One Year Later

Well, time surely does fly as I've noticed over the past year. Today is the one year anniversary of my surgery. I remember waking up at 5:45 and going into surgery with my dad. In retrospect, the 10 weeks I spent in a cast seem like nothing compared to the other 42 weeks of the year. I've done so much this year and I haven't let my leg slow me down one bit. I worked at a summer camp for 10 weeks, went bowling- without crutches, finally started towards my photography degree, became a radio DJ, made several life changes, and I'm currently working on training for a 5k in May. I was told that I wouldn't even start running in till May of next year, but here I am, currently training at 1.2 miles anytime I run and working my way up every week or so. I've set a goal for myself and I don't look at what is behind me, only what is in front of me and I am determined to run this 5k. I remember the night I broke it just sitting in my bathroom thinking I would never be able to walk or run again and my life would be differently from that point on. I was right in a sense, that my life is very different now that it was a year ago, but for the better. I'm pretty much able to do just about anything with my leg now, I even got back on the wakeboard this summer and maybe eventually I'll get back on the snowboard. But for now, my goal is the 5k and running it successfully no matter the time because I'll go at my own pace, I just want to finish it.

It's also fun sharing my story with people and hearing their reaction to "I fell off a razor scooter" because typically the reaction involves some sort of comical response or a giggle. However, over the past year, I have met several people with the same surgery but different story. I look at their leg, notice a 7 inch scar on the outside of their leg and go "metal plates and screws too?" and they instantly know what I'm talking about. It's certainly a conversation starter and it's interesting because often times, these people I meet have just started walking again, and are looking to me for tips. I never thought that would actually happen, I was always seeking out the tips of others, and here parents of campers or peers are coming to me. It almost forms a bond in a weird way because you know what the other person has been through and it's not an easy journey.

I often times forget my scar is even there and forget when it happened and the other day it occurred to me that it was almost a year ago that I was riding to the hospital in an ambulance on 10 mg of Morphine. I can't wait to see what the future brings, I'm traveling to Atlanta this November and London this December so I can't wait to see how airport security treats me. That will be a story for another day I'm sure. But for now, the best I can do is keep on keepin' on and focus on what is in front of me and forget what's behind me.

These are just some photos from the past year and what I have done:

Started being a DJ on the air

Met a camel

Set a World Record

Got closer to my sisters

Met Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk

Went bowling sans cast and crutches

The Final Stage, Finally! I'll always be bionic.

I went in for what is hopefully my last appointment with the leg doctor for the next 2 months. Earlier this week, he pulled out about 1/3 of the screw that connects my tibia and fibula because he was worried it would break (which it did). I got an x ray today only to find out that a decent amount of the screw is still in my bone, just chillin. The fibula now has a hole in it and me being curious was wondering if this hole is going to make my leg easier to break in the event of a tumble. However, I was reassured that it would not be and I could proceed to go about my activities. Hopefully next week I will get back to running. After 5 months, the whole broken leg process is finally over. I can finally go back to wearing two shoes. I often see a lot of people in walking boots or casts, and ofter them a word of advice because I know I would have wanted some when I was in a cast. It was definitely a learning experience overall, and although I wish I never have to experience it again, in a way I'm glad I did because it taught me several things and underneath it all there was a lesson: don't ride razor scooters.

I know there are other lessons, but that's the most obvious. If you have the means to pick up a razor scooter, I advise you not to. You'll be glad you didn't.

Side note: for any of you wising to invest in one, if you are over 110 lbs, don't buy it. Mistake #1. There is a reason little kids ride them.

Mmm fun! Stitches! I'm glad its not staples.

The 2/3 screw left in my leg. If you look closely, you can see the hole in the other bone.

A sideview of the hardware. Doesn't that look fun?

Leg Surgery, Part 2

Waking up at 5 in the morning on Monday wasn't exactly how I envisioned my spring break happening, but it was out of my control. I woke up, took out my various piercings, put on my glasses, sweatpants and heading out the door. We were the first people in the surgical center, a dream come true, except not. After about 30 minutes of the standard procedure of getting ready for surgery, the gown, the socks with the grips, and a sexy blue hair cap, I was almost ready. Except, I forgot my favorite part, the needles! Woo for IVs. This specific nurse decided that putting the IV in my hand would be a swell idea, boy was I wrong. First, she stuck a needle in my hand to numb it, which didn't really do much, and then she stabbed me with the IV needle, only to find out that my hand veins were not substantial for the IVs. I then proceeded to tell her how I had the IV in my wrist last time. Side note, IVs in wrist from now on. The doctor then came in and drew a nice purple arrow on my leg, the right one, just to make sure they operated on the correct leg, that was reassuring. How much would that suck if I came out of surgery with a bandage on my left leg and nothing on the right....

Now unlike last time, I don't really remember my trip to the operating room, but this time I did, since they gave me the drugs when I actually got to the room. Meanwhile, on my way there, all the people I passed were smiling at me, as if they knew something I didn't. I also was a bit urked by the musical choices they had in there, the song from the Titanic, and Another One Bites the Dust. I feel they shouldn't have such debbie downer music in there, it might give patients the wrong message. That room felt like an ice box, the nurse had to give me three warm blankets just to keep me warm. They then put the meds into my wrist, which proceeded to burn. I struggled to stay awake, but felt myself drifting, I battled but failed.

I woke up around 8 am to a nurse mildly shouting my name. I awoke from my mid morning siesta with the worst salty taste in my mouth and the inability to swallow. I was concerned. One nice thing about the post op room, they are always offering juice. They have such a large selection it's hard to pick just one. I went with fruit punch, a solid choice. I then got another walking shoe, which meant going back to my one shoe days, and was told I had to only walk with this until friday.

I then got home, ate my McDonalds egg mcmuffin (YUM :)) and proceeded to lay on the couch all day. Wait a minute, this seems familar.... just when I thought I was done with this..

So the whole purpose of this surgery was to remove a screw that went through my tibia and fibula, aka the two leg bones. The irony of the whole story is, I started surgery with 10 screws in my leg, came out with 9 1/2. How is this possible you may wonder? Apparently, the screw that they wanted to remove broke sometime between january and this monday. So, when the doctor first pulled out the screw, it was about the size of the ones attached to the metal plate. He thought he had unscrewed the wrong one, wouldn't that be special? But no it was the correct one, just half the size. Where is the other half? Chilling out in my tibia. There was no easy way to get it out apparently, so rather than battling and getting it out, it was better off to just leave it in there.

Here are some fun pictures from this surgery:

My sweet yellow foot and bandage

The cute new shoe

Half of the screw that they pulled out

Time Heals Everything

It's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy using BOTH of my legs!

I'm back to working out 5 days a week now and I've had people tell me they would have never known I had a broken leg. It's a good feeling to know how far I've come in the past few months.

I've gone from walking to not walking, to sort of walking to finally walking with two shoes. Today, I met a girl who also had a knee scooter just like me. I asked her what had happened, and she slipped on some ice. She had it easy though, she doesn't have to use the scooter in the winter with the snow. But I still felt her pain, and promised her it does get better. I'm proof.

The irony of my accident is also the fact that it has inspired my art now. In my design class, we got an assignment, pick a body part, and obviously I picked a leg, and had to carve it out of wood. Now being inspired by my accident, I decided to do the stages of my leg. The ideas were, a skeleton leg, the broken skeleton (after the accident), the newly robot leg, a healed up with scars one, and a normal leg. I decided to pick the robot leg because for about a month after my cast came off, my leg felt foreign, it did not feel like my leg. The idea of artificial is what I wanted to portray in this piece and that's what I think I got. The model of the wooden leg is how I felt for while and reflected that feeling.

The Finished Product

I'm walking almost back to normal now. I'm still not running, but I am swimming once a week. I never thought I would recover so quickly and be able to get back in my workout routine but I managed to make great progress in a short amount of time. I never thought I would be where I am today, but for all of you who are out there reading this, and are broken, I promise it does get better

Just When I Thought It Was Over..

So yesterday, I was sitting in my lecture class and I get a text from my room mate saying, "I've rejoined the cast club" Now I'm thinking walking boot because we were walking boot buddies for a while, even though she never wore hers like she should have... My reply, "a legit cast?" and sadly, it was. Now this is unfortunate for many reasons, one I just got better, and know exactly what she's going through, second, I just brought home my Cast cozy to keep the exposed toes warm, and the shower bags home. So what do we do when it's bath time? Get the garbage bag and duct tape. Nothing more rewarding than wrapping your suitemate's leg in a plastic garbage bag and putting duct tape on it. But in all fairness, she cut me out of my jeans when I broke my leg so it evens out in the end. It's a weird feeling knowing I was just there, but it almost feels like so long ago, even though just this weekend I was in a walking boot. Now, I'm wearing two shoes! It's a small world and a weird chain of events, but that's what makes life interesting.

Peace Out Walking Boot

Today was the first day that I have walked in two shoes since November 8th. It was the weirdest feeling I've had in a long time. It almost felt as though I've never broken anything and I'm back to normal. It's weird, because I've been dealing with a broken leg for so long, I'm now very in-tune to people who are broken as well. I see people on the streets and a walking boot and instantly notice them before any of the other people. I had a conversation with a girl in the bathroom a week or two ago, and she was on crutches and a leg brace. I said to her how glad I was that I didn't have to walk in the snow in crutches. I also drove for the first time since October this weekend, it was like I drove just yesterday. I didn't forget how or anything, just took more caution when using the gas pedal.

Today, it took people a few minutes to realize I was actually wearing two shoes. It was weird for me too, all of the right ones are so much cleaner than the left one. One thing I have noticed however, is the way strangers treat me with two shoes vs. a boot, cast, wheelchair etc., they don't move out of the way when the sidewalk gets narrow, pushing me onto unstable ground. They give me funny looks when I get off the elevators (I haven't mastered stairs yet) and they treat me as though I'm back to normal, which gets me thinking, does it take a broken leg or limb to get people of humanity to sympathize and actually care about strangers? I was used to the general niceness of people getting out of the way, but now, well no one really gives a darn.

Walking, there is still a bit of pain, and I can almost feel the popping of the screw or two when I walk. I will need surgery again over spring break to take out one of the screws... I just love surgery so much.. But hopefully once this is all said and done, I won't need anymore for a long long time.

So, to conclude, I'm glad that you all read and hope you enjoyed my blog, and now that my leg is healed for the most part, my journey will never be done because the road to recovery is long, but thank you for reading and following my little bump in the road. I'm glad I could entertain and keep you in the loop with my life. As for now, I'm just going to keep moving forward.

Long Time No See

Sorry for not posting in several days, I've been busy getting back into the swing of school. Ive been walking for almost two weeks now, and things have been up and down throughout those two weeks. Coming back to campus for the first time in 5 weeks was certainly odd, but was a much needed return. It was so weird actually seeing my foot and the weirdest thing for me, wearing normal fitting pants! I didn't have to worry about riding the struggle bus and making them fit over the cast. Another moment that I had yesterday was carrying my own laundry basket, I had gone so long pulling it on my scooter, that mid walking to the washer, I said to my suite mate how weird it was to be carrying it. Now, I already established that winter was not the best of all months to break a leg, and it still isn't. I may not be on crutches or a wheel chair or a knee scooter, but there is one thing that is still making my traveling difficult: slush. It's unavoidable no matter where I go. Just yesterday I was walking and and while I walked up, a decent amount of water splashed onto, of course, the walking boot, not the normal close toed boot I was wearing.

Physical therapy is going rather smoothly, making progress each time, today I had an ultrasound of my leg, which I was confused by, but it was a heat ultra sound, to loosen the insane amount of scar tissue I apparently have. Hopefully I will graduate to walking normally soon. But in the mean time, the bus system is definitely coming in handy.