Usually I do a pretty good job of keeping my head up and not feeling too sorry for myself...let's face it, wallowing never got anyone anywhere. This morning, however, I'll admit to not feeling quite as upbeat as I normally would be. You see, I HAD some fun plans in store for this New Year, primarily heading out of state for a shin dig with a bunch of my racing buddies. Instead, I sat at home, mostly alone (save for my freshly divorced roommate), and didn't even make it past 10pm.
Friday, Dec 30th, I went in for the second round of surgery on my leg. The Doc got everything plated and I lost the erector set, but needless to say, either way, any New Year's plans were shot in the ass. No way I was going to manage going out - or doing anything for that matter - on a leg that I can't leave unelevated for more than an hour at this point, and an hour was probably going to be pushing it.
Yes it's one night. I know, that, in the grand scheme of things, it won't matter. I am, however, finding Facebook and other social media a bit depressing at the moment, especially since I know this one night is going to drag out to weeks and likely months. It's been almost a full month since it happened, and I'm just now put into a place where I can focus on healing. Winter plans of travels and dirt biking - gone. Any serious winter training - gone. Fun in my down time - gone.
Despite all of this, and this moment of self-pity (yes, I'm allowing myself that indulgence this morning), I'm not going to just sit here and wait for things to heal. I am doing everything I can to give myself the best possible results, no matter how long that may take. I still don't have best and worst case scenarios, but I'll do everything in my power to push towards best case. I've got some workouts that I can do on the couch and in the house to at least keep the rest of my body fit and lose as little as possible in that regard. Supplements and staying active are top priorities as much as my leg is okay with me doing.
I can already tell that PT (when I even get to that point) is going to suck. Right now I'm in a cast from my toes to just below my knee, and I can barely even do so much as wiggle my toes. I can feel everything in there stiffening up by the minute. But I'll wiggle those damn toes as best I can lol.
In two weeks when I have my follow up appointment and they get some fresh x-rays of where I'm at I'll probably have a better idea on what I'm looking at as far as recovery timeframes. Thankfully he was able to fix the fibula on the first surgery, as that one will probably take longer to heal since it had multiple breaks and a floating piece that needs to reattach itself....so, by the time of my followup, that will have had a good month to get started. Unfortunately, my own research has revealed that multiple breaks in the same bone can be a PITA to heal - the body will heal one of the breaks really well, and then seems to "forget" about the other. Unfortunately, I don't know how much control, if any, I have over helping prevent that. I'm hoping staying active as much as I can will keep things "reminded" of where they should be.My tibia will have only had two weeks to get going, but while the bigger bone, it was a cleaner break. Hopefully things will be going well enough that we can start some PT to prevent as much stiffness as possible.
His biggest concern is soft tissue damage from the tibia in the ankle cartilage. I KNOW that will suck in PT, but I'm prepared to deal with it and keep things headed in the right direction. It's not my first time dealing with injuries, a lifetime of horses followed by motorcycles and growing up on a farm as the proverbial tomboy, I know what to expect on some level, and I'm ready to take it on and get back out there as soon as I can.
Besides, I've got a beautiful new bike sitting there that I've started to order parts for and I can't wait to actually sit on it once it's ready!
Friday, Dec 30th, I went in for the second round of surgery on my leg. The Doc got everything plated and I lost the erector set, but needless to say, either way, any New Year's plans were shot in the ass. No way I was going to manage going out - or doing anything for that matter - on a leg that I can't leave unelevated for more than an hour at this point, and an hour was probably going to be pushing it.
Yes it's one night. I know, that, in the grand scheme of things, it won't matter. I am, however, finding Facebook and other social media a bit depressing at the moment, especially since I know this one night is going to drag out to weeks and likely months. It's been almost a full month since it happened, and I'm just now put into a place where I can focus on healing. Winter plans of travels and dirt biking - gone. Any serious winter training - gone. Fun in my down time - gone.
Despite all of this, and this moment of self-pity (yes, I'm allowing myself that indulgence this morning), I'm not going to just sit here and wait for things to heal. I am doing everything I can to give myself the best possible results, no matter how long that may take. I still don't have best and worst case scenarios, but I'll do everything in my power to push towards best case. I've got some workouts that I can do on the couch and in the house to at least keep the rest of my body fit and lose as little as possible in that regard. Supplements and staying active are top priorities as much as my leg is okay with me doing.
I can already tell that PT (when I even get to that point) is going to suck. Right now I'm in a cast from my toes to just below my knee, and I can barely even do so much as wiggle my toes. I can feel everything in there stiffening up by the minute. But I'll wiggle those damn toes as best I can lol.
In two weeks when I have my follow up appointment and they get some fresh x-rays of where I'm at I'll probably have a better idea on what I'm looking at as far as recovery timeframes. Thankfully he was able to fix the fibula on the first surgery, as that one will probably take longer to heal since it had multiple breaks and a floating piece that needs to reattach itself....so, by the time of my followup, that will have had a good month to get started. Unfortunately, my own research has revealed that multiple breaks in the same bone can be a PITA to heal - the body will heal one of the breaks really well, and then seems to "forget" about the other. Unfortunately, I don't know how much control, if any, I have over helping prevent that. I'm hoping staying active as much as I can will keep things "reminded" of where they should be.My tibia will have only had two weeks to get going, but while the bigger bone, it was a cleaner break. Hopefully things will be going well enough that we can start some PT to prevent as much stiffness as possible.
His biggest concern is soft tissue damage from the tibia in the ankle cartilage. I KNOW that will suck in PT, but I'm prepared to deal with it and keep things headed in the right direction. It's not my first time dealing with injuries, a lifetime of horses followed by motorcycles and growing up on a farm as the proverbial tomboy, I know what to expect on some level, and I'm ready to take it on and get back out there as soon as I can.
Besides, I've got a beautiful new bike sitting there that I've started to order parts for and I can't wait to actually sit on it once it's ready!
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