BS: Back after a hiatus...

Subject: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Peg
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 11:41 AM

Hi all--

I have not been on the Mudcat too much in recent months because my at-home computer (an IMac) blew up this spring and I only had online access at work.

Then this summer I went for over a month with NO online access because I broke my leg while camping, had to get surgery (broke my fibula in two places and messed up my ligaments near the ankle--now have about a dozen pieces of metal in my leg), spent a week in hospital, then recuperating at my parents' house, then finally came back to Boston.

Anyway, I am finally online again,in case anyone was wondering where I was...

Anyone out there have tips for not going stir crazy? I have been doing a lot of writing, reading and some TV watching, but seeing as the bulk of my normal activities at this time would be hiking and gardening, it is hard not doing physical stuff while I continue to heal.

Also, any tips for rehabilitation from those who have had serious leg breaks or ankle injuries would also be most welcome. I have had some bad ankle sprains in my day but nothing like this.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 12:00 PM

I thought you hadn't been round Peg - glad it wasn't because you got fed up with the rest of us, but just because you'd broken your leg... Welcome back.

There's a great book by Dr Oliver Sachs, who wrote the book on which the film "Awakenings" was based, about the time he broke his leg badly while mountaineering - anything he's written is worth reading, but I think this one would be particularly interesting for Peg right now. ("Dr. Sacks chronicles the mountaineering accident which left him with the uncanny feeling of being 'legless', and raises profound questions of the physical basis of identity.")

I always wonder what happens when someone wishes an actor or performer "break a leg", and they go ahead and do just that. I mean, does the well-wisher feel a twinge of guilt?

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Peg
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 12:11 PM

I do love Oliver Sacks' work so I will look for that book, McGrath...

as for the "break a leg" custom, as a former acting student, I was always told the superstitious tardiitons of the theatre are to help prevent things from going wrong. By wishing someone to breaka leg, supposedly you helpo insure that all will go well! As for the phrase's origin, I don't know precisely but was once told it referred to an actual leg-breaking accident on stage...

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 12:13 PM

Welcome back, Peg.

BRAIN FOOD WHILE RESTING

AQUATIC REHAB, probably for later.

My sister had an injury similar to yours. Afterwards, she didn't rest enough. Healing went awry. She had to have a second surgery to rebreak, reset, and re-oin. It has never been right since. So please, rest more than you think you need to. Sleep is a great healer, so stay relaxed enough to doze off.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Deckman
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 12:32 PM

Hi Peg,

Last December I got a new hip installed in my old body. During the installation process, they broke my femur. They said they were sorry, but I've got my doubts. As a result, I too had some real serious pain issues. Not being a druggy, I had a horrible time trying to figgure out the meds. If you want to PM me, I'll be glad to give my opinion of the various pain meds I had. Of course all I can do is tell you my own experiences ... we're all different, and that's a good thing. Be of good cheer, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Jeri
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 01:05 PM

Excercise in whatever way your doc thinks is good. Low impact stuff to build muscle back and increase circulation around the injured part. If you have pain meds and physical therapy, even if you don't really think you need them, take them when you have PT. I found that I excercised better when stuff wasn't telling me "Ow...stop that."

Surgical scars can itch and burn like a sumbich, and rainy or humid weather will kick them off. Get a good vitaman ointment and massage them with it. A couple of weeks after my knee surgery, one scar hurt more than all the drilling and cutting they did. It depends on where they cut, and in what direction though.

Write a book, poetry, music, read everything you find interesting, watch movies (I need to rent one that was recommended to me for being weird and good: Bubba Ho-Tep), learn an instrument, and do other stuff you've probably already though of. I do beadwork. This is great for keeping busy and repetitive stuff can almost be meditiation. Beads are small and portable. You can get enough for a necklace, bracelet and earrings in to your pocket. I weave the itty bitty ones, but you could very easily design and make one with beads of a sane size.

Sorry all this bad stuff happened to you, Peg, and yes, I did wonder where you were. I hope you heal fast and well.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 01:12 PM

That book by Oliver Sacks is called A Leg To Stand On.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: open mike
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 02:26 PM

i agree that any thing written by Oliver Sachs is recommended highly..
though i have read "hat" "anthropologist" "colorblind" "seeing voices"
"awakenings" i had not heard about "leg". usually he writes ABOUT patients, but in the leg one he writes AS a patient...diff. perspective for him! at least you were not run down by a bull...or were you?
I hope yo got good care from the beginning...did you need to be rescued?
happy healing to you, and glad you came back...just in timt to sign in
the the mudcat recovery ward...you will be in good company there...

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Peg
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 02:43 PM

Deckman--I am kind of anti drugs myself and had some real issues with all the pain meds and other stuff they loaded me down with at the hospital--but one screaming insomniac night post-surgery was enough to convince I just needed the damn shot of Demerol. Percoset was the only thing that helped me sleep. Can't get a scrip for it, tho, cuz it is so heavily controlled in NY. So I had Vicodin to take home. Worked fine but the resulting constipation was almost worse than the broken leg. I am no longer taking any pain killers. Thinking of selling them on the streets to pay my (uninsured) hospital bills. (joke--the selling. not the lack of insurance)

Jeri--good advice re: resting. I have "overdone" it a bit a couple of times and had to endure some pain and swelling. It seems to all be healing okay but occasionally I look at my leg in horror as if I am a Frankenstein monster--where did my perfect limb go? But I am hoping it is just swelling and another couple of weeks will make it disappear.
I am working on several writing projects which is keeping me busy. Bubba Ho Tep is awesome! Go get it. Bruce Campbell is amazing as Elvis.

open mike: yeah, "rescue" is the word. I slipped on a muddy path in the dark while camping at the place I go every summer--my sensible boot got mired in mud while the rest of me fell, try though I might to fall on my butt. Crunch. Ouch. Wish I had the excuse of being drunk or even distarcted but, alas, it was just very bad luck.
Friends nearby came running with a chair, a flashlight, a coldpack and an ace bandage. Then a "human chariot" was made to carry me over a muddy bridge in the dark (damn that was scary) to get onto a golf cart (the only vehicle that could make it to that part of the campground). Then off to the camp first aid station. I was close to being in shock at that point, thinking I just had a bad sprain. The first aid EMT guys joked with me as I asked for arnica homeopathic remedy, then they unwrapped my foot to ice it and whispered behind their hands for a bit. Then they announced I had to go get an x-ray--NOW. Thankfully the ambulance turned off its lights and siren when it arrived, so all my friends wouldn't think (as we always do every year when an ambulance comes on the site) "damn, what did some idiot do this time?"
Got an x-ray at the hospital which confirmed a compound fracture and severely torn ligaments. Back to the campsite to doze in achair for a few hours, then off to another hospital to see an orthopedist. Next morning the doc said I needed surgery ASAP. So long to my vacation. I checked into the hospital in the muddy clothes I fell down in and one shoe. My friend who drove me there went out and bought me a toothbrush and a phone card.
More to tell but suffice it to say, you find out who your real friends are when shit like this happens.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 02:49 PM

I've been wondering where you were, too, Peg. Sounds like all good advice, above, esp. Jeri's re' beading...it really can be a kind of meditation.

In addition I'd add, though you probably already do something similar, take 5 minutes of each hour to be still, deep breath, close your eyes, and visualise a warm glow of healing around the injured area. If you fall asleep don't worry about waking up for the next hour's 5 minute "still out;" our bodies heal better when our minds are *on hold*:-)

Also, have you been using any arnica and/or boneset (comfrey?)

Good to see you back! If you get too bored, how about telling us the story of how you broke it? **bg**

Take care,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: SINSULL
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 02:52 PM

Damn, Peg. Last week I flushed my Percoset. I would have been happy to mail it to you.

So sorry about your accident.

Maybe a chance to catch up on organizing photos or reading a good book? Lame, I know.

SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 03:02 PM

The idea of having to worry about hospital bills in a situation like that... We forget about that kind of thing here (anywhere in Europe just about), and it's quite a jolt to remember it's still like that in some places.

At least you had friends nearby. When poor old Oliver Sacks had his fall, he was on his own, and struggling back to get help is quite a hairy part of his book.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: fat B****rd
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 03:12 PM

Welcome back, Peg. Good luck with your rehab.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 04:07 PM

" Anyone out there have tips for not going stir crazy?"
Playstation2... Grand Theft Auto:Vice City! LOL

"I broke my leg while camping"
Don't do that ANYmore!

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Jeri
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 04:20 PM

I get Percocet for my migraines - a small amount to be taken infrequently. If you're going to have pain that's pretty much continuous and temporary, they might not want to prescribe it, or you'll wind up on a seedy street corner someplace looking for shady guys with prescription slips. (Shouldn't joke - it's the same narcotic that's in Oxycontin.)

I didn't realise I said anything about resting, but I guess it was implied. Do the recommended beneficial excercise, then get off it. There's nothing worse than standing or milling around (can one person 'mill'?) for swelling. You can't do the right sort of excercise if you do the wrong sort and your leg swells up like a sausage in a microwave. With my knee, I found that going up stairs felt really good, and down stairs felt really bad, but that was a knee. Are you on crutches now?

They put me on a therapy regimen that had been designed for pro atheletes. They PUSHED me, but they also told me to rest it in between session so it could heal. My legs were in better shape after all this than they've ever been in my life. Your doctor may not want you doing too much this early, so ignore anything I say if it's not right.

I just came back from buying MORE beads. (And getting two more holes poked in an ear.) The place I went has begun to have classes. (There's a beginners' silversmithing class starting in a month or two.) It made me think you may want to check with a local crafts shop to see if there's anything you might be interested in. Then again, reading doesn't cost anything, if you have a good library nearby.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: alanabit
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 04:35 PM

Welcome home Peg. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Peg
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 04:44 PM

Sinsull--damn, bad timting there. Oh well.

Jeri--sorry, I think I meant to say therapy! I got some advice from a Pilates instructor/personal trainer the other day who gave me a stretch band and showed me how to use it. I have been doing some stretches and crunches just so I do not tutn into jello, but so far I do not quite have the balanace and strength to do yoga etc. Had some time in a friend's pool last week and that worked wonders.
I have been using apricot kernel oil on the scar and it is looking better. I do not have a physical therapist or even a local orthopedist--must look into this. It is hard without insurance to even get an appointment. I will have insurance starting Octobver 1st though, thru my job (about time). I do have a chiropractor I see so I am thinking of calling him to see if he can refer me to someone. Then have to get my records transferred from western NY.

It is definitely too soon for me to be doing much--I still need the crutches for when I go out into the world and stairs are still a pain. Even though my cast came off after ten days, I was told 4-6 weeks until I could resume basic weight-bearing activity, another few weeks before things were normal again...and probably no jogging or aerobics for a few months. Guess I can deal with that, though I always start jogging again in the summer. Have to wait til next year.

So anyone ever opt to get the metal pins removed from their bones after surgery???How will I know if this is a good idea? I hear it is done sometimes if people find the pins bothersome...
too soon for me to tell I guess, plus that is another surgery.
I was told by a pharmacist not to take calcium supplements while healing so deposits would not build up around the pins...anyone hear of this before?

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 05:57 PM

You'll set off the metal detectors, of course, but apart from that I've never heard that metal bits are any problem. Provided they're fixed in properly that is - my father-in-law had a screw from a broken ankle that came loose a few years later, which was a bit of a problem, though you'd never know it to see him, and he's 93 now and walking around fine.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 06:21 PM

Sorry to hear about your accident, Peg. I have had a similar injury:

I was riding a motorcycle in town when a car made a left turn into my path and pinned my left ankle between its bumper and the bike's engine. I executed a graceful arc through the air, bounced off a chain-link fence and landed on my back on the sidewalk, banging the back of my head with such force that it dented my helmet. When I looked up I saw bloody bone ends sticking through my jeans and decided to lie back down.

Double compound fracture of the tibia and fibula. When I came to I was being wheeled out of the OR and the sensation in my leg was one of searing heat. I asked "Why the hell is it so fucking hot?", much to the displeasure of the nuns/nurses. (Turned out I'd been taken to a Catholic hospital.)

I was in a cast and on crutches for six months. Apart from the pain, the worst part were the itches I could not scratch. My herbalist wife gave me comfrey, traditionally known as knit-bone, to facilitate healing. There were four large screws in my ankle which I had removed some years later when I found they inhibited my skiing.

I credit the doctors at the Catholic hospital with doing a great job. I have full functionality in the leg, and ski just fine.

Wishing you competent surgeons and a speedy recovery! Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: michaelr
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 06:23 PM

That last post was from me, sans cookie.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: open mike
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 06:35 PM

hey..never flush stuff--
post to the mudcat first!!
you might make a new friend...

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: GUEST,milk monitor
Date: 28 Aug 04 - 09:13 PM

Ouch major ouch.

DO NOT DESPAIR! I broke my leg in a similar place to you four years ago, when I was 5 months pregnant.Maternity wear isn't designed to fit over a bump and a plastercast.

I broke the tibia and fibia just above the ankle, so basically my foot was only attached to my leg by skin. Wish I had done it dramatically, but I was just on my doorstep and turned around to put the key in the door to lock it and the whole thing shattered.I then was in a heap in my porch, so I clawed up the wall to put the key back into the door so I could get in and phone for an ambulance. Had to crawl through the house to the phone, then realised I had shut the door behind me, so had to crawl back, dragging my unattached foot with me, to open the door so the ambulance people could get in.

Adrenalin sets in and after 15 mins of lying on the floor, repeating to myself, "Think of the baby, don't pass out." The ambo arrived. Took to casualty where they looked, xrayed and agreed I had completely mullered it. Being pregnant meant no pain relief was suitable and I would have willingly took ANYTHING.

The op was done under an epidural, as a general anaestetic would have passed through the placenta and knocked out the baby too.However anyone who has had an epiduaral knows that they wear off, so mid op I got all feeling back. I told the nurse who was sat at my head end that I could feel everything, she did a not very good job of telling me I couldn't. I decided to just move my leg away from the surgeon and his black and decker that was drilling into my bone. He looked over the green sheet aghast and asked me how I could move my leg! I told him I could feel everything and five secs later I was knocked out with a general anaestsetic.

I came around plastered and pinned. They put two plates in, one either side above the ankle and about twenty screws to fix the whole thing together. The plaster was removed just in time for me to limp around a delivery room and give birth. I had the easiest birth in history, and drug free. For comparison purposes I would choose the pain of labour every time over that of a compound fracture.

Like you I was shocked at the state of my leg when the plaster was removed, two six inch scars running up both sides of leg above ankle and it was huge, puffy and stiff.I cried when I couldn't find any shoes to fit me..thinking it would be like that forever.

I walked up and down my stairs hundreds of times to try and loosen it up and I swam. That was the only exercise that didn't hurt. It didn't have the power to run, if you know what I mean?

It never felt like 'my' ankle though, it always had a dull ache and a stiffness, that I really thought was there forever. I put off having the plates and pins removed, because I thought that the pain of the op to do that would be as bad as that which I had experienced after the break.And I couldn't be incapacitated with a young baby.

Eventually I was brought to my knees and my senses when I inadvertently bashed it against a shelving unit in a bakery store. The sheer pain of metal in my ankle hitting metal in the shelf was excruciating. This was a year and half after the break. I enquired about the removal of the metal work and was booked in for the op. It was only day surgery, done under a very light general anaestetic.

As soon as I came around I was aware that the dull ache had gone. It was painfree completely. They went in the old scars to do the removal.It was lightly bandaged. All the stiffness had gone and the ankle felt like 'my' ankle again. I now wish I had chosen to have the metalwork removed alot earlier.

I know exactly how you are feeling, well maybe, but it will get back to normal again...HONEST! Even though you probably can't imagine that now. The scars are barely visible and all the power has returned. There are no side effects. You will be amazed how it gets better as the swelling goes down. If they offer to remove the pins etc go for it.

McG : the metalwork didn't set off any alarms at Gatwick, don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing!

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Peg
Date: 29 Aug 04 - 12:18 PM

thanks for sharing your story, milk monitor. What a terrifying experience! Good on you for keeping your head amidst all that--if I'd been alone I'm not sure how I'd have fared...

I had an epidural anesthetic, too. Anything with the word "spinal" in it scares me but I had a lovely Chinese anesthetist (a soft-voiced man)who answered all my questions and set me at ease.

I appreciate your comments on the "to remove or not to remove" the metal bits, too...I think it is too soon for me to know if I will go that route, maybe wait a year and see if it interferes with my activities. I'd have the same surgeon do it and he lives far away from here--ironically the only time I could do it would be right after camping in that area during the summer--just like when I was injured!

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Aug 04 - 12:21 PM

Oh yes-- on fitness while healing-- there is a great chair-bound exercise program called "Sit and Be Fit." Made mostly for seniors but anyone who needs to exercise without walking or standing can benefit. On PBS.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: mooman
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 05:58 AM

Good to see you back Peg...I always enjoy your posts.

Peace

mooman

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 06:34 AM

Oh, Peg, honey, I'm so sorry! It's good to hear from you!

I have no words of wisdom or advice, but just hang in there and keep doing all the good things you should be, so we can dance again next summer at Old Songs!

Blessings,

Allison

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 09:43 AM

I have Vicodin -- it's acetomeniphine (tylenol) and hydrocodone. Hydrocodone is a form of OxyContin. OxyContin is a form of injectable opium. See the Mayo Clinic drug information site for this and follow the clues.

Whenever I've taken Vicodin or a similar thing I'm out of commission for 24 hours for the 500 mg. size or 48 with the 750s. I don't like that; my wife flushed the 750s and we keep the 500s only for the deepest emergencies.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Peg
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 09:48 AM

thanks all--hey, quick tech question--no one's Mudcat name shows up on my computer after the FROM line--juts a little blue PM! What's up with this? Can I fix it?

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Midchuck
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 09:56 AM

thanks all--hey, quick tech question--no one's Mudcat name shows up on my computer after the FROM line--juts a little blue PM! What's up with this? Can I fix it?

Naw. It's happening to everyone, I believe. Max has gotta fix it.

At least the 'Cat is up. And we can all say what we really think.

Peter. (Midchuck)

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 10:33 AM

Check on "PM" in the meantime to see who's posting.

Sounds like some good advice here, Peg, for your recovery program.

Good luck,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: DougR
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 12:32 PM

Deckman: are you suggesting the doctor's broke it just for fun? :>)

Sorry about your leg, Peg. I've missed seeing you around, though I haven't been on as much of late either, but not due to pain problems thank God.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Deckman
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 05:59 PM

Doug ... I don't think he did it on purpose, but he sure didn't tell me either. I went home at three days with NO knowledge of the broken femur. After ten days at home, hobbling to the bathroom, I went into the doctor's office and he x-rayed it. He said, "Oh. You're the one. I did four hips that day and I broke one femur, but I didn't remember which one. Go home and go to bed for a month!" (true story) I damn near hit him! I said I'd been walking on it for a week. When I do my other hip, soon, I'll choose a different doctor, and hospital. CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Midchuck
Date: 31 Aug 04 - 03:44 PM

Don't let poor Peg drop of the bottom of the screen! She's already had a fall!

We can't let her spend the rest of her life in Hiatus, Mass.

P.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: jacqui.c
Date: 31 Aug 04 - 04:55 PM

Hi Peg

Sorry to hear your news - I can't really add anything to all the good advice you've been given so I'm sending good thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: CET
Date: 31 Aug 04 - 05:02 PM

Hello, Peg; this is Charmion, who has not re-set the cookie.

I broke both my ankles, the left one in January 1990 and the right in January 1994. Both were the result of falls on ice (this is Ottawa, home of the low-friction sidewalk), and the first one was very similar to what happened to you -- straight over backwards, bilateral fracture, and all the little ankle bones and bone fragments scrambled. I was 35 years old at the time, and by far the youngest person on the orthopaedic ward at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, where I spent a week, the first 48 hours of which was spent simply waiting to get into an operating theatre -- I was, after all, not dying, unlike other people.

In the posts above, I see a great deal of advice about pain-killers, but I learned very quickly to stop taking them at any time I needed to be able to move about. Unless you have the upper-body development of a paratrooper, crutching is very hard work, and you need to be fully awake and aware, especially if you need to go up and down stairs. You need a comfortable sofa or easy chair with a footstool close to the telephone, and a regular rota of visitors who know how to converse properly -- i.e., not all about themselves and their problems. As long as you are in plaster and not allowed to bear weight, ALWAYS ensure that somebody else is in the house when you take a bath. Also, be on the ground floor when you are in the house alone.

I had two surgeries on the left ankle and three on the right. The left ankle was the worse injury, but it healed a great deal better than the right because I was "on the sofa" -- no weight bearing -- for 10 very long weeks. I thought I would die of cabin fever, but I didn't. I recommend European films; I think I went through the entire videotaped oeuvre of Gerard Depardieu and Philippe Noiret.

The second injury was complicated by the fact that I had lost my disability insurance and couldn't afford to be off work any longer than absolutely necessary; consequently, the surgeon (not the same one as in 1990) did a sturdy but inelegant repair job with long screws, put me in a heavy plaster walking cast, and sent me back to work after one week in the hospital and one week of rest (no weight bearing) at home. Ten years later, the left ankle can hurt quite badly when the air pressure is dropping (I'm more reliable than Environment Canada), but the right ankle is distorted by a bone callus on the medial aspect, and tends to swell at the slightest provocation. Worse, the shank of the right leg is about 1.5 cm shorter than the shank of the left leg. I now have a slightly irregular gait that my husband says he can spot from the far end of a city block.

The biggest problem I had during the both recoveries was balance, and I never did regain it fully -- I now use a hiking stick with a spike on the end to ensure that I stay upright in winter. Between the original fractures and the surgery to insert and remove the hardware, a great deal of irreparable damage was done to the nerve endings that gather and transmit "proprioception" information -- i.e., the data on the relative positions of body and feet.

With both my ankle fractures, the screws and plates were removed as soon as the leg had healed sufficiently and the bone had, as the surgeons put it, "filled in" as much as it was going to in the presence of the hardware. It seems that humans really are bone lazy: as long as the hardware was there to provide support, those crucial weight-bearing bones would not become as thick and strong as they were before. The worst-case scenario was that the next time I measured my length in an icy parking lot, the ankle would break at every screw and thus be reduced to even smaller smithereens, and plenty of them. The hardware removal was done in the hospital's day-surgery unit, not a fun experience but at least I was out of there in 12 hours. And in a walking cast again for four weeks. Why can't these things be done in summer? This enquiring mind would really like to know.

High-heeled shoes are now a thing of distant memory and, although my dancing days are not quite done, my step has very little spring in it. The scars are kinda ugly and I don't like that lump on my right foot, which makes boots fit badly, but worse things happen at sea.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: kendall
Date: 01 Sep 04 - 03:24 PM

Here's wishing you a complete and speedy recovery.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Mudlark
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 05:58 AM

Welcome back, Peg. Sounds like you've been thru the wars.

Regarding your recovery, I had a hip replacement last Oct, and injured the new hip joint in a car accident a few months ago. My surgeon perscribed a couple months of PT, done in water, and it has really helped. The unit is called an AquaTrek, sort of like a sawed off shower enclosure with tight fitting door. 95 degree water to armpit level is pumped in, there is a bult in variable speed treadmill, very good for limbering up w/o pain, also massaging jets of water. Therapist does about 10 min. of massage first, to loosen spasming muscles (I don't take pain medication either, unless driven to the wall). This massage really helps a lot. Once the PT sessions are over I will continue with a massage person (much cheaper).

Good advice not to overdo. Always easier to stay OK than to get OK again, once you do too much.

As for passing the time, as well as writing, reading, and TV I also listened to a lot of radio and books on CD/tape, especially good for sleepless nights. And along with my journals I kept a small sketch pad, and some colored pens. I've no artistic skill as such, but love to doodle, make designs, etc. There is something about doing that, sort of like a kid pouring over a coloring book, staying between the lines, that is mesmerising and makes the time go quickly. There are also books of Celtic and other designs, stained glass windows, etc...sophisticated coloring books.

Emailing can eat up time, too. Feel free to PM me if you want! Take care of yourself.

Subject: RE: BS: Back after a hiatus...
From: Cllr
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 07:35 AM

Hi peg,
Many years ago I used to go out with Oliver Sach's neice and he was looking for a title for one of his books on sign language I suggested to him a quote from Midsummers night dream "i can see voices" and My girlfriend said yes the qoute from Pyrmus and Thisbe seeing voices. she got the credit in the book for the title!
Break a leg I believe comes from the mechanical apparatus which raises the curtains If a peformance is very good and a large number of curtain call caused the device to fail you had "broken a leg" keep posting to mudcat regards Cllr