4 weeks, 2 days and counting.

Well, you can see the title...that is where I am at. To be honest with you, the time has gone by quite quickly and my spirits have been pretty good until today when I had a little meltdown.

I went to the Dr. yesterday and got my fiberglass cast cut off and was put into an air boot cast. I knew I was getting it, but was hoping that the Dr. would tell me to start bearing more and more weight every day and in a few days I would be rid of the crutches...no such luck. 20 lbs of weight is the allotment of weight I am allowed to bear, and for the duration of my cast time. I am not quite sure how that is supposed to work anyway...I mean how do you go from bearing 20 lbs of weight to no cast to full on walking?

The advantages of the air boot are as follows: you can take it off and sleep almost like a normal person, you can clean and shave the leg, and there is some weight I can bare (20 lbs allowed) so I can get around on my crutches a little quicker. However, overall the cast is much heavier, it takes a bit of time to put it on and take it off and when it is off, it is just another thing to carry around. *sigh* only two weeks to go.

The last 4 weeks have been a learning experience, a workout, but mostly just a lot of frustration. I have gotten the bathing down to a science and it has become quite comfortable. In the morning I pack my backpack with my clothes for the day and everything I might need so I can minimize the number of trips up and down the stairs. Once I am out of the bath I stuff my pj's in there and tote it around until I go back down stairs for the night. It has proven to be a pretty good system so far.

I seriously never thought being on crutches would have been as difficult as it is. I mean, the leg itself isn't much of a problem, but the knee has been the issue, so as soon as that started to feel better, the 'crutching' around has become less stressful because the knocks and bangs aren't as painful. Regardless, you just can't carry a thing and getting up and off the couch to go to the bathroom is a bit of an undertaking. The palm of my hands are constantly sore, I have two huge callouses on them and the one on the right hand is now peeling. I am now starting to feel numbness in some of my fingers as a result of the constant pressure on my hands. The first few 'steps' in the morning are always the worst and most painful for my hands.

Early on it was tough with Billy when he had the middle of the night diarreha return. It was within the first week and my knee was still really bad so just getting the blankets on and off was painful. Suddenly I had to do it about 5 times in one night in the middle of the night to try to get him out quickly so he wouldn't make a mess on the floor. The first trip or two we got out to the grass, but after that it seemed like he just couldn't get there so he did his business in the garage. My sister wasn't happy, but it was all I could do to even get him there. I felt bad.

That is another thing that you don't consider when you see someone 'crutching' around is their emotional state. Physically it is a disappointment and frustration, but emotionally it is as bad or worse. I am not used to having anyone around and having people do things for me. In fact, I have always felt kind of odd having people cater to me. In this state, it is basically a requirement so I am constantly feeling guilty or bad about having to ask for things and have people do things for me. Then there is the frustration factor about not being capable of doing the simple things quickly--everything just takes that much more time and I am about sick of it.

Taking care and managing Billy is another great source of frustration. He is doing pretty well with the house training, but he isn't perfect. If I was able bodied he would be near perfect because I would be able to take him out a lot more frequently. Fortunately he has a nice kennel to spend time with his cousin Tommy in and he is quite happy out there for a lot of the day. I do miss him though and I am really looking forward to working with him on the leash and taking him for walks again.

As far as the rehab has gone, I have been going to physio for a few weeks to a. get the range of motion back in my knee, and b. try to regain strength in my quad. It is amazing how quickly the muscles have atrophied. My leg is really skinny and feels as weak as t looks. Now that I have my cast off my calf is as skinny as can be as well. Because I have yet to have an MRI on my knee, we are still unclear as to the state of the ACL. The Dr. thinks it is a partial tear only and not severed which means no surgery. Until the diagnosis is made properly, the rehab has to be done under the pretense that the ACL IS in bad shape in order to not risk further injury if it isn't.

As of now I am just trying to wiggle and flex my right ankle as much as possible in order to get some range back. Being in the cast for 4 weeks has made my tendons and ligaments in my ankle sore and any movement is painful and difficult. It is better today than it was yesterday and if it continues to improve in similar increments, I will be in good shape in a few weeks.

Here are a few pix of my leg fresh out of the cast and about to get it's first shave in 4 weeks:

So far...so so...

I am a couple of days into this broken leg thing and this is what I have found so far:

-a new found respect for anyone who is/has been/or might be on crutches for any length of time. It is not only inconvenient, it is down right tiring! My left leg has always been borderline freakishly weaker than my right leg and now I am REALLY getting the first hand example of that. Not only does my left leg get a workout, but my right hip gets exhausted from holding my leg up and as stable as possible while hobbling around.

Also, just below the armpits has been rubbed nearly raw and I am hoping that I develop a callous soon. My entire upper body is getting a work out that I clearly wasn't matching at the gym. Pulling yourself up from a chair, toilet, bed, and yes the staircase, isn't easy and fatigue sets in. At the end of the day, I am ready for it to be nighttime.

-showering is the ultimate pain in the butt.

It is one thing to be tired from crutching around, but to have to hoist yourself into a small space, naked and without your crutches is borderline terrifing. My first shower on one leg was exhausting and I almost couldn't take it. Between the heat, the slipperiness of the soap and water and having to stand on one leg, it was all I could do to get dressed and throw myself back onto my bed for the next few hours.

I now have a little stool in the shower which makes it much easier. Bagging the leg to keep the cast dry is the ultimate pain though and I can't believe it is still necessary. We can send people to the moon, invent the internet and build cars that can run on corn resin but we can't come up with a casting material that we can get wet? Really? I know we are to keep the cotton dry otherwise it breaks down and basically disintegrates, but you are telling me that they can't put a rubber boarder around that sock that they put on your leg before they cast it?

-A person can carry very little when walking on crutches:

Sure, you can carry a backpack with your things in it, but what about a glass of water when you finally lurch off the couch and muster the energy to crutch your way back to the kitchen to finally get yourself that long over due glass of water? You mean to tell me that we have to either stand in the kitchen and drink your water or take your vicodin with you to the kitchen so you can take it? How do you carry the vicodin to the kitchen now? Getting the two in the same place is tricky. Get a bottle of water? Sure, but how big do you think my hands are? There is no way I can properly grip that bottle and my crutch at the same time. So now I have three choices: the backpack (which I left in the living room because...afterall who thinks about pulling on a backpack to go to the kitchen?), I can try to lob the bottle of water to the couch and hopefully it lands, AND STAYS, on the couch or I can toss the bottle on the ground and 'kick' it with my crutch like a small soccer ball all the way to the couch.

How come there aren't more accessories for crutches? A little bag of some sort that can attach to that middle 'V' section (just below where you put your hands) that will help you carry the odd thing like your cell phone, lip chap and possibly a small snack? Instead you have to ask for every little thing and get people all around you to bring you every little tiny thing that you might need.

Stairs=death trap:

Do I really need to say more? I have fallen going up stairs on a good day with two capable legs, now I am supposed to do these on one leg and count on my balance to hoist me 8" above where I just was without any real way to stop myself from falling? Yeah...Hi there...I just wiped out on a BIKE and my leg is broken! Clearly my balance and cat like reflexes on preventing a fall aren't where they used to be so do let me anywhere near a set of stairs with crutches.

I have resorted to going both up and down them on my butt and have just handed the crutches off or dragged them in my left hand.

Today I was having a nap with my legs up on a footrest and I was relaxing wonderfully in a sunbeam that was blazing through the window. I must have been a bit too relaxed when my casted leg slid off the footrest sending me into a fit of pain that was worse than what I felt when I went down. My knee twisted and all I could do was shout out in bawl out in pain. I am sure I scared my nieces half to death because as far as they were concerned, I was asleep. Man, that hurt beyond comprehension and it took the pain more than a few minutes to completely subside.

I wouldn't be so bad if that knee wasn't so sensitive, but man..any slight movement or bump the wrong way sends me straight through the roof.

Another thing: How anyone gets addicted to Vicodin is beyond me. That crap makes me feel naseaus as hell and I am not taking another tablet.

That didn't take long

I was joyfully riding my new mountain bike home, with my new clip in pedals, after a wonderful day of errands and breakfast when, SLAM!! down I went and my world changed for the next 6 weeks.

I was about to take a small, insignificant detour on the final stretch home when I went to cross a small stream of water in the gutter and onto the driveway of a fire station. The short cut may have cut of 20 seconds if that, so to say it was worth it would be false. The sprinklers are on here every day and the run-off is constant. Over time, algae builds up underneath and it becomes very slippery. Well, even a small stream of 3 inches wide can cause the front tire of a mountain bike out from beneath it before you can say 'what the eff?' Well, that is what happened to me...I went down and my bike went one way and my lower leg of my right leg went the other way and I felt excruciating pain from my knee and lower leg down. I took a quick look and saw that my ankle was facing the correct way before I crumpled into a heap on the burning hot pavement. Before too long a lady had stopped to see if I was okay and call 9-1-1. The ironic thing was, we were in the parking lot of a fire station, but nobody was there. In a few moments there were 3 or 4 people surrounding me asking me if they could do anything. The one thing I did ask for was for someone to put something underneath me so I could stop sizzling like a piece of bacon. They came up with a large piece of cardboard and I was thankful. Before too long the ambulance arrived and I was somewhat relieved but also very, very scared. I had never really hurt myself before and I didn't know what to expect, what could be wrong, and the fact that I am basically alone in the desert made it that much worse.

Before the ambulance got there, I was able to reach for my phone and call Hitch--of course, no answer as he was doing his radio show. I somehow gathered myself enough to send him a text that said: 'i think i broke my leg'. Within seconds the phone rang back and judging by my wailing, he knew I was serious. I handed the phone to a lady who Hitch asked to stay with me until the ambulance came to which she did. I was very thankful for that and I remember thanking everyone for stopping repeatedly.

The EMT's put me in a collar and onto a backboard as they took off my shoes and helmet. I was going so slow that I didn't even have any other scrapes or bruises--it was just one of those freak things that happen. The ride to the hospital room felt long and bumpy and every bump hurt and made me fear more and more pain would arise. We finally stopped and they pulled me out into the air-conditioning of the ER. Folks, it was nothing like what we see on TV--I didn't have people rushing to my side and people telling me it was going to be okay, quite the contrary. In fact, there were nurses and voices all around me, but nobody seemed to care that I was writhing in pain. I kept waiting for someone to come to my side with a comforting voice, but no one came. Finally I said: 'is anyone coming?' and the EMT said that they are just waiting to get a room for me. Finally someone came to take care of me and all I could think about was how alone I was, how cold I was becoming, and how long would it be before the pain subsided. The EMT had put a IV on me and I just wanted them to slip something in there that would put me into la-la land like I have always heard about.

Finally 'Heather' came over and spoke kindly and comforted me and told me that she was 'going to take good care of me' right before she forced my leg straight and made me literally yelp in pain. That hurt like a mo-fo. After removing me from the backboard and putting a warm blanket on me, they did slip something into my IV, but it wasn't all dreamy feeling like I wanted. Before too long, and several phone calls to Hitch and my family about the situation, the wheeled me into X-ray...another freezing room. After a few shots of both my knee and ankle I was wheeled back into my 'room' to wait. And wait, and wait. It was about an hour or more before Heather came back and informed me that I had a broken tibea and that I would need to see an Orthopedic specialist the next day. WHAT?? DO I NEED SURGERY? Is the first thing that I thought. When she told me that I was broken my heart sunk. I have never broken a bone before and now I was scared all over again. I know it isn't a big deal in the whole scheme of things, but it was a bit freaky to me and I was there all alone. Shortly thereafter 'Margarita' came and put a temporary splint on me which took less than 10 minutes. It looked like a big tensor bandage that came up and over the knee, but a lot heavier. My good friends Peter and Marcella Murphy came to pick me up and took me home--not before we stopped to get my Vicodin and Motrin perscription though.

Poor Billy had been home for about 8 hours by himself and the good little boy that he is, he never messed in the kitchen at all. Needless to say he was happy to see people and me, but wasn't sure about the crutches and funny cast! He went outside and went pee while Peter and Marcella made sure I was okay for the rest of the evening. Wow...a broken leg...my first (and hopefully my last) ever.

Thankfully my sister was able to get on a plane the next morning and was here by 2 pm in time to take me to my orothopedic appointment. I had been scared about it since I heard I had to go but having Tina there really helped sooth me...until I had to be the passenger in the car with her driving haha... She hasn't driven a standard in a while so it was a bit herky jerky, but she did just fine. Thank god she is here!

The diagnosis at the Orthopede was the best case scenario: no surgery--just casted. Unfortunately they had to 'set' me by putting my ankle at nearly 90 degrees which required some manipulation which = pain. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be and I was likely more of a suck than I needed to be but...oh well.

Jessie wanted me to get a purple cast and Jaiden wanted me to get a pink one so I got a half and half cast for them. It is funky, but who cares--the kids like it. It was worth it to hear that when Jaiden found out over the phone that I got half and half her response was: 'sweeeeeeeet'.

I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Stump Jumpin'

I got a new mountain bike yesterday and boy, is it fun to ride one again. I have been wanting one for quite sometime so as to have another, more enjoyable form, of exercise. The last moutain bike I bought was around 1994 or '95 and have they changed. The bike I have now has hydrolic disc breaks which are basically exactly what you would have on your car. Front suspension is pretty much a staple on most mountain bikes these days and the shifting system has also been upgraded.

I took it for a quick spin yesterday afternoon and it felt great. Today Hitch drove to the gym and I rode my bike to meet him. It takes about 12-15 minutes to drive the car there so I had no idea how long it would take me to get there, or if I would even be able to complete the trip. I got there in 36 minutes, averaged 12.8 mph and the total journey was 7.77 miles (information courtesy of my handy dandy little handlebar computer that I purchased for 15.99). I really enjoyed riding a bike again and the workout was not excessive, but it was enough to where I felt like I had a workout.

I used to love riding my bike to work and school when I lived in Edmonton. I bought that bike on payments and I think it was about an $800 bike at the time: Bridgestone MB-4. The best memories I have of that bike were when I would ride it to work through the Edmonton River Valley which was great because it was all down hill. The best, however was the ride home after a long days' work on one of those hot august nights. Sure I was tired and mentally the big hill climb was the last thing I felt like doing, but once I got started on it, it turned into a great challenge and I often felt invigorated when I got to the top.

From there I would ride to my Whyte Avenue apartment(Whyte Ave was one of the 'hippest' places in edmonton at the time with a lot of shops, restaurants and pedestrian traffice--always a great hangout for university students) meet up with my friend Keely who also lived in that apartment and we would each buy a huge ice cream cone and sit on the curb to eat it while watching the people go by.

...it was that September when I had to start running...

Swine 'few'

I am thinking that the Swine Flu frenzy is more evidence of the media running amouk and creating something out of virtually nothing yet again. I swear I have no idea why I bother to pay attention to anything that is in the media anymore, based on my experience with the jackets, most of it is spun like a top or even flat out the opposite of reality.

The regular flu kills roughly 36 000 people a year every year, and now we have this Swine Flu that has killed 700 people world wide, and people are walking around with masks, schools are closing, and people have stopped going to work? Remember the S.A.R.S frenzy? It eventually killed 600 people in China yet the hysteria and paranoia over the virus was worldwide. Remember the meningitis scare from a few years before we started freaking out about SARS? Sure, these are dangerous, potentially deadly illnesses but the media latches their hooks into something and create a mania that need not exist.

Now they are saying that a Canadian farmer from my home province of Alberta had contracted the virus from a trip to mexico and gave it to his pigs! Oh brother...this poor guy in Alberta is going to be blamed for this phoney pandemic?

My favorite headline on the topic is this one:

Wild boars killed in Iraq over swine flu scare

Of course, they were in a zoo and they did it to calm some people's fears, but there is war and strife ongoing in Iraq and they put down some pigs because they are afraid of the flu? I would think that suicide bombers and the nutty war that is going on might be of greater concern.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to know whatever is going on in the world, but take whatever is reported with a HUGE grain of salt. After all, it IS the other white meat.

Some sort of superhero?

I was talking to a lady who was playing (and when I say playing I mean standing and watching) her grand kids in the park. She was talking about how exhausted she was with just two grandchildren...then she spoke of the "Aqua-mom" and how she must be crazy---I am pretty sure she meant the 'Octo-mom'...

Desert Heat

Billy and I arrived back in the desert today. First off, I have to comment on how much Billy has grown...his once roomy kennel required some coaxing, laying down, and not much room to move for the little guy to reside during the trip. He could lay down comfortably and sit up with a hunch back. Last airplane ride I could fit him, three blankets and his two favorite toys in there and he STILL had plenty of room. He went from 7lbs to 14lbs during my stay in Columbus. He wasn't the only one to put on a few pounds...only I didn't get any taller...

Things look good around here except for the backyard and remaining milk I left in the fridge. Why in the world would I do that? Yuck. The backyard is like a jungle with an overgrown palm tree or two and the weeds sprouting from every possible opening. I might have to track down a few mexican's again to clear out the mess.

What I didn't realize about my day was that I am now about 150 miles from Swing flu central. I heard on the news today that they were closing a school down in Indio (only a few miles from here) for precautionary reasons. They are saying people need to wash their hands a lot more than normal and cough or sneeze into a sleeve. Hmmm, well, considering it is 90 F during the day, not many people are wearing sleeves. I guess I should go out and purchase some operating masks. I can prevent against the Swine Flu and not have to smell Billy's poop when I have to pick it up when we go for walks anymore.