One Week Later

Most of the pain has subsided, but I'm still having to keep the foot elevated and refrain from doing much. Today, it looks so beautiful outside. It's a shame I can't enjoy a nice walk in Piedmont Park.

I've been able to a good deal of work from home, although it can be a bit tedious lying down with the laptop for hours at a time. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get into the office after my post-op appointment next week and get back to a relatively normal workday.

I had a couple friends come over and make dinner for me the other night. My parents went to go see a movie. It's great to have people come visit you when you can't go anywhere.

I'm still trying to figure out how to manage to do things on crutches. I've never had a broken leg, so this is all new to me. I'm hoping I won't have to be on them for very long, but I'm not too optimistic considering how bad the doctor said the tendon tear was. I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

Three Days After

This morning was really difficult for me. I woke up at 5 a.m. wanting some more sleep, but could not get comfortable at all. I was really distressed and feeling terrible. After taking some pain medication, I felt much better. Today, I went down to the gym in my condo complex and did some light arm exercises with free weights. While it was not a full workout by any means, it was good just to get out of my bed, out of my condo and doing something different. I'm hoping things just get better, although I know I'm going to have rough days.

The Nerve Block Wears Off

The nerve block I received during surgery lasted for about 12 to 15 hours. As it began to wear off, I started feeling a good deal of pain overnight. My parents helped me with my pain medications and brought me water multiple times. I have been feeling somewhat dehydrated. The pain medications gave me some strange dreams, but overall I think they worked fairly well.

My mom was concerned because I was running a mild fever yesterday. I was told by Shirley from the surgery center today that it's normal to have a slight fever right after surgery, but that if I have one three days after surgery or so, it is probably the sign of an infection. Hopefully, the fever symptoms will not return. Getting a staph infection is probably one of my biggest fears in going through the recovery process.

I tried to eat some cereal this morning, but ended up feeling nauseous, so I took one of the anti-nausea drugs the doctor prescribed. It knocked me out for another couple hours.

Currently, I'm not in a whole lot of pain, but will probably need to take some more pills once the pain comes back. I'm hoping to move over to the couch today and watch TV in my living room.

I've been reading a book called The Discovery of France, which I've almost finished. I also watched The Motorcycle Diaries through Netflix on my laptop. I've also been using Facebook a whole lot. I'm hoping that may in some of this downtime I'll be able to do some creative writing as well.

Surgery Day

I just got home from my surgery. This morning, I had to report to the surgery center at 7:30 a.m. and had the surgery itself at 9:30 a.m. I had to fast from midnight and couldn't drink any water, although I was allowed to have a sip of water with the heart medication I take. Once inside the surgery center, I met with the nurse and anesthesiologist and my doctor. They gave me an IV and a nerve block. The nerve block was a little strange, but I think it was pretty helpful for reducing the pain. They asked me several times my name and what the doctor was operating on.

I woke up feeling relatively coherent. I had anticipated that I was going to awake in a drugged stupor. The nurse gave me some ginger ale and crackers to eat and I lay recovering for a time. The doctor came in told me that the tear in my peroneal tendon was more significant than he expected considering the fact that I had not complained of much pain. I'm hoping it will heal fine, but I'm a little worried that it's going to be a long time before I'm able to run again. I guess I will just have to wait until my post-op appointment and thereafter to see how things progress. Since the tear was severe, I am glad I decided to proceed with the surgery.

What I was most surprised at was being coherent enough to update Facebook and this blog just a few hours after the surgery. Right now, I feel fine, but I'm sure the pain will set in later on.

My parents have been great with helping me out at home. I'm sure the next few weeks will be challenging.

Weather Delay

Atlanta has been paralyzed with ice and snow for the last week, so I decided to postpone my peroneal tendon surgery for a week. I was supposed to have my surgery today, but I'm going to have it next Thursday instead.

I'm not exactly sure how I injured my tendon, but it was probably during the time I was training for a half marathon this past spring. I recall hurting my ankle really bad, but did not think it was broken, so I didn't see a doctor about it right away. Later, I noticed a lingering pain that would not go away, so I eventually consulted my doctor about it. He put me on anti-inflammatory medication and told me not to run for a while; however, this did not help, so he sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. Once there, they determined that nothing was broken, but he thought that I may have torn the peroneal tendon. An MRI suggested that indeed something was torn and that surgery was the recommended solution. I have decided to go ahead and get it taken care of.

I'm a little bit anxious about it and would like to just get it over with. I think it's going to be really tough being on crutches for such a long time and I'll definitely miss being active and exercising.

I really appreciate those who have gone through this surgery who have blogged about their experiences. I want to be able to do the same thing for anyone who is going through this surgery as well.