The Adventures of Monica on a Knee Scooter

Recently, I have acquired a Rollabout Knee Scooter instead of a wheel chair and crutches. Let me tell you, it is so much easier to do just about anything. I feel more mobile than I have in weeks and it's great! I'm actually able to open doors all on my own, minus the few heavy ones in the art building ( Even with a knee scooter, the art building ramp is still death). The funny looks I've been getting is ridiculous, everyone looks at me like I have about 5 heads. Maybe these people just aren't used to it,  or maybe they are jealous, but I'm sure its the first one.

One of the downsides of this Knee Scooter is I don't bring my crutches with, thus when I have to go into tiny places, I must hop on my good leg. That's always fun to watch, it's amusement for those who have to put up with me (sam).

It's kind of ironic that I'm now in a scooter, since that would be the mode of travel that caused this accident. Hopefully this scooter having four wheel instead of two might be a little bit better for Monica the second time around.

Now some of you may ask, what exactly does a knee scooter look like?
Click on this video to find out, unfortunately mine  isn't the sweet colors that they have in the video.
Knee Scooter!

Staple Free- The Way to Be

Yesterday I got 30 staples taken out of my leg. That was fun. It felt as if the nurse was sticking me with a needle about 30 times. Previous to that, she brings in this vaccum -looking thing. Its a saw thats going to cut of my cast. Goodie! Little did I realize it would be rather scary and felt as though it was going to cut into my leg. I was rather scared to say the least. When she went over the staples with that, man was that a special feeling. Not only do I have staples piecing my leg, but I now have the pressure of those staples and the saw. Once the cast was broken off, I had about three layers of cotton ball like material to go through. Then she got to the blue ace wrap that had been cutting off my foot circulation for the past two weeks. That was a relief to get off. I saw my shriveled foot, and thought to myself, 'My foot looks about 90 years old'.

After the staples were gone, it was time for x-rays. The different nurse said to come with her, and my initial thought was, 'Without any bandages holding my foot in place?' Her response, "Yep". So then it was a test to see if I could hold up my leg without being in extreme pain. The result? Success. I made it to the x-ray room with ease, granted it was across the hall, but I got on the table and found I could actually move my foot on its own, without the technician having to move it like the past 3 x-rays.

So I had about 1 hour of actually seeing my very odd looking foot. The difference between my calve muscles was ridiculous after merely 3 weeks of no weight bearing. I realized what I could and couldn't do with my foot and was stretching it out a little with the help of my dad to get it at 90 degrees. It was weird to have feeling in some places of my leg, and little or no feeling in other places. Hopefully it will all come back eventually.

The doctor comes back and its cast time. I ask the curious question, 'So, is it going to be a full 10 weeks or 8 weeks?' Flat out I get the response, "10". Sweet. Basically, that means I go until mid- January without walking, just as its super icy and snowy, I can start to walk again! YAY! But on the flip side, after this cast, I don't have another one. I just have a boot thing that I still can put no weight on. I decided since I would have this one for about a month, make it candy cane looking. I now have red toes to match the cast. Thanks mother :)

I actually got a good night sleep without the staples jabbing into my foot, and slept comfortably on my side, a first!

Only another 1, 211 hours left in a cast. Enjoy the pictures and keep on keepin' up with my blog :)

The Old Cast

The New One

  

Some fun pictures for your viewing pleasure. 

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Hope everyone had a good turkey day. I'll get to my day in a little. But first off, let's talk about yesterday for me. So, earlier I had made a foam gingerbread house. Then yesterday, I was invited by my friend Liz to make a real one.  Although it came out of a box, it was still fun to make. It came with an assortment of candies and frosting. Getting those walls to stay up was the hardest part. Nothing says like her being the daughter of an architect like using a stapler, 4 cans of bumble bee tuna and a bottle of vitamin water to hold up the roof and walls. After they held up, it was decorating time. We each made a roof side. Liz patterned hers with M &Ms and me, the art major, just squiggled frosting around and put these fruity candies all over the place. As you can see, learning a lot at school.  Here is the final product:

So after we were finished decorating, little did we realize it was raining outside. If you've ever had a cast, you would know that casts and water don'r really make good friends. Liz and her sister found a series of bags, one of which was a sandwich bread bag. Hey, if I'm going out it the rain, might as well go out in style. The bag indeed kept the water out, the cast was dry when I got home. Good problem solving guys :)

Today was Thanksgiving. When you think of Thanksgiving, what do you think of? Family coming over, that smell of turkey and pie lingering throughout the house, and a bitter fall day? That's usually what I think of. However, that really didn't describe the day. Up until about 3:30 or so it was pretty much an average day, minus getting dressed up. Side note- finding  an outfit to match a cast wasn't very easy. Hence, I decided not to match. But it was funny, both my mom and sisters matched my cast. This year instead of getting the house all decorated and making food, we ventured to a country club. I wasn't too keen on the idea from the get go. I mean I just wasn't a fan of the idea of 'hey let's pay someone to make our food so we don't have to cook and take them away from their families on Thanksgiving'. But it wasn't my choice so I went along with it. The food was alright, nothing that really wowed me, especially since I got to see it a second time as I came home. That was special. 

As Dorothy once said, "There's No Place Like Home." I'll have to agree with her on this one. Sharing my Thanksgiving meal with about 20 other tables of people I don't know doesn't really suite my fancy. 

Tomorrow is a second appointment with the doctor. I get the 30 staples out and a new cast, bye bye purple cast. There will be pictures to come. 

Hope you all have a better rest of the evening than I did. Happy Thanksgiving for the next 3 hours and hope you don't have to see  your meal again like I did.

Drawing and Going Out- The Essentials of Staying Occupied

So after missing 9 days of school equals a lot of work to make up. Among these assignments was a self portrait, not a small one, one on the scale of 30x24. Yikees. If it's one thing I'm not good at, it's drawing. This assignment should be fun, especially since I am going to poorly draw myself. Overall, the project wasn't that bad, just very time consuming. Hey, it's a good way to pass the time I suppose. After a few days of working on it, it's pretty much done.

The Original

   The Drawing 

It's not 100% accurate but I would say it's one of the best I've drawn in the semester.

Went out to lunch with my friend Sarah today, we went to California Pizza Kitchen. The hummus was delicious and the four- cheese ravioli was rather yummy. It's nice to get out of the house and be social every once and a while. All the crazy holiday shopping has started too. It's not even Thanksgiving and people are coming out of the mall with 5 or 6 bags. Come on people... Maybe everyone is shopping for Hanukkah, I mean it is a very Jewish suburb, I wouldn't be surprised. I remember when I used to work in a Hallmark, the old jewish women would come in in September or October looking for Hanukkah cards for a holiday that is about 2 months away. I could write about a million stories about customers but that's for a different day. 

Oh the Things the Lil' Ones Can Do

10 Year Old Pro Scooter Kids

Watch this video in order for this post to make sense.

So my friend Jon, stumbled upon this video and shared it with me. It is these 10-11 year old on scooters. Is it sad that they are about my height and doing all these crazy tricks, not breaking anything, and here I was just going to class, no flips or tricks, and I break three things? I think so.  I'm fairly jealous, yet at the same time not so much. I feel there will be no scooter riding in my future. I'm definitely okay with that.

Nothing Like a New Hairdo

So, I had planned to get a haircut a few weeks ago pre- accident. Little did I realize that it would make me feel much better for some reason. The past few weeks have been a roller coaster of accomplishments and defeats. Some days have been good, others have been not so good. Overall the haircut has lifted my spirits a little. It's probably because for the past three weeks I've been wearing sweatpants and t- shirts all week and going on about 3 showers a week. My hair for the past few weeks has consisted of being in a bun because its easy to deal with. But today was the first day it was down and actually looked presentable. So to those of you who like me are in a cast, I would recommend it.

(Kind of MySpace-y, I know. My apologies).

I've also decided that once I get this cast off, I'm going to get a very much needed pedicure. I don't even want to know what its going to look like after 3 months. But I've been painting my toes to match my cast so at least my toes look pretty. Note to self, wheelchairs are not so easy on the nails, just about all of mine are broken and chipped. Oh well.

I made a trip out to Naperville with a friend today. It was great to get out of the house and have some different surroundings. Lots of stuff to do there,  so many stores! May have to make a trip out once my leg heals.

Only 1,312 hours left! The staples come out Friday. A little bit of pain the last few days on my ankle. Not really sure why but I wish I could see what was going on. Probably going to see if for about 30 minutes on Friday for an xray and re- cast. It's been decided, white with red stripes and red toes to match :)

Thanks for all the support! I get so excited to see my views going up. If you guys have any suggestions about topics you want me to explore or write about, let me know!

What to Do While in a Cast?

So I was curious about different activities people have come up with while in a cast and typed it into Google. You wouldn't believe what kind of weird answers that came up that were completely irrelevant. For example, there were some of the answers that popped up when I typed "Things to do while in a cast"    Things to do while in a cast

1. Five things to do while you wait for the Harry Potter Conclusion

2.The Top Ten Things to Do while Waiting for Your New Moon DVD (who would want to wait for that?)

3. 31 Funny Things to Do with a Cast Iron Skillet/

4. (One of the only things relevant) Things to Do While wearing a leg cast - Decorate it and have people sign it. Thanks google, I didn't already think of that one.

If any of you have ideas that can help pass the next 1,344 hours, please let me know. :)

A Good Way to Make the Next 1,680 Hours Go by Faster

So, I realized the next ten weeks or so equals out to about 1,680 hours. That's a lot of time to figure out what to do with. In a cast, it definitely seems a lot longer than than. But as of today, two weeks down. Anyways,  I recently took a little journey to Michael's Craft store trying to find something to do to occupy this time. I came across this foam gingerbread house that looked like fun, and hey for $2.99, I said why not. So last night, I decided to open it and give it a try. With about 50 different pieces, it was a little intimidating, yet the picture on the package helped out a little. The set did come with a few extra pieces and rather than yellow pin striped circles, it came with green ones that didn't match the yellow gum drops. Also, you would think that an art major would be able to do this project with ease, but once you peal off that white backing, and place it down, if one thing is off, everything becomes off. Let me tell you, I had to re-arrange the decorations multiple times. That's besides the point. 

The Finished Project

I've begun to look at the glass as half full instead of half empty. Instead of looking at the next few weeks as 8 or 10 weeks, I'm looking at it as 2 weeks down. 

Today, I visited my high school. It was definitely interesting getting around on crutches. It was like I never left. I started up conversations that I had in May. I probably told my story a good ten or so times, and got that ever so curious question, "How did you do all that on a scooter?" Believe me, I keep asking myself the same thing. They say I should have come up with a better story that didn't involve a child's scooter. They suggest I should travel by bike from now on, I'll look cooler. I would have to agree. I don't think I will riding any scooters anytime soon. 

RIP

Razor Scooter

Nov 4 2010

Extreme Darren Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWYi7w9eBdI

My friend Caitlin sent me this link earlier when I started going to class on a scooter, little did I realize, my fate would be similar to his. You should all feel free to enjoy it.

Who Knew?

Who knew having a cast and a set of crutches could be such a good conversation starter. I go just about anywhere and get questioned, "What happened?" It's a good thing I don't find it difficult to talk to people. Some people say, "How did you do so much damage on a scooter?" I find myself asking that very same question. Some people say I should come up with a better or funnier story, but to be honest, doing so much damage on a scooter, to me seems pretty funny all together.

Another thing that I've found to be difficult: shopping. Now that I'm back at home for about a week, I tried to go to a few stores. I walk in, and get these dirty and confused looks, why? I have no clue. Some people ask if I want a wheel chair and I decline, but about ten minutes into shopping, I regret my decision. I'm just waiting for the day that I can ride around in those mobilized scooters like the ones the old people at the grocery stores have.

Only about another week until the 30 staples come out. I'm going to get another cast after that and I'm debating the colors. Let me know if you have a good suggestion.

A Shout Out to the Nice People of the World

So, apparently all the nice people of the world have been hiding out. It's like, do I really need to break a limb in order for all these people to appear? You would be surprised at the number of random strangers willing to help a girl struggling to get into a building. According to my boyfriend, they are always hiding because they don't want to get hit by the crazy bikers of Champaign. That in and of itself is a good excuse to hide. Not only are people willing to help into me buildings but helping find my lost belongings. After Sam and I made our way back to my dorm yesterday, we get to the elevator only for me to say, "Where are my crutches?" I then realized they were back in the art building bathroom. So, we went all the way back to the art building and ask some nice strangers to go into the bathroom to get them. Here's to the nice people of the world, thank you very much and one day if I see you struggling, I may very well help you in return.

Monica Takes a Nasty Spill

So, the inspiration for this blog came around about two weeks ago. I was going to class on my Razor scooter, and then within seconds was in pain writhing in pain. I heard that crunching that just about anyone who has broken a bone knows. It doesn't sound pretty. Thus, as I was on the floor attempting to get up, immediately fell over. My leg did one thing and my ankle did another. That's never good. You would think that in a heavily traveled area someone is bound to stop and help a crying girl on the side walk, this is not the case on the streets of Champaign. It wasn't until the call to my boyfriend had been made that someone came to help. Thanks to all the kids coming out of Illini Towers that didn't stop to help. As I made my way to the Champaign hospital and 2 mg of Morphine later, things started moving pretty quickly.

X- Ray time and the results are: A broken fibula and broken ankle in two places. Good question, how does one go about fixing this? One word. Surgery. The heart rate went up on that one. After a 15 lb plaster splint, and now 10 mg of Morphine later, it's time to go home.

Upon returning, I realized, how would I get my new jeans off over this cast? The answer: Have your roomie cut them off into shorts. Bye bye new jeans.

Monday Nov. 8.

Surgery time! After an an hour and a half of prep time and a sexy hospital gown, it's time to go under. About an hour and forty five later, I awake from surgery. Unable to feel my leg due to a nerve blocker, I make my way back to consciousness and am greeting with an apple juice box and graham crackers. Yummy.

Tuesday Nov. 9.

Wakey- wakey leg! It's time to feel the pain! But flowers from some people help throughout the day and make things better.

Wednesday Nov. 10.

Monica learns the importance of Vicodin and how to use it wisely. It does marvelous things.

Friday Nov. 12.

I make the adventure outside my house. To eat mexican food I go!

Monday Nov. 15.

One week after surgery. The plaster comes of and survey says: 30 staples in my leg!

Got a lovely purple cast to match the bruising on my foot. It looks delicious. It's time to go back to school, things are going to get interesting.

Tuesday Nov. 16.

You would think that if you saw a person in a wheel chair crossing the street, you would stop and let them cross, right? Apparently not the situation in Champaign. Almost got hit by 2 cars. It's just like every other day.

Wednesday Nov. 17.

Note to self: Saw dust on floor of art room= no no for crutches + a nasty spill.

This blog is dedicated to the daily struggles, mountains I must climb and stories I have to tell.

Airport security: Beware. I have a lot of hardware now. I'm not afraid to use it.