New Foot and Leg Wear

It has been two weeks since I had surgery to fix my broken ankle and today it was time to have a cast put on instead of the plaster splint. (Actually I am not sure what it was made up of - maybe fiberglass like the cast?)

I was ready to move onto this next stage of healing but was a little apprehensive about the procedure.  First the nurse took off the splint and removed all the staples.  The Dr. used staples instead of stitches and I do believe he must have gone crazy with the stapler.

My incision is about 6" long and it must have had staples every 1/16".  Some were ok when she removed them but most were just pretty uncomfortable!  When that was done I did get my leg cleaned up a bit, which by the way was pretty shrunk up.  I have always had large calves that I inherited from my father, plus a little added weight over the years and they are definitely beefy!  I wouldn't mind keeping the slimmed down version but then I would really look odd wouldn't I?  I have been assured that after I get to walking after the cast and compression boot (the next step after the cast) are off I will get my muscle back.

I got x-rays then waiting, waiting, waiting for the Dr.  I just wanted it to all be over so was just a tad bit nervous and got more so the more I waited.  Tried to distract myself by chatting with John who wasn't nervous in the least - he of course was not having to look forward to the Dr. manipulating his newly fixed ankle!

Well, I can say I sure don't want to have to have another cast put on.  It was hard to preserve my dignity and not jerk my leg away from the Dr. or cry like a baby but I managed it barely.  Tonight I am laying on the couch again with my leg up and ankle iced down.  Feeling not too bad but the area where the incision was made is a little sore.  I have taken pain pills at regular intervals today so think that has helped some.  Hopefully I won't have to take them too long as I had been with out any medication for pain for several days, having cut the high powered stuff down to just bedtime a week ago then stopped taking everything.

The cast stays on for 4 weeks but after just another 2 weeks I am to start putting weight on it wearing a special cast shoe.  Another fashion accessory in my future!  The Dr. says to start by putting 25 pounds weight on at first....my question was how do you know what 25 pounds is?  He said to have a bathroom scale available and to press down with my foot until it reads 25 pounds so I will know what that feels like.  Not sure how one manages to walk/hop with only 25 pounds pressure on one foot but guess I will find out.

OK, enough of this technical medical stuff - ha, ha.  Oh, did you notice the color of my cast?  I got to choose a color for the outside layers from many different colors.  I opted for the light blue and right now it looks pretty good but I wonder what it will look like after 4 weeks?

I have not done much hand quilting, just a little here and there.  My fingers don't have the callouses needed for lots of hand quilting so can be very tender and for some reason I just can't stick with it very long to get them built up.  I used to love hand quilting but anymore I like doing the machine quilting more so don't know if that is my problem or the fact that I am quilting through some of the seams on this project and that is hard to do. 

Chatted on way to long but John is gone this evening, TV is boring so this blog got my undivided attention tonight.

Lynn

10,000 Visitors

Just checked my blog counter and the 10,000th visitor just arrived - wooo hooo!  I never expected that many people to find my blog in March of 2008 when I started it.  I have discussed many quilt related things here but also shared some of my life on a Nebraska farm.  Hope you all like the mix of topics.

Yesterday I was so bored and antsy.  I spent the entire day on the couch with my foot elevated and iced down.  The TV and computer were boring after a while and I was reading a good book but that too got old after so many hours.  For some reason my ankle was painful all day but today was much better.  Less pain and today I had the joy of having two friends stop by for a visit.  One came this morning and the other this afternoon.

There is nothing better to take your mind off your troubles than a chat with friends.  I had thought I might try sewing at my machine a little today but can do that tomorrow.  Thankfully today just breezed along.

I would like to celebrate the 10,000th visitor some way .... will have to think of something I can do.  Maybe some sort of give away.

Until Later...Thanks for Reading!
Lynn

Happy Independence Day

Have a Happy 4th of July to all my American readers!  We sometimes get complacent about the freedoms we have but should be especially thankful we do have these freedoms and to never take them for granted.

This year John and I will have a little more subdued celebration since I am unable to go anywhere right now.  John's sister and family are coming this afternoon and bringing dinner then this evening I want to watch the Washington DC concert and fireworks on Public TV.  Will be thinking of my homesick niece who will be in the crowd in DC tonight.  She is doing an internship this summer in Washington DC and enjoying the experience but has gotten a little homesick, especially now during the July 4th holiday.

Lynn

Weekend Update

Seems like time has flown by as well as drug on since my surgery on Monday....how can that be?  The first few days I spent mostly either in my bed with my leg elevated or laying on the couch with my leg elevated.  I did keep taking my pain pills during the first few days and that got me through and I did a lot of sleeping those days as well. 

Wednesday I decided I could get along without constant pain pills so just took regular Tylenol during the day but did take the pain pill before bedtime to ensure pain free sleep.  So far this program of pain management is working and am more alert because I am taking less and less of the pain medication. 

Today I got out a a miniature that I had started quilting on a long time ago but had put it away - probably from lack of interest or I got busy with something else.  I did do a little quilting on it this morning and think it will be a good way to spend some of the many hours I have to fill every day.

The pieces on this Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt are about 1/2" across.  This is a quilt that I have been working on - sporadically for many, many years.  This quilt holds many memories for me of sitting in hospital waiting rooms when my Dad had his many heart surgeries and other times he was hospitalized before his death.   It went to the hospital for the stays with my mother several times too.  A friend gave me the perfect name for it "Lady In Waiting" because of all the times it helped me through those times that were sometimes very difficult. 

I have about 1/3 of the hand quilting done in the center section and now will try to keep at it and get it finished.  It is probably one of my most favorite quilts I have ever made so it deserves to be finished.  There are a lot of things that I can not do now and that can be frustrating but this is something I can do and it will help fill the time with something productive.

Lynn