Things That Have Improved

When I get sad about things I miss or think too much about progressing more slowly than I would like, I try to remember all of the things that have improved since surgery. I wish I had started this blog sooner to have more of a reminder of how far I've come!

When I first got home I was in SO much pain. SO much pain!! My pain level has been manageable with no drugs or Advil for months. That is awesome!

When I first got my cast off, my incisions were still open and they were painful. My stitches dissolved, but the tape was still on them. It was so hard to figure out how to get that off when I could barely touch it. Also, my foot would get super swollen in the shower and turn this awful bruised-looking color. It was not only gross but worrisome! I also had to use my parent's shower because it only has a little ledge (instead of mine that is a tub), they installed a hand-held shower head, and had to hop in on one leg and sit on a stool. It was a production! When I had the cast on I had to also get an extremely tight plastic covering over the cast before getting in. I cannot begin to describe how happy I am ever day that I can just get into any shower now! Whoever thought that would be an accomplishment and be so exciting!

I'm walking pretty well recently too. Most days I can walk without a limp! It's not perfect, but it looks pretty good! When I get tired or sore or stiff I limp a little bit. But overall my walking is doing pretty well and I am even picking up my speed just a little. It's amazing that a couple months ago I couldn't put weight on my right leg, then I could sort of do it, and now I can stand on only that leg and even bend over while only standing on my right leg! That's pretty awesome!

There are so many little improvements it's hard to keep track sometimes, so I'm trying to focus on these instead of the things I wish would improve faster. While I may be in the 6 months to one year of recovery time, as I approach 6 months it's pretty amazing the things I can do!