While the cat is away the mouse will play.....

Mom and Dad finally left Monday the 28th. At one point Mom is talking about the fun she is going to have on this trip and excited to just mosey down the coast using Highway 101. My laughing reply was, "You have to leave first to have fun." She laughed and said yep it is time to go. An eye roll from me because Dad was already ready and in the car waiting.

I have had many people jokingly tell me not to burn the place down. But really my woo-hooing it up is more like being able to hold the remote (no channel surfing unless I want to) and eat at times when I want to.

Last night I had, Anne Marie, a dear friend, over for dinner and a knitting session. While I didn't burn the place down I did manage to break the kitchen sinks faucet. I was finishing up w/washing the lettuce and talking w/Anne Marie and the dang thing just snapped off. I still don't know exactly what I did that made it break. Water sprayed up to the ceiling, across the counter and even hit a couple of the pots that are hanging above the counter. Anne Marie and I laughed and thought that this was the biggest excitement we each have had in a long while. We both need to get out more! So, I have realized while my Mother is a clean freak about most things dusting things up high are not on her list. The pots that were wiped dry look a lot cleaner than the others. In any case it looks like I will be hauling water from the little bathroom until it is fixed or the parental units come home. I really didn't expect to have to call Mom and Dad to say, "So I have some bad news...." In my opinion unless there is blood involved it is not that serious so I should hopefully not have other problems (knock on wood).

In any case it was a good laugh!

TT4N,
Lara

Can it be True?

Big News:

• For the first time since before April 16th I was able to empty the dishwasher. Now I know some of you all are thinking, "Ya, so? Big deal!" But I haven't been able to since my last surgery--3 months ago. If I could jump up and down I would!





• I realized I am taking less pain medication meaning I am not always in pain on daily basis. Another, "wish I could jump for joy" moments!





• I am leaving the cane places--i.e. I am walking w/out the cane much more.

Please refer to the pictures in the previous posts. When referring to the picture below please note that in the first post/picture the long white band shown below the gastrocnemius muscle is the Achilles tendon. Bet you didn't think it was that long did you?

• My very astute PT figured out the reason I am unable to do a regular heel-raise. My toes do not bend when I am standing up straight to do a heel-raise. However, I can bend my toes into a heel-raise position when my knee is bent. It is all my gastrocnemius (a.k.a. gastroc) fault! My gastroc & soleus muscles are still very tight. Which means I cannot do a heel-raise with my right leg. The gastroc is attached to the Achilles tendon, the Achilles tendon is attached to your plantar fascia and the plantar fascia attaches to the big toe. If they are all tight like mine are the soleus and the gastroc is tight and the Achilles tendon is tight and the plantar fascia is tight--toes cannot bend. When the knee is bent the tension on the soleus and gastroc is vastly lessened and therefore will not pull the achilles tendon tight. I can do heel-raises after all--they are pathetic and only done with the knees bent, but it is a start! Can't wait to see Dr. T and show off. :)

• New goals for physical therapy--strech out that gastroc! How am I going to do that with the bird cage (TSF: Taylor Spacial Frame) around my leg? To say the least what is done to my leg is only minute to what will need doing when the frame is off. My PT must become a bit of a contortist to work around the bird cage. I do get a foot and calf massage; too bad it is the deep tissue kind to break up scar tissue. Sadly there is no way for the massage to be a calming and refreshing time. The muscles need invigorating and the tendons need elogating within the confines of the bird cage. Not so much fun for either my PT or me! I end up coming home and feeling as if I climbed Mt. Baker or ran a marathon but without the elation of completing something so momentus.

As always one step at a time!

TTFN

Lara

Picture reference for next blog entry #2:

Picture reference for next blog entry #1:

Pain, pain go away and don't come back another day!

This past week I saw my GP, the doctor over seeing my pain management. She is GREAT! And even better is the staff are wonderful! I was pleasantly surprised when my nurse told me that she was always glad to see me on the docket. Per her standards I am a patient that is easy to handle; more importantly fun and witty. I liked that compliment! I always worry that I am complaining too much. I will never adhere to the motto "There is no crying baseball!" However, I do want to be the "squeaky wheel" when things are not the way the should be--whether that is about how I physically feel or how about life in general. Seek justice, do kindness and walk humbly w/your God.

I have been worried that my pain has been getting out of hand and/or I am becoming tolerant to my break through pain medication. The step up in medication to help "control" pain is not fun. You don't feel pain b/c you don't feel anything--you are either asleep or awake as a zombie. That is not a reality I want to be a part of! My doctor asked me a variety of questions and when she was finished she said, "You are not becoming tolerant of the break through pain medication." She basically said I need to remember that I have had major trauma to my leg. Break through pain that is as consistent as it has been for me, while awful, is to be expected with the trauma that my leg has undergone. Taking more than one dose a day of the break through pain medication is OKAY. The ramifications of dealing with pain and the effects of pain medication (especially about tolerance/addiction/addict) has always lingered in my thoughts. My doctor basically said relax and take the pain meds as much as needed b/c pain hinders healing. So, I have added another huge bottle of bills to my collection. The drawers of my nightstand are quite large and I have one that is devoted to bottles of medication. Shall I go into the pharmacy business after this?

My beloved babies are hoodlums! Gertie Mae and Gus have some how been able to escape from their enclosure. The really truly scary thing is that they have been able cross busy streets. Luckily they have been found without injury. Just hearing where they were found made me nauseous! If you are praying for me in any way please pray that my hounds stay put!!! It is hard enough that they aren't part of the family the way they use to be (i.e. not allowed inside). The thought of something happening to either of them b/c they got out of their "pen" would break me! Fuzz therapy is very very important!
xoxo
Lara

First--big oops on my part for not posting sooner. I did actually have stuff written but I kept doing something wrong and it either was erased or would not publish on the blog and then got erased. Anyway, it looks like all things are going forward!

Speaking of forward--my leg is progressing great. In all my frustrations in dealing w/my pain and lack of bounce back I realized I have not been walking on my tibia--the bone that is suppose to be the weight bearing bone. My fibula was doing the major support job. So in essences this is the first time in over a year that I am walking on my tibia and it is not happy with me! My break through pain has been a lot more intense which means more awful side effects w/pain "management." But I am going today to chat w/my pain care specialist to see if there is anything else I can/could do to lessen the break through pain.

I still have my PICC line in and taking the heavy duty antibiotic Vancomycin to kill off the bacteria that was found in the bone at the last surgery. They took a couple cultures to make sure the staph infections were gone. They were not present (though the staph can lye dormant for years--oh, what a pleasant thought). So i infuse twice a day. At least this time around the side effects from the antibiotics are not so bad.

News from the Orthopedic doc is that my "bone is unorganized." I should have said to him, "Right now my life is very unorganized! Why would my bones be any different?" :) Basically he was saying that I am putting down a lot of bone but it isn't in the right configuration for the solidity he wants my bone to have before the TSF is removed. No CT scan for me this month. Instead I am upping my bone growth stimulator use. Keep your fingers crossed for me that this August will be the month for a CT scan and the bone will be solid through and through.
xoxo
Lara