Hot (Spiked) Apple Cider

For my sister's recent housewarming party I made most of the food and drinks. Let's be honest, this is my thing, so I'm in charge of the entertaining around here! We had a Fall theme and wanted to share a few of the recipes (all from Pinterest of course!).

Our Fall drink was Hot Apple Cider - spiked or not!

Hot Spiked Apple Cider

1 gallon fresh apple cider
1-2 sliced apples (Granny Smith recommended)
dash of apple pie spice
1 bottle Southern Comfort
whipped cream (we didn't use this)

Pour cider into a pot and place on medium heat. Slice apples into small pieces and cook in the cider. Add apple pie spice to taste. Cook cider until it reaches coffee-like temperature. Serve hot in mug and add Southern Comfort to tolerance! Top off each cup with extra creamy whipped cream (if desired). Feel the warmth.



Optional: Your own super festive Halloween/Fall mug to serve your Hot Spiked Apple Cider in!


We added about a shot of SoCo per mug of cider. And as I said, we did not use whipped cream because I don't like it (yep, that's why no one else gets it as an option!). I also only used apples as garnish. I bought apple pie spice for this occasion, but I think other Fall spices would have substituted nicely if you don't have it. I (not-so-secretly-anymore) dislike pie, all types of it. Bleh! So I never make pies and don't have apple pie spice, but decided to purchase it in the hopes of making an apple pie in the future for someone else I guess. Any takers? ;)

Second Post-Op Appointment

My brain is still over-tired and on overload; on Monday I missed another PT appointment. This one was particularly important because I was supposed to be re-evaluated and have all my measurements taken again to show my progress since starting PT, and a report made to take to my latest surgical post-op appointment with Dr. Buchanan. I was so tired and so frustrated with myself that I forgot another appointment, and a really important one, that I burst into tears on the phone with the receptionist while driving. It was not pretty. But it was an important lesson in how tired I was and how I needed to get my life back in order and stop being a hot mess this month. I'm getting it together, I swear!

Tuesday morning I had my second post-op appointment. This one went a little better than the last one, but was honestly not all that informative. First, I got another x-ray taken and waited for Dr. Buchanan. He was again very pleased with the way things were going - he was happy with the way the incision looked and how the x-ray was showing my healing progress. He said that I could get back to normal activities such as swimming and biking, but that I should wait a few more months to run or to use the treadmill.

This time I got to look at the x-ray too, something I have rarely gotten to do and I always tell myself to make sure I ask to see it. Good thing I know what happened to my ankle because my x-ray looks cRaZy. There are two lines showing my bone in different stages of healing. Of course you can see the line where the screw was taken out a few weeks ago that used to be holding my heel in place. There is also another, bigger, darker, line that is where my bone was cut during my first surgery. Basically I now see what they mean by "Swiss cheese bone." My bone is a mess. No wonder it hurts! And Dr. Buchanan also said it's expected to feel achy through my heel/ankle right now. These are holes in my bone and these were major surgeries and changes to my bone structure, of course it's going to hurt. He also said it could be a year or so until it really fills in and feels "normal" again. Good to know. Finally some validation to my pain! It was really a relief to see the x-rays myself and talk about them.

And that was really all he had to say - he's happy, this is normal. I go back to see him in three months to make sure that I've gotten back to running and all normal activities. When he said that I felt a little nervous because that's what he told me after the first surgery, and of course making sure I got back to running and normal activities never happened last time. I am praying that it does happen this time and in January I can say, YES! Finally I have gotten back to normal activities including running without pain. We will see...

Lessons of the day:  Always ask to see your x-ray. It helps. Get enough rest. And stay patient, especially with yourself!

Wearing Shoes With Backs = Progress!

The past few weeks have been extremely busy for me! So busy in fact, that I thought I had a 5pm PT appointment this week, but got a message from them around 3:30pm that day asking if I was ok. Apparently I had the wrong appointment time and they were worried because I never miss appointments. Brain on overload!! But I have added a week of PT (hopefully - Dave's schedule is really packed) to try to get enough in.

At PT I have been progressing slightly. I have gone from just stretching to also adding in some strengthening exercises. On Friday I added weight-bearing strengths exercise, which is a big step. My foot is swollen and my leg/ankle are tight still, but definitely less pain than before. So we will see as time goes on what happens. It has only been 6 weeks since surgery. I am working on icing at least at night before I go to bed. Again my memory seems to be the problem here...

I go back to Dr. Buchanan on Tuesday morning. I'm sure they'll take another x-ray to see if my Swiss cheese bone is healing. I hope so!

The biggest news is that on Friday I wore a real shoe with a back for the first time since this surgery!! I wore a tennis shoe all day Friday! And I have since worn it a little over the weekend. Victory! Dave says this is also good because it will help reduce swelling throughout the day. If this cold spell continues I'm thinking of wearing my Uggs with my ortho inserts in them, because I'm that cool. And guess what? Only myself and anyone who reads this blog will know my secret. Aren't you special?

Ankles Are Sad When They Can't Walk on Sand

Last weekend was super busy! I got to see one of my grad school loves, and Cashmere Mafia sister, get married to the love of her life and go to the beach to do it! (Thanks Jen!) And then I went on up to Boston to co-host a bridal shower for my love Shannon! All while traveling with some BFF's. What could be better?

My ankle held up pretty well. I even drove the whole way. That's right - up to Baltimore, Baltimore to Spring Lake, NJ. Then Jersey Shore to north of Boston. And then Boston back to B'more, Silver Spring, and NoVA. YES! That happened in one 4 day weekend. It was amazing. (We jammed out to 90's music a good part of the way, particularly the NJ to Boston at 7:30pm to midnight Saturday night portion!)

The celebrations were beautiful. We could not have asked for more perfect weather. And my girls looked AMAZING. Who is more beautiful than a bride in love? A bride in love who happens to be one of my gorgeous friends, that's who. I wore my Birkenstocks (since I still couldn't wear shoes with backs) and kept my ankle wrapped up well. And sadly I couldn't dance at the wedding. (Ok - I did do the Cupid Shuffle very carefully. I can't hear it and not dance. It's not possible). I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

The only sad part was - I couldn't walk on the beach! My incision is still open and even though it was wrapped up pretty well, I was just picturing a not fun time trying to get sand out of my heel... I LOVE the beach. LOVE IT. But it was not worth testing this out and missing an event or being in (extra) pain for this special weekend. So sadly, I stayed on the boardwalk. But hey - I went to the beach in October, I can't be too mad about that.


After surgery, ankles are sad when they can't walk on sand at the beach.



Boom - married! Beautiful bride and groom!

Beautiful bride-to-be!
And that's a cake she's standing next to. Amazing.

Don't Read This Post If You're Easily Grossed Out

Really - don't do it. Let me tell you what happened two Fridays ago that changed my life, but I'm warning you, it's not for the feint of heart.

After surgery apparently not all of my stitches dissolved. So a few weeks ago I realized that I had a wire, like a fishing wire, sticking out of my heel. I called the doctor, who said that it would be ok to cut it off close to my skin since I have healed by now. UMMM WHAT??? I'm not cutting something coming out of my heel from surgery! That is not ok with me. So I tried to ignore it... But it was painful.

Dave (PT) asked me to really clean off the incision to make sure it was stitches and not dried blood we were seeing. When I did that - the wire started coming out of my foot. (AHHH!!!) At this point I had to do something about it. I sterilized scissors and cut it as close to my heel as I could. I was SO proud of myself. But there was still a little piece sticking out, and it hurt when something touched it, making wearing real shoes nearly impossible.

Dave told me I needed to be brave and just pull the last little part out. Whoa! Wait! No one said anything about pulling something out of my foot. Holy bejesus what is going on?? But I was tempted by the promise of it finally feeling better and finally being able to wear real shoes with backs on them... So I looked away while Dave so kindly helped me by taking tweezers and pulling out the rest of the wire. I didn't even feel it. He said it came out in two small pieces. I knew right away it felt better.

I don't know whether it was psychological or real, but I suddenly was not as cautious about my heel. I was walking better. And I felt like maybe I could wear real shoes. Maybe! But no matter what, I knew this had significantly changed the pain in my heel.

Back to Physical Therapy!

I got evaluated by Physical Therapy on Friday, and I've been hurting ever since!

Basically I am only stretching. I am so tight after not walking for just those 9 days or so that I have to stretch my foot/ankle/toes back out so that I can walk correctly. Friday Dave spent time measuring my movement and stretching my foot, ankle, and especially my toes out. I got hooked up to stim with ice and then instructed to stretch (I was given stretches for my calves, ankles, and toes - my Achilles tendon is keeping me really tight) and to ice down at the end of the day, and two other times a day if I can. Also, I still can't do anything activity wise. According to Dave the progression is swimming, biking, elliptical, walking on treadmill, and then running on treadmill. Right now my incision is not all the way closed so I still can't submerge it in water, so of course I can't swim. I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO EXERCISE!!! I feel like a blob, and I am SO frustrated.

Over the weekend I tried to stretch when I could, but only remembered to ice one night. My leg is so tight!! I had a lot of trouble stretching out even. And the part that was the most sore? My toes! What?? Who has ever had sore toes before? It's a weird feeling.

Looks like I'll only do PT for 4 weeks this time. One of my main goals is to get back into a real shoe. Because my incision is still open I have to wear the post-op shoe for at least this week. Then I hope to transition into an open backed shoe soon. I'm nervous about it because it's really tender back there and the post-op shoe is really protecting it. So I am trying to be patient with this too!

Today I went back to PT for my first real session. It was very much the same as Friday. Dave moved and stretch my foot/ankle. Then he massaged my scar tissue around my the outside/back of my ankle and deep down to my Achilles tendon. OUCH! That hurt and I am still sore. It has to get better from here, right?


Even just doing this is incredibly hard and painful. Ouch!



One Year After Surgery

Yesterday marked one year since my ankle surgery. This is a landmark I've been waiting for. It was supposed to be a marker that I could measure my progress by; but after having my second surgery two weeks before this anniversary, I've had quite the setback. I'm just starting to walk again after the second surgery and I'm having to go back to physical therapy, which I wasn't supposed to need to do. I'm ok with going because I recognize that I definitely need to get into PT - I'm not walking well at all. I'm just wondering when it will actually be that I can say "I'm better," or even, "I'm doing really well," when someone asks me. I'm definitely frustrated. But, I do recognize that most likely with more time (and lots more patience) I will get better. And maybe someday I will be better than normal and get back to real activities that I love - like working out (maybe even boxing again??).

When I get down about my ankle and the fact that I have been on activity restrictions for one and a half years now, I've gained weight, and in general my life has been put on hold, I try really hard to look on the bright side. There are people who have worse things happen to them, who aren't going to get better, and whose illnesses or injuries really permanently change their lives. The people I think of the most are our men and women in uniform. How many of them come back injured physically or permanently loose the use of their foot or other body part? And how many of them protect us, but are injured in other ways we can't see? These heroes are inspirational.

This experience with my ankle and having surgery, just like everything else I've been through in my life, is just part of who I am now. As a very wise supervisor would say, it's "woven into my tapestry." It's changed many things about me, but in the end there's nothing I can do about it, it's just something that happened. It's taught me many lessons, and I try to look at it the best way possible. I hope writing my story here helps my friends keep up with me, as well as gives others some hope that if you're going through something, keep going! It will get better! And I hope I've shared some of the hope and kindness I've been shown, as well as the lessons that have helped me.

I feel like I should have made a celebratory cake! One year since surgery!