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 🙂
@Bee lol sorry i knew that wasn’t gonna make sense im just lost with words. everything is a bit chaotic right now.
like how much longer do you have to deal with everything post surgery? likeee living life normally with no weight of the foot dragging you down. sorry if that makes no sense !
yayyy that’s so good to hear !! @Bee
how much longer do you have for your foot ? 
I have some awesome news! I did my xrays yesterday and the surgeon replied today! He said to wait out the 3 month period (next week/week after) and then I can start walking on it!!! I'm super excited to finally be able to progress a bit, but also a bit neverous because I'm not quite sure how much my foot and ankle will be able to take seeming I've been off it for 11 weeks! But time will tell and I'll be able to handle it! 🙂
Of course I'll still be in the big ol' Moon Boot, but that's for protection and extra support! 🙂
hey @Bee how are you ?
its november which means non weight bearing is gonna be long gone soon 
Yeah, with this injury it's recommended gradual increase to weight bearing, but that's okay 🙂
thats ok, its really normal to have worries esp in regards to something like weight bearing after an injury, esp it flares that dreadful pain up! youll know how much to weight to put on and also your comfort levels mentally too. even just abit of weight (rather than full weight) is usually enough
I'm excited! I can't wait to see them (Which probs won't be until I see the surgeon though 😛 )
I'm not so worried about putting it down, it's more about if it'll hurt without support and putting weight through it for the xray... like I've had it down and on the ground resting with no weight through it so that I'm okay about, I think I'm more worried about how my ankle will cope ahaha it's been sore.. and I forgot to ask the gp about that today, bugger 😛
xrays late next week sound good. i can imagine you miht be abit nervous about the weight bearing one. when an injury has been significant or surgury youve spent so much time being careful that evne the thought of putting it down is scary. but your right itll let you know, you might find you can stand for a few seconds on it or just place it on the floor is the most you can do at the moment which is more than ok too
self-care and helping here on RO are keeping me sane, although atm I just need some me time 😛
I've decided to do my xray late next week, so hopefully it's looking good. I have to do a weight bearing one, so kinda nerveous, but that is okay it'll let me know how comfortable I am with it 🙂
i hope your able to start walking on your foot soon or at least take steps to weight bearing again. pain, frustrations and mental health all go hand in hand.
@DruidChild thanks ❤️
I'm putting that other issue on hold for a bit, something else I need to talk about first over at Running into my old boss...
I know recovery is never linear, and I'm trying so hard to be kind to myself with this foot thing, but it is hard when my mind has other ideas... (Curse you mental illness!)
@Bee We will be here to listen when you're ready to talk Well done for watching some B99 as some self care...I know it can be hard. Recovery is never a smooth linear path but I have watched you take so many huge steps in your thinking in the last year and I know you will get to where you want to be even if it takes time. Remember you are valued and cared about 🙂
@Bee im so proud of you for dealing with everything, it shows you have so much strength hugs
make the thread when you're ready 🙂 i hope these emotions start to calm down soon <333
Hopefully you'll be able to walk on it soon!
@DruidChild ❤ thanks
@scared01
Recovery - it's as expected. Healing as far as I know is going well. I'll do an xray probably next week sometime, probably Wednesday or Thursday. And wait to hear fro. My surgeon about when I can start to walk on it.
In all honesty I've not been coping so well with it all recently. Sure there's been outside things assisde from the foot; but it makes the whole foot thing harder to handle.
I've wanted to make a thread for little while, but really not feeling like I can be bothered to handle or cope with the stuff thats hurting right now. So when I'm ready I might make a thread about it. Until then I'm ignoring it and saying it doesn't exist. Rhe last few days I've been ansent as I've just crashed entirely and self-care seems redundant. But I colour in and I watch some Brooklyn 99 to try and escape my head. And I play games on my tablet to occupy my mind from going down a rabbit hole.
Sorry it took me so long to reply @Bee! I can see how self reflective you’ve been about your injury and the situation with your friend. You’re doing so well even if it might not feel that way Hugs. How are you doing today?
hey @Bee
just checking in if you’re alright ? perfectly fine if you don’t want to talk about it now x
Pain is sometimes very spontaneous with this injury, I know that it will be a long road and the pain may decrease but it probably will never fully go away, but will become more manageable. I think a big reason why I wake in pain and the pain meds knock me out is because I've not slept well with the foot, so that makes it easier for the meds to knock me out. It's also a very exhausting injury so that doesn't help limited energy levels. I'm also feeling so exhausted at all times which doesn't help, so I need to talk to my GP about that.
I'm focusing a lot on colouring in right now, it's my daily self-care task right now. Binge watching tv is nice while colouring too 😛
I am looking at a new colouring book, I just have to organise a few things before I can buy it 🙂
Hey @Bee, thank you for sharing how things have been for you This sounds like such a lot to be dealing with - it must be overwhelming to be taking on your friend's and your family's needs while you're in such a vulnerable position yourself. Huge hugs. You are so right that you're worthy of love and support, and that this situation can improve and things will be better - I understand that it can be difficult to believe that at times, though.
How much longer do you anticipate having this level of pain? Perhaps when you're able to be on less pain meds you'll be able to get into a sleep schedule that works better for you and your health. Would it be worth asking for support from your facebook group while things with your foot are so frustrating?
As you mentioned to me in my thread, distractions can be a good way of coping - at least until a situation can improve. Is there something you could focus on - like learning a new skill, a tv show you could binge watch, treating yourself to a new colouring book - that would help you have some relief from these painful feelings?
Thinking of you.
Honestly right now I'm hating frankenfoot a LOT! I have so many thoughts and emotions about it and it's overwhelming and I'm feeling angry about it all. (Now come tears)
Pain levels have been up and down, I keep waking in the morning with pain, I take the weakest pain relief and it knocks me out for anywhere between 4-6 hours 😕 So I'm not succeeding in getting my sleep int a better routine 😞
Today I'm battling through all the injury specific details. Most have no rhyme or reason, it's just part of this stupid injury **rolls eyes** I'm just getting over it. It's old. I'm frustrated with it.
And today I saw a friend and she hasn't been coping with some things and I guess I've kinda taken on her pain too as I'm feeling so mentally and emotionally spent.
I know in all of this that I am doing everything right by frankenfoot. I'm listening to my body and asking for help when needed to help it heal (much to the annoyance and irritation of family which causes drama, which in turn makes me feel bad again). I'm trying to remind myself that I am worthy of love and support and that one day things will be different. It's just a difficult journey right now...
