So I've taken a small hiatus on blogging recently, mostly due to the fact that I dislocated my ankle 4 weeks ago. If you've ever been reduced to hopping around on one good foot with the aid of crutches, an ace bandage, and a giant boot/cast thing, you know exactly how frustrating that is. Throw in chasing around a very active toddler, learning how to drive with my left foot, and figuring out how to walk the ADD dog when I get home from work . . . well that just made life a grande ole' party!
Sympathy, please.
Thankfully, my mother-in-law and several friends sacrificed their evenings and weekends to come over and help me take care of Allie, Dingo, dinner, and whatever other daily activities generally require 2 good feet and both hands that aren't wielding crutches. They were all God-sends.
Okay, so rewind to Saturday 4 weeks ago. Justin was working, Allie was napping, and I decided to switch out the winter and summer clothes. The off-season clothes are stored up in the attic, so up the ladder I went to retrieve our duffel bags of shorts and tank tops. As I was rummaging around in the attic, I got simultaneously distracted and annoyed with the clutter and disorganization that we had allowed to build up, and decided on the spot that something had to be done RIGHT THEN about that.
So off I went, sorting through random boxes, re-allocating space, pulling out baby clothes that I probably should've brought down several months ago, and building a really nice "this can go to Goodwill because we haven't even thought about it in over a year" pile.
At one point, I heard Allie stirring (the attic is directly over her nursery), so I figured I should probably save the rest of my de-cluttering for another time. I grabbed the 2 duffel bags (because making TWO trips is for sissies!) and scooted quickly but gracefully down the ladder, landing softly and quietly at the bottom while Allie snoozed away, undisturbed.
At least, that's what was supposed to happen.
In actuality, what happened was: I grabbed the 2 duffel bags and scooted down the ladder. That part did happen. But the bags kind of got stuck at the top of the attic, which made me totally lose my balance from about the 3rd rung down, and then the bags unstuck themselves and, as a group, bags and Asian went thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud down the rest of the ladder and landed funny on Asian's ankle. This resulted in a weirdly twisted ankle and a bruised behind. Thankfully, Allie slept through the whole thing.
I initially thought I'd just twisted my ankle, because it was only mildly swollen and I could walk around just fine, despite some pain. However, about 30 minutes later, my ankle was totally bruised and swollen beyond belief, putting the slightest bit of weight on it made me literally see stars, and it was now in the shape of an "L" and I couldn't straighten it.
Kind of like this:
To make a long story short, we went to the ER at midnight that night, they did x-rays, the ER doc and the orthopedic surgeon came and looked at it and told me I had a bad dislocation. The nurse started an IV with morphine, the surgeon popped my foot back in, I was given a gigantuan boot and crutches, and 10 hours later we were on our way home.
This is how I had to sit at work for 2 1/2 weeks.
Q: When is it acceptable to bring a pillow pet to work?
A: When you have a dislocated foot. :)
Two weeks after the accident, I went to Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas for a follow-up visit. The doctor there instructed me to go to several weeks of physical therapy since I had lost a good amount of range of motion in my ankle.
Today, I don't have all range of motion back, but I'm walking without crutches, a boot, an air cast, an ace bandage, and a lace up ankle support brace. I even wore my sassy red peep-toe wedges last night to my friend's wedding, and only ended up regretting it a little bit on the dance floor. :)
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