When your Achilles heel (well, tendon) is both literally and figuratively your Achilles heel

I mentioned that I recently had an ankle injury. It turns out that it was a really bad ankle injury. I went to an urgent care in town early Saturday afternoon. The nurse practitioner was concerned about an Achilles tendon injury when I was unable to push my ankle in a down position. She placed her hand under my foot and told me to press down. I did so or tried to do so but my ankle didn’t really move (since the injury (a running one where I fell when exiting the treadmill quickly and hit my ankle on a sharp object in the basement)), I had been trying to not move it much. I thought maybe it was due to my inactivity that my movement was so limited. Oh me, of little to no medical knowledge. 

The nurse practitioner suggested that I go to one of two hospital’s ER’s so that a specialist could look at it. She suggested Miami Valley South- a large satellite hospital in Centerville or Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. In local hospital parlance Miami Valley in Dayton is known simply as the Valley. I chose to go to MVS because it’s closer, and well, quite frankly nicer and newer than the Valley. While the Valley has won awards for being a great hospital, we personally know of several people who felt they received sub par treatment there which was the main reason to avoid it. Oh me, of little knowledge of what was to come. 

So Donnie and I headed to the ER of Miami Valley South. When a doctor there took a look at my ankle, the injury to it and saw the limited range of movement I had, the S word came up. That would be surgery. Whaaaat? No, I could not have surgery! That was my thinking and that was when I thought that in the off chance I had to have surgery, I would need to be off of that foot for a couple of weeks. Oh me, of little knowledge of what was to come.

The doctor at MVS said that I would need the surgery to repair the damage to the Achilles tendon (yes, it was absolutely necessary he said) but that I would have to go to the Valley to have it done. That’s where the orthopedic surgeon was who would do the surgery. Donnie was able to drive me to the Valley’s ER from MVS (until recently an ER to ER transfer would not allow private transport?) whereupon I was admitted into the hospital as a patient.

But first, when we walked through the ER doors of the Valley, we were greeted (using the term loosely) by a team of police officers sitting at a long desk behind plexiglass (this is not your suburban hospital!) asking rather brusquely what I needed. Friendliness is apparently not a required attribute for police officers to address incoming ER patients! Well, I had bigger problems than my feelings about my greeting or lack thereof from the ER welcoming committee!

Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am Sunday. But, we were told that as my injury was not life threatening, if anyone came to the ER with life threatening injurious, obviously, that would trump the 7:30 time. The Valley is the only level 1 trauma hospital around so it was definitely possible that my surgery would get pushed back. But it didn’t and at 7:30 on Easter morning, I had surgery. Obviously I was out for it but apparently, all went well.

Recovery at the hospital was pretty much fine. A little nausea from strong meds and discomfort but nothing terrible. Far worse was hearing about the recovery after I discharged from the hospital: for three weeks, I can’t put any weight on my right foot. The tendon can’t have any weight on it to heal properly. So think crutches a walker, and tomorrow I’m getting one of those knee scooter things- those are the means by which I get/ will get around.  What that means is that I’m practically immobile. I get up to go the bathroom and that is about it. I can’t carry anything. I can’t do any work like laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. {Fortunately, I have a wonderful daughter and husband at home. (Abby is great, too, but she’s at school so she doesn’t count for these purposes) Alyssa has  been amazing- she has been helping out with the greatest attitude and knows that she will need to continue to do way more than she was used to doing. Donnie has likewise been amazing and caring and wonderful- in sickness and in health is easy to say when you are both healthy but it’s something else when sickness comes into play! Friends and family have also been huge pillars of support just in the first few days of this.}

After three weeks, I will see the surgeon again and at that time (HOPEFULLY) he will move me into a boot and I will have more mobility. But I will be in a boot for THREE months. That means that I won’t be able to drive for close to four months, best case scenario. So, not good. Not good at all. And yes, I know that it could be much worse but relatively speaking, being immobile and not being able to drive for four months is not a good thing.

I plan to continue to write here even though life will be quite uneventful for me! I definitely plan on doing a Thankful Thursday post every week- I know it is going to be important to my overall health to find things to be thankful for. I will try to do a weekly post to document this *unique* time in my life. Unique but uneventful. (Hopefully. At this point, uneventful is fine.) We’ll see what I can come up with! 

A few pics...

Going to Centerville to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton- the first time sitting in Donnie’s car with one of these taped to my arm!!

Dayton

When you’ve got to say yes to drugs...

Easter dinner- high sodium, hospital style...

Abby went to church with her boyfriend on Easter Sunday. Later, she got a ride back to school with her boyfriend. It has worked out so well for us that her BF grew up close to Springboro. 

Alyssa was home all day on Monday due to not having school (her spring break was six school days long). She waited on me hand and foot and made the most delicious salmon for our lunch. On Sunday, she and Abby had prepared the ham that I thought I was going to prepare on Easter and they made mashed potatoes so we had some of those also for lunch.