way, so half the road is clear to the asphalt, and half is a crumbly crust. Plus potholes. And then it freezes overnight. And it was foggy this morning. So I'm not getting on that road until I test first, and I'm not testing until it's safe.

Walking is going pretty well. I'm completely out of the boot, but I still can't walk fast. Getting stronger, though!

[Thumper]

Sounds prudent.

[pumpkinpi]

10 weeks in, and I'm driving again. Ahh, the freedom! It's the little things that make me happy. I put a book on hold at the library, and I just got the notification that it's ready. I don't have to ask MrPi to go for me!

I just have a few things left to work through:
Stairs are still hard, and I can't carry heavy things like the laundry basket down because I need the handrail.
General strength is getting better, but I still need to work on balancing on my right leg.
Getting back to impact exercise, which I know till take a while. I have a few things I'm doing for now, but nothing that really gets my heart rate up. I miss that. I might join a gym in April, and spend some time on an elliptical-type machine until I can run and do aerobics again.

I thought there were more limitations now, but that's all I can think of. Oh, one little thing. My shoe options are limited to comfortable and supportive ones.

[pumpkinpi]

11.5 weeks in, getting stronger. We leave for England tomorrow. I'll be a little slow and may need to take breaks, but I'm not letting this recovery keep us from doing anything!

A couple days ago I was walking in a parking lot and a car stopped to let me cross. I hurried to get across, as polite people do. I am not ready to hurry yet.

I just saw my gastroenterologist. Good news is, everything is fine on that front. But with my broken leg, and the fact that I was on steroids for a while, he is scheduling me for a bone density scan to see if there is any problem there. Oh the joys of Crohn's disease, and evil prednisone. If that contributed to my broken leg, I'm considering prednisone the downright devil.

[geonuc]

My cat sympathizes with you on the prednisone.

Your trip to England has me envious.

[Thumper]

Wow, that would be something.
Have a great trip!

[SciFiFisher]

Prednisone is the devils tool. With some benefits.

[pumpkinpi]

14.5 weeks post break. The good news is that for regular daily activities, I'm pretty much back to normal. I can go down stairs without holding the railing, so I can do laundry. I'm still a little unsteady when I balance on that leg, and the ankle feels overall just a bit tight, but that's getting stronger every day.

The bad news is that I'm not cleared to easing back in to impact activities. I saw my doctor this week. He didn't do an xray because he said that at this point it won't look very different than the last one a few weeks ago. But I do feel a bit of pain when he presses on it, so he said wait until I'm completely pain free. So that's a bummer. I asked him about biking, he said it would still be a risk of re-injury if I fell or stopped short, so I should take it slowly. And things that require any twisting are not a good idea because that shearing could open up the break.

This weekend I intended to test out some golf clubs to get a new set (instead of using my grandma's 100 year old clubs.) After one swing I though oops, better not be doing that!

So it's a strange situation I'm in. I feel about 95% normal. But I have to remember that doesn't mean I'm cleared for activity yet.

[geonuc]

...I can go down stairs without holding the railing,...

You're scaring me.

[pumpkinpi]

I walked to work today!

And perhaps it wasn't a good idea. I almost got hit by a person turning left against me walking throug a crosswalk, on a walk sign. It's happened there at least twice before, as I've told you. It was an hour past sunrise so we were in full daylight. The Sun was behind the car. And I was wearing my reflective vest! I guess it's my fault that I wasn't also wearing a blinking headlamp.

And then I almost got attacked by a red winged blackbird! Well, not almost. But I could have. I passed a nest, as one bird was chasing another away. It then settled on the utility wire above me and I braced for impact. It never came, though! I've never been attacked by one at that location, but I have by one at a nest not far away.

I guest I'm not quite ready for this step.....

[pumpkinpi]

It's been six months since I broke my leg. I'd say I'm back to about 95%. I started exercising normally about a month ago which includes running (jogging, really) and short carido workouts. I've never done anything at high intensity so I don't have as far to go to get back to normal as some people would.
I went golfing this weekend, and when I took a few first shots I didn't even think about by leg.
What's keeping me from 100% is that there is still a slight bit of swelling, and every now and then a twinge of pain. I don't have a full range of motion back but I only notice it when in yoga child's pose. And if I try to stand tip-toe on just that leg, I'm a little wobbly. None of these worry me, though. I definitely think about it every day, but it's not keeping me from doing anything I'd normally do.

It was a long first four and a half months, but the past one and a half have been pretty good. But I hope to god I never break anything again!

[Thumper]

That all sounds great. Well except for almost getting picked off in the crosswalk.
Keep it up and yes, I hope that none of us break anything again. We don't heal quite as fast as we used to...

[geonuc]

Excellent