Something over a year later...

....so, it's been something over a year.  I had all these grand notions for a one-year observance, with photographs and pithy observations.  Didn't happen.  Lots of other things going on.

So, a brief summary:  Michelle has said that she feels like she's 100%.  Me, I'd call it more like 98.5% most of the time.  Since the big-talk entry about circling the block, we've done it maybe four times.  Got out of the habit, mostly.  It's a fairly good stroll.  We'll get back to it.

Any pictures that I could add at this point would just duplicate what's already on here.  We talk about drawing designs on her surgery scars, but none of that has happened yet.

Won't say that this little journey has ended, but there are competing priorities.  A more extensive update will eventually occur.  Until then, all my best regards, and thanks again for all the kind wishes for Michelle's recovery.  There has been SO MUCH kindness.  

In the New Year

...so now it's the New Year, and all these many things have been going on.  Early in December, there was a strep diagnosis, and treatment.  Michelle sang in the Christmas Concert rehearsal, but couldn't sing in the concert.  Later on (or maybe it was during the concert part of time), a strep recurrence, symptoms, treatment, and more symptoms during the annual family seasonal gathering.  There was some coughing, but she managed.

Not so well the next morning.  The coughing became more intense, and we decided to seek emergency care.  The hospital doctor, after an x-ray and various other tests, diagnosed pneumonia.  That was early on the 23rd.

Then, Christmas.  Michelle didn't go to Christmas Eve Mass.  Went by myself, didn't really feel celebratory, but it was mostly for the singing.

Then, as I wrote above, Christmas.  It was agreeable, but not super-maximal on all the relevant vectors.  We didn't get up until on into the morning.  I don't remember if we opened presents before or after breakfast, but I defintely remember pecan waffles and sausage, with maple syrup. 

and then, as I started this post, it's the New Year.  We're working towards recovery, and making choices about medical care.  

Her ankles, well, they're better, they're healing.  There's some self-therapy.  It's ongoing.

Milestone, the latest

The short version:  yesterday (Saturday), for the first time since Friday, 18 May, Michelle and I circled the block.

I've been told that it's a third of a mile around our block.  The green part is about how far we've been going, although recent trips have found us a bit further around counter-clockwise, maybe to about the 11:30 position.  Interpret as you will. 

Anyway, we walked the dog around the block.  It's been some months since the last time.   A rough calculation, counting weeks and converting, is 168 days. 

We would have walked it again today, but it was too in-temperate for us, what with the wind and blustery temps.  Maybe we'll make the entire block tomorrow.  Probably before dark, though. 

The PT Routine

This is from a recent message Michelle sent to me about her Physical Therapy routine.

1 Ride bike 8 minutes

2 Slanted board leaning into wall hold count of 15 three times

3 Sled; three different exercises

4 Stand on board with a half ball on other side and keep it from tipping from side to side

5 Throw ball onto trampoline while standing on one foot facing front, then sideways on each foot

6 Blue band around ankle stretching facing in four different directions for each ankle

7 Plunging foot into a bucket of rice and moving it in all directions for a minute per foot

8 Picking up marbles with toes, hold for count of three, then place in container

9 Deep massage of ankles - ouch!

10 Ice around both ankles for 20 minutes (think pins and needles); ankles are red when finished, and stiff.

I think that she's doing more stuff, now.  The above, plus somewhat more, over an hour, twice a week.

Many thanks to everyone for their kind wishes.

"have a wonderful life..."

Michelle provided me with notes from today's doctor visit, and they are reproduced below.

Looks really good, especially where he did the surgery.

scar looks good.

very happy with it

good mobility

have a wonderful life

keep the brace in case you do anything on uneven ground

HAPPY LABOR DAY, EVERYONE !!

Short version:  she’s doing well, and getting better, but not as quickly as she would like.

The longer version:  so, now, what is it, 19 May – June – July – August makes how many days? Something over 100. Here we are, on a very nice day in these parts, after an agreeable Labor Day Morning breakfast with Susan (our annual during-DragonCon breakfast event) and just enjoying the weather and the leisure.

Michelle is upstairs, working on a project that I could go into a bit, but there might just actually be some peripheral contact by those personally impacted with the project and, thus, no word of it here, not today.  The 411 on that will come at a later time, and with a much more limited audience.

So, anyway, how’s it going?  I’ll tell you how it’s going.  She’s having a lot of good days, with some of them being better days.  She still only seems to have X number of steps in a day, and we don’t know what that number is.  Some days, it’s a bigger number.  We’re still a long way from making the entire block, but I have high hopes for October with that.

Haven’t written anything in a couple of weeks because there’s not really anything new going on.  She’s got physical therapy twice a week (except for next week because of resource scheduling issues) and does exercises at home every night (most every night). 

We walk the dog together at least once every day, most of the time.  This morning was especially pleasant.  I’d like to think that we’ll do that again at least once today. 

With summer officially and figuratively behind us, it’s in the archives, with some of them preserved here. Not a lot of options for Michelle Summer-just past, but there are high hopes for next summer. 

Our oncoming 30^th wedding anniversary looks less likely to involve locational options, what with her burning through all her vacation time to deal with recovery, but I’m hoping that we can work something out to make it a special day.  Still not sure what that could be, but hoping that a unique option will present itself for consideration.  I welcome suggestions from the audience.  As nice as it would be to wake up somewhere special and different on our anniversary, a day trip of some sort might be our only opportunity.  We’ll just have to wait and see how it works out.  She might not be up for a lot of walking around, anyway.  That’s a bit of a damper on revelries.

92nd Day-ish

Michelle is doing better, almost every day.  We’re walking further, not every time, but most times, sometimes multiple times in a day.

She’s not going this whole green-line distance every time, but usually going uphill (that's to the right, or counter-clockwise if your brain operates better with those parameters) and back home, unless we go the other way.  Short version:  a lot of the time, she’s going about twice as far as she was before, and at a faster pace. 

The whole circle (sort of a squared circle, maybe more of a block) is the distance we used to walk (with the  dog) almost every evening before we went to bed.  Well, except if it was raining.  I got the dog-walking prize on the majority of those nights, and didn't ever make the block on those occasions.  Angel wasn't so cheerful about it, and he wasn't alone in that.  Doggie raincoats and umbrellas just aren't enough.

The physical therapy side of it continues.  Part of it is going into the PT facility, the rest of it happens at home, every day.  I get to help with the at-home part.

Day 85

With 10 August, Day 83, behind us, the expected transitions have occurred; the air boot has been retired, the brace has been moved to her left ankle, and physical therapy has been scheduled.

My notes from the consult are brief and minimal.  Just to mention the detail, her surgery was on 29 May, so you can do all the day-counting you like from that point, along with the injury date of 19 May.  It’s all about counting, for some folks, and I support that option, whenever possible.

In the meantime, she’s doing lots better. Walking is still not a rapid activity, manageable without disagreeable-ness. Hard surfaces, naturally, are less forgiving, especially when she’s not wearing the brace on her bionic ankle.  Shoes on, hard floors aren't such a big deal.  It's progress.

“It’s time for her to work on her strength and balance skills,’ reads one of my notes. The physical therapy is scheduled to begin next Thursday, since that was the first available day for it.  That will include a bit of stationary biking and whatever else is on the standard list, along with some home exercises that she’s already working on.

She’s going on walks with the dog regularly. Stamina is something of an issue but, considering where she was a month ago, this is great guns progress, walking unaided.  Maybe I'm offering her my arm most of the time.  Maybe she's taking it.

I’ve considered resuming my typical schedule, going in early and such, but still feel cautious about the first part of her day.  I’ll give her another week or two and revisit that choice.

Counting Down Again

We’re counting down the days until Friday’s appointment to see the orthopedist and get the latest word on how Michelle is doing towards a full and complete recovery.  It’s sure been a long ride, but things look like they’re in good shape.  Michelle has a lot more mobility, and has gone on a good number of walks with the dog and I, most times about as far as the map shown in the earlier entry. 

The next appointment is at 10:30, so we’ll be getting there a bit before that.  She’ll be going in on her own two feet though, maybe the first time during this treatment series that this has occurred.  She’s done some amount of brief standing on both feet without any additional support.  Walking without using some kind of brace is still a ways out, but we’re getting closer to her doing that, and she’s getting better every day. We’re sure looking forward to things getting better and better.

This whole big long hassle has been a substantial challenge to us, but we’ve done well, considering, with the help of so many of our friends and family.  Looking over at the fireplace mantle, I count maybe two dozen cards that Michelle has gotten from so many thoughtful and helpful people.

If the air boot comes off on Friday, and we’re thinking it probably will, Michelle will finally be ready for some physical therapy, and she’ll get stronger that much more quickly.  Not sure about long walks by Labor Day, but Halloween looks good, I’d say.

Many, many thanks to everyone for their kind words and their generous help. It hasn’t been great, but it’s been a whole lot better than it could have been.

Michelle's unscheduled jaunt

Below, you can see the route that Michelle took on her unscheduled, unplanned, un-pre-meditated stroll.

As I wrote in yesterday's entry, I was getting ready to take Angel for a walk and Michelle decided to pick up and head on out with us to go as far as she felt like going. And, as you can see above, she went a pretty good ways. Where the line goes gray, that was about to the highest part of where we were going.  It was down-ish on to the distant end of the walk. Thus, it was downhill getting back to our house where the black line begins on the return stroll.

So, wow.  Gosh.  Progress.  It's been a lot of good days lately, after too many tough days.

21 July 2012: update

We are getting ready for Michelle’s second full week back at the office. Briefly summarizing the first week:  tiring. She was doing well on the half-days with me taxi-ing her in lunch-ish. Driving herself in on the usual commute schedule requires more preparation time, and additional tasks to complete before departure. It’s a different deal in a lot of ways.

We’re looking forward to the next consult on 10 August, figuring that there will be a better idea on how well she’s progressing. We both keep thinking about how she was told that the most recent x-rays of her right ankle (appearing elsewhere on this blog) don’t show signs of it every having been broken.

The other ankle, with the screws and the plate and the continued discomfort, that’s another story, and will be another story for years, I expect. She now has weather forecasting talents. Accuracy and specificity will improve as familiarity with the various sensations increases.

Earlier today, she went for something of an indoor stroll without using cane or walker, going from the den to the dining room and back, along with a few other places on the first floor. It was a cheerful accomplishment, but tiring. It’s very apparent that her left is not keeping up with her right, but we have to note that the right is wearing the air boot and that there’s some disparity in apparent local foot height from the floor. We’ve talked about other footwear choices that might balance out the disproportion.

Once this deal is behind us, I vote for high-tops. She’s not very keen on the idea. Robbyn suggests work boots, and Michelle is open for that option as long as I wear ‘em too.

It’s looking like a reasonable week for both of us. The dog misses having her around for the first part of the day, but he gets to see me at lunch. Being back on my usual lunch schedule is a big change, but I’m managing. We’ll see how it goes.

For now: Michelle’s getting better, not as quickly as she would like, but there is improvement, and the improvements are more apparent every day.

====================\\

So, naturally, 20 minutes after I posted the above part, needing to take Angel for a walk, Michelle joined us, figuring to go as far as she could and turn back when she had gone far enough. As it worked out, what with two stops to tell neighbors about recovery progress, she went a good long way up the hill and most of the way to the speed limit sign that’s been our walk-the-dog destination ever since we started walking the dog.

I shot some video of it on my cellphone, but I’m not data-agile enough to post it just yet. It’s a great example about how well she’s doing.

The SEVEN-WEEK update

The SEVEN-WEEK update of how it’s going with Michelle

IT WAS SEVEN WEEKS AGO TO-DAY THAT THIS CHALLENGE BEGAN.

Hey, got through yesterday, if you put any stock in that sort of thing.  Today has been a good-enough day.  She’s still got mobility issues that we’re dealing with.  Stairs and curbs are in issue.  Not keeping her foot up enough during the day is an issue.  Standing up is an issue.  Still, she can manage curbs and stairs, and she can stand up from a seated position.  It’s WAY better than what we were dealing with a week ago.  Impatience with how long this is taking is also an issue.  Needing to delay everything else going on to contend with all the issues is an issue.  It’s getting better, though.  Just not so quickly as we were both hoping for.

We drove down to Palmetto today, taking the three parakeets (some call ‘em budgies; I like that, but it’s not so widely recognized) down to Mom, after she expressed her interest in managing avian life and knowing that, without birds down there, sure enough there would be a comparatively small quadruped or two joining the local menagerie.

Going to sing Mass tomorrow for the second time, and the last time of the summer, what with this year’s choir season ending.  We’ll be back at the end of August, and Michelle should be down to just a brace on the left ankle by then.  We’re hoping, anyway.  And kind of expecting.

She starts back to work full-time Monday, after getting doctor permission to do so on Friday.  The half-days have gone well, but it’ll be good for her to have a whole day in the office to address those concerns.  It’ll take the focus off her own issues and give her cause to concentrate on business things.  It’s good for her to be at work.  It helps her get through the days. 

Handling the challenges

Michelle status is good, but not as good as she was expecting. She’s got mobility, but it’s slow mobility. She went out for a little walk last night, slowly down the garage-side stairs off the deck to look at the flowers, headed towards the mailbox as I took the dog for a walk, thought better of it part-way due to the driveway’s incline, headed back inside and on up for bed.

This morning, she walked down the stairs, one at a time. We’ve learned that the air boot was doing more for her right ankle than she realized. We’ll see how she’s doing tomorrow.

How about a few pictures?

Number 6 is where all the big-deal stuff happened, near where the plate and screws (316 stainless steel, I was told yesterday) and surgery happened.

The cast comes off.

The scar is healing very well.

Now, the air boot is on the left.

The whiz-bang yee-ha woo-wee 21st Century "sports brace" that's now on her right ankle.

And now it's this way.  Her next consult is on 10 August.  Maybe things will settle out better by then.

The 10 July Update

As promised through the earlier parts, the cast came off today and the air boot moved from her right ankle to her left ankle.  We'll go back on 10 August for another consult.

Michelle mentioned being told that her right ankle looks like it had never been broken.

I'll put up larger versions in a few days, along with excerpts from the notes I took today.  Right now, it's late, and it's been a long day.

Maybe just one more day of this

Today’s entry is brought to you by Arial Black .

Tomorrow afternoon, we'll get the 411 on the next part of our ongoing experience. After arriving a little after ten, we’ll go back in to meet with the orthopedist and get going on the cast removal. Once that's taken care of, we'll see what's next.

Probably, hoping, x-rays will confirm the expected level of healing. We'll get a splint put on her right ankle, move the air boot to her left, get some physical therapy input (I'll take some notes), and we'll head on out for some lunch.

Maybe she won't need any support from any of the supportive appliances to get around, or not so much support.  We'll just have to see.  Will the wheelchair and the knee scooter go back after tomorrow's medical consult?

I've arranged to take the day, so it's wide-open for me. I sure didn't want to contend with taking the morning to get her over there and then have to hustle back home to leave her off and go into the office. Thankfully, I'm ahead enough of what's going on to be in good shape, for one day, at least.

I sure would like to bring some pictures back so I can share how much better she’s doing now than she before this series of weeks began.  I can’t say enough how supportive everyone in our lives has been of Michelle and I both during this extremely disadvantageous situation.  We are both very thankful to one and all. 

Counting down single digits

Tuesday, 10 July, is the day we go in and find out the next step.  The plan is for the cast to come off her left ankle.  I expect that there will be some looking at it, and probably x-rays.  We would like to think that the air boot will move over to her left and that they'll put a splint on the right.  The further expectation is that she'll be permitted to walk, to put full weight on her left, for the first time since the morning on 19 May, just before she stepped off the next-to-last step down into our garage expecting to continue on her way to the car so we could go to breakfast. 
It didn't go that way.  Looking at the calendar, next Tuesday will be just over seven full weeks and maybe, finally, hopefully, she'll be allowed to walk.  It's what we've been looking forward to, even if it's not completely actually walking.

A Good Day

Michelle spent this afternoon at her job today.  After her doctor provided permission to work half-days, and all the various details got sorted out, I took her in during my lunch break, and she was able to get a good amount of work completed. I picked her up and took her home after my work day ended.  I'll take her back in again tomorrow during my lunch break.

She feels much better about how things are going.  We're counting down to 10 July.  19 Days, woo-woo!!

12 June update, plus duckies

For me, the big takeaway from the consult is that Michelle should be independently mobile on 10 July. She’ll actually be wearing a brace on her right ankle with the air boot on her left after then, but there should be a lot more mobility when we leave that office visit. I may have to take the day off, just so I can be with her as she celebrates her new-found options.

Maybe the best thing I heard yesterday was when K----, the nurse, looked at Michelle’s ankle and said “you’ve done a good job of healing.”

Somebody said “..right foot looks much better…” yesterday. I think it was Dr. S-----.

So, basically, four more weeks of the air boot on her right. Pink and purple fiberglass cast on her left ankle for four weeks. Lots closer to normal life after that. Still some limits, but way serious improved in a lot of ways.

Rudy (Michelle’s nephew) is being a really great help for us and, I think, having a reasonable time in our home. Maybe we’re not so boring.

also, the long-awaited duckies link is below.

herding ducklings

many thanks to everyone for all your help and good thoughts.

here's a few pictures:

Ankle screws, mock incision

As promised, less-than-super photographs of the hardware (these are actually negatives; I'll get positives, but not until 12 June), along with a picture of my left ankle as a stand-in to demonstrate the incision that was used to install the hardware. 

Michelle is doing better now. Getting away from the hospital took a bit longer than expected, what with getting the nerve block apparatus in place. She's pretty tired, and maybe a bit overwhelmed with remnants of the general anesthesia. Still, she was a real trooper getting into our house, going up the steps out of the garage into the house, one step at a time, maneuvering herself onto the plant stand, up another step, maneuver, up another step, repeat repeat repeat, and then repeat some more times. There was really no alternative for it, and she just dug in and got it done. I don't think that she can handle going up the steps to our bedroom tonight, so she'll probably sleep downstairs.

It's been a full and demanding day for her, but she was strong and solid and got through it okay. We're in the countdown phase now, and things will be getting better in a specific time-frame now.



Surgery complete, recovery continues

Michelle exited surgery around 2:00. The doctor came into the waiting area and beckoned me into one of the consultation rooms.

“She did fine…she’s fine,” he told me.

The fix implemented, for which less-than-super photos will appear in the near future, is a plate on the outside-facing bone surface bearing three screws approximately horizontal and another screw from the other side (inside-facing bone surface) at a somewhat-over-perpendicular angle (call it 115 degrees ) to the three screws mentioned earlier. This engineering update will live with Michelle for the rest of her days. She is now a bionic woman.

I neglected to ask any metallurgical questions. Details will come to light eventually.

I was shown pictures (“these are hospital records; you can get copies at your post-op visit”) of which I took cellphone-camera photos. I look to post those in the next few days. I got the doctor to draw a line on my ankle showing the incision. Got a picture of that, too. Sure, I’ll post it with the other ones.

She has a plaster cast on her left ankle now. We’ll go in for her post-op appointment in two weeks for dressing/stitches removal and fiberglass cast installation, probably in a complicated color scheme.

Six weeks after (or from now, my notes say, I’m not confident about that yet), left ankle cast removed, x-ray, put on another cast if needed, or put on a Moon Boot.

With the Moon Boot, she’ll be able to walk on it, but not before. She’ll only be allowed to walk on it after they put on the Moon Boot.

At the six-week mark, her RIGHT ankle will be fitted with a “sports brace” for the rest of the recovery cycle. She’s been hopping on the right one ever since the event, so that’s how things will be until she’s allowed to put weight on her left.

As I type these words, they’re installing a “nerve block” device to release tiny metered amounts of local anesthetic to the back of her knee and moderate the left ankle post-surgery pain for “about 48 hours.” It’s a home-removal process when the reservoir is depleted. Hey, I get to be a medical technician.

Mom and I await notice of getting to take her home. I think I’ll make chicken and dumplings for dinner.

NO WEIGHT ON HER LEFT FOOT UNTIL THE DOCTOR SAYS IT’S OKAY.

More 411, and pictures, when I get around to it.

Thanks to everyone for all your kind words of support.