Coping with life post operation
Heya everyone,
So as some of you know I had to have an operation on my foot to fix it. That happened last week on Tuesday!During the last week I've been battling with lack of mobility - as I have a back-slab plaster cast on my lower leg which is SOO heavy! And I'm not allowed to stand on it for about 12 weeks/3 months, with regular reviews to check on how the healing is going. Along with the that I'm in a lot of physical pain - it hurts to be standing up with my right foot hanging down, so I must have it resting up which it okay, but the pain can be unbearable and make moving around so difficult and draining!
I'm on some strong pain killers but they don't dull the pain completely. So I'm seeing a GP tomorrow.
With all of this pain and lack of mobility I've had a couple nights where I've cried myself to sleep. Of these sometimes I've felt completely overwhelmed by everything and just felt like it was all totally unfair.
I've felt like such a burden on my family at times because I am limited in what I can do, but on the flip side I feel like they aren't supporting me enough... My mum does the best she can which I appreciate with her lack of energy due to her health conditions. My dad sometimes helps and it really good but then he turns around and makes a snide comment or complains - which can be really hard to cope with at times. And my brother flatly refuses to help me at all, yet he'll "joke" around about hitting/kicking/dropping the cats on my cast and cannot see why I get frustrated with him.
I am frustrated because there isn't a whole lot of room at home, as it's a small house, so using the scooter can be a challenge because of narrow walkways and not being able to do a uturn, I often have to pick up one end of the scooter to move it around to turn! And crutches are a pain, and there isn't really the space to use crutches confidently either! Ugh it's just frustrating!
Sorry for the huge rant, I wanted this to be positive and to update you all on how I'm going as I know quite a few of you are interested to hear about it all 🙂
It doesn't matter what I do or don't do during the day I'm just so exhausted! And it's overwhelming.
And my brother isn't helping any withe his narky comments and downgrading words.
I cannot wait for the cast to come off! It's so gross! I went to put moisturiser on my toes because they are getting so very dry and it's just yuck! The cast is dirty from resting it on the ground when travelling etc and the dry skin underneath is just nasty! It's so bad I just want to cut it off now and clean it! But I don't have the appropriate tools to get it off haha
Looking forward to Wednesday!!!!
@Bee that’s frustrating !! do you think you could speak to him or your parents ? i understand what siblings are like so that might not work 😞
uhhh i remember what it was like getting my cast and it was such a big relief 
ahaha, wednesday is so soon !! 
I've tried speaking to my parents and they have tried but they have now given up and he uses that to just keep going and going and going... which is so infuriating because it's like a bloody radio - he never stops talking - if he's not picking on me, he is talking SO LOUD that I can't not hear him.
gah.
Ah that felt good to get that out 😛 sorry
Yes I cannot wait! I just want it to be Wednesday already! 😛
not long now till your out of the cast now! i bet itll feel better once its out though youll still have to be very careful for a while though
All my muscles are tight and sore so I think I need to see wht stretches I can do non-weight bearing - I'll youtube it later. I'm sure I can find something suitable ☺
Hi @Bee, I'm sorry to hear that! Did you find any stretches that were suitable and helpful? It's such a good idea to do them 🙂
And I hope you have been getting better nights' rest since, that sounds quite difficult to manage. Has the pain and discomfort lessened since at all?
It has and it hasn't. Last night I had to take the boot off because I was so damn sore, but I was so anxious that I'd reflex or something in my sleep and injure my foot 😕 I still don't know how much time I'm allowed out of the boot, but I'm just doing what is comfy atm until I hear otherwise 😛 Because well comfort is best 😛
Hi @Bee, that is so awesome and positive to hear! 😄 Have you always been a fan of yoga, or was this something new you found to help with your injury?
I'm sorry your foot was so sore, how has it been lately? Yes, definitely comfort is best! 😄 Have you had a chance to speak with your doctor about how best to be comfy and keep your foot in the boot?
@DruidChildIt's okay, it's normal amounts of pain for this time of my recovery 🙂
I've been able to process some images which is nice 🙂
@sweet_bakingI liked it when I frist tried it but haven't had the courage to join a local place to do yoga.. And always forget to do it at home - oops. Frankenfoot is still calling the shots - nothing new 😛
I rang my surgeons receptionist today and she is going to forward on my questions to him and get back in touch when he has answered them 🙂
Good to hear from you @Bee 🙂 I hope th pain level continues to be as expected and gradually improve. And hopefully your surgeon can help with those questions you have!
How have things been with your family recently? I know that at at the beginning of your recovery things were quite difficult with them not understanding or being empathetic towards your pain.
Pain levels are still as expected, although I'm getting a bit of night pain, so will begin looking at why today and just monitoring when I get it to see if it's something I'm doing to agravate fankenfoot
I'm hoping to hear back from them soon, but nothing yet, I know he's a very busy man, so it might take a litte while
Family has been much that same unforunately, I doubt it will change drastically at all, but hey one can dream right? 😛
Hope the night pain settles down soon @Bee!
Surgeons are always swamped aren't they?? Good on you for being patient 🙂 Hopefully they'll be able to make some time for you though.
You can always dream 
Family can be so hard to deal with at times. Hugs.
Have you been able to do anything that you enjoy lately? It's awesome that you were able to process some photographs last week.
They certainly are! My surgeon works at 2 different hospitals and then has appointments at 2-3 different places that I'm aware of, and he helps teach resident surgeons! SO very busy! haha
I'm sure he'll make time 🙂
I've been colouring in still, I'm about to finish one of a clock with mice, I must upload some more sometime soon! And yes tey wre all so pretty! I'll see what I haven't queued and tag them for RO 😛 (I don't post the same photos here that I do on my photography social media for anonomity reasons 🙂 )
I photocopy all of mine, I think I've cut down a few trees in the process but I can't colour in the book! It feels too wierd! 😮 hehe
Colouring and photography sound like great activities @Bee I hope your pain isn't too bad today.
how did you go at your last xray with trying to stand abit?
Things are slowly improving! I knew going into the surgery it would be a slow process. I am trying to keep a positive and open mind with the healing process. I'm focusing on increasing my strength and stamina slowly without overexerting my foot and ankle 🙂 I'm going at it slowly so I don't end up taking a day or more in pain doing nothing
I still get frustrated with it regularly and feel all the feelings over it, but I'm fighting through them as they come along 🙂
Uh I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I guess it could be a couple months or so before I'm out of the woods with having to really watch and plan for frankenfoot, but at the same time I'm kinda expecting/prepared that it won't get back to 100% preinjury. I'm trying not to focus to much on when things will be normal as that's a trigger in terms of getting there, if that makes sense. I do however want to be able to walk normally by April next year as I've agreed to shoot a friends' wedding to her fiance, and I'm so excited for it 🙂
But until then I'm going to take my time with recovery so I don't end up going back into the boot a month after I come out like I did with the original injury 🙂
