Kittens From The Dark Side: August 2019

I was able to take the bandages off after 5 days.

It wasn't great to see what was under there, but it was nice to replace the saggy gauze and wrapping!

Slightly icky pictures coming . . .

Some of that purple-ish red is marker, some is dried blood.

There's an incision about 2" long right over my ankle bone (outer)

and at least a couple puncture holes or smaller incisions on the front of my ankle.

I'm spending most of my time sitting with my foot up,

alternating ice (behind my knee) and not ice.

Dresses and skirts are the easiest thing to wear.

Also, it is hot here (110 degrees yesterday!), so cooler things are with air flow are good.

This is what I wore yesterday.

dress: Target (years ago)
hair bow: J Crew
knee cart: Amazon
slides & socks: Target
camisole: JKY by Jockey (Target)

I've been getting a lot of snuggles, which is nice.

It's hard to need to rest so much, especially when I have just recently made so much progress recovering from long-term illness. I'm working hard to remind myself that

THIS TIME IT'S TEMPORARY!

Cat snuggles make everything quite a bit better.

My friend Jen brought these cute books to help my recovery.

Honestly, after awhile, it's hard to stay interested in much.

TV? Eh.

Reading? Eh.

My desire to read has slightly grown back.

Sometimes I just want to stare out the window at the leaves of the trees

waving around. That might be code for dozing. But it's pretty nice to watch the hummingbirds swoop down to get regular drinks from the fountain

(they have to drink often when it's this hot!).

Claude has been nearby most of the time, but she really doesn't enjoy getting her photo taken

and she usually looks weird.

Hopefully I'm getting a little better each day!

I made it! My ankle surgery is over and everything went much better than I expected.

The pain is not bad and I'm getting used to the strange mobility challenges.

Let me tell you the story.

But before I do, I have to tell you that I can't see the keyboard or screen very well.

My pupils are dilated from the anesthesia still, and all close-up things are blurry. I'll try to fix any typos later when I can see properly again!

I had a bunch of meetings the week before my surgery,

and it was rough with the remnants of the cold I was still fighting, but I did it!

I got groceries on the way home from the Tuesday appointment.

In fact, I think I got groceries three times the week before surgery

because I wanted to be prepared and cook a lot of meals

top: Charter Club (Macy's)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)

I found this gorgeous straw bag on Amazon

and have been enjoying its summertime vibes.

It's big, too, so it can function as a tote (when I have appointments, I take a book, a notebook, water, etc.) and this bag carries it all.

I had the pre-op appointment.

It was only slightly scary.

The most annoying part was that I was still feeling draggy and coughing a TON.

It's embarrassing to have a yucky cough in public.

But I felt well prepared after the appointment.

Still slightly nervous about the surgery, but ready to go through with it.

Here's an outfit I wore to that appointment:

top: Ross
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
bag: Amazon

On Wednesday I had another appointment, and I wore this:

top: A New Day (Target)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
sandals: Sketcher's (Amazon)
bag: Amazon

sunglasses: DKNY (prescroption)

I wanted to do some thrifting, looking for crutches and a knee cart/walker

for after the surgery. The Goodwill stores in Chandler, where I live, aren't that great,

so I decided to try some up by my doctor's office (Cave Creek).

I found a BUNCH of baskets and wicker things.

I like a lot of texture in my house, and baskets are a great way to add it.

The bottom one is a really cool huge picnic basket.

I have it stored under our coffee table as extra storage.

The top two baskets are going in the shelving in my office, which

is getting emptier all the time ; happily, I'm distributing the curriculum only digitally now,

so I will not be having curriculum binders on hand anymore!

Can you see me in the mirror?

I found some more of these delightful amber "cubist" glasses!

Great price! I don't know why anyone would give these away.

I also found this neato tray.

I love the woven pattern.

I hung it here, next to our flower mirror!

Look at this cute pom pom bag I found!

And I found some crutches!

They were sticky when I got them home because they had been taped together.

I used rubbing alcohol and it cut right through the stickiness.

I have a special place for each item!

I also found this glorious sequined jacket!

This could be fun for special events or holidays.

I was happy that the crutches were adjustable without a tool of any kind

(other than my brains and brawn!)

Then I browsed through the records and books.

I love the color of this record cover,

and I like Perry Como, too!

This boxed set is SO COOL:

This is inside that above yellow case.

And then the top part flaps down and has the names of the songs inside!

I tried another shop, but there was nothing for me there.

This Baldwin piano, however, was only $68!

I almost wish I had space for it.

Here are some of the supplies I ordered on Amazon to help me after the surgery.

Plus the OrthoArizona folder with our instructions.

Here's the box that contained my knee scooter!

I assembled it myself!

Here's my outfit from Sunday (I know because that's the bathroom at church!)

blouse: TJ Maxx
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
bag: Amazon
sandals: Sketcher's (Amazon)

My Mom bought me these cute little autumn pumpkins

while I was in Minnesota, and I couldn't resist putting them up even though it's not officially fall yet.

They're perfect there!

Thanks, Mom!

Here is some of the pre-surgery cooking I did.

Pancakes

Potato wedges

I also made

Potato corn chowder

Mexican rice & bean casserole

and

Mushroom stroganoff

The morning of surgery, I got up at 4 am.

I was alert pretty quickly because I was ready to get going.

There I am on the screen (top row!)

Greg still did bunny ears in the picture.

I was labeled as having allergies (adhesives, food sensitivities)

and as being a FALL RISK (because I fell and injured myself within the last 6 months).

That is embarrassing!

My friend Cindy reminded me that I do tend to trip and stumble and fall more often than a typical adult person would . . . didn't make me feel a lot better, but it is kind of true.

There I am, all suited up!

Here I am afterwards, in recovery.

I woke up quickly and easily compared to other surgeries I've had,

and I'm glad about that.

I didn't do anything else the rest of the day besides letting people know how things went,

sleeping, and cuddling cats.

They were quite sweet and made sure I was taken care of.

Greg is doing a FABULOUS job as a care giver.

My scooter has a basket so I can carry things from one place to another place.

I got a special sticker behind my ear to help with nausea for three days.

It fell off today, only two days in.

My Dad and Mom sent a sweet gift:

Excuse my slightly crazy eyes. They are not working right and I have trouble getting them to focus where I want them to!

It's a photo of Greg and me by the ocean

surrounded by little notes I've left in my parents' house when I've visited.

I love that photo!

Cindy came over and brought me some kombucha (I've never tried it!)

and a gorgeous cubist vase that changes colors depending on the light.

She's an excellent gift giver!

Here's a good look at the extra-cool vase:

Other than that, I've been resting with my leg as high as I can get it, putting ice on as often as possible. I am proud to say I took a bath today, and in 3 more days I can shower with the bandages off if there's no drainage - yay!

The surgery team said I won't feel like myself for at least a week.

The mobility stuff has been interesting - I can't put any weight on my left foot for about 3 weeks, so I use this scooter:

Assuming I heal as expected, after that 3 weeks, I'll be able to walk on the boot again.

Then I'll probably wear the boot for another 6 weeks (while doing physical therapy).

It's a long process, but I have high hopes that the results will all be worth it!

I haven't heard the surgery report for myself yet (the surgeon talked to Greg),

but one of my ligaments was 3x the normal size, meaning that it tried to compensate for the injuries over months (or maybe years). They didn't need to do anything with the tendons because they were okay, just stressed from trying to do their job as well as the ligaments' job.

I hope to as more questions when I go in for the two-week follow-up.

It's a good time to be hibernating. It's fairly hot.