Category Archives: Health

These Feel Like Scary Times (or This Is The Time To Fight For Our Rights)

Posted on May 4, 2022 | Comments Off

I’m sure everyone has heard of the draft by the Supreme Court to overturn abortion rights. For so many of us, this was what we were afraid would happen. After seeing the rush to get new justices on the court who seemed pretty certain they would do this, it seemed inevitable. I had hoped that we would be wrong, but it seems like everyone who thought we were overreacting was wrong and we were right to worry.

Whether or not you agree with having an abortion yourself, nobody should be able to tell someone if they are allowed to have a medical procedure. Nobody can force you to donate blood or a kidney, so why would it be allowed to force someone to use their uterus against their will? Some people claim that because there is adoption, there is no need for an abortion. But that is forcing someone to carry a pregnancy against their will and suffer the physical and mental risks that come with that. And even if you do go through with a pregnancy and have someone adopt the baby (which isn’t a guarantee because you can see how many babies are in foster care that need homes), who is going to also cover the financial risks for the person who had to give birth? They can’t go back to work the next day, so will the government cover paid time off for everyone who is forced to do this? How about all the medical bills? Giving birth can be thousands of dollars. If you are doing this and it’s not your choice, you shouldn’t be forced into paying for the medical care you didn’t want.

So many states have trigger laws that will outlaw all abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned. So if a child is assaulted and becomes pregnant, they will be forced to go through the pregnancy. Some states don’t even allow for terminations if the mother’s life is at risk, so they are sentencing people to death which would end the pregnancy anyway. But I guess they would rather end the mother’s life so they can say they never ended the pregnancy.

And there are so many other issues that come up with this connected to pregnancy if these rights are overturned. We’ve already seen a mother who had a miscarriage be arrested because they thought she had an abortion. I would suspect that would happen more and more as some states give financial rewards for helping them punish women who terminate their pregnancies. Even if those women are found innocent and let free, who pays for their legal help? If they are in jail for a few days and lose their kids because of it, who will help them get things resolved? And then there is the issue of embryos and IVF. When you go through IVF, you create embryos and not all of them are used. Some have genetic issues that would not end up as a viable pregnancy. Others might just be extras after you have your kids. People are given options of what to do with extra embryos, but if termination is illegal will they be forced to use all their embryos even if they are not going to make it? Will they be made to go through the entire IVF procedure knowing they cannot have a pregnancy just so they use up the rest? I know there are embryo donations for extras that are deemed normal that others could use, but would you have to donate the ones you know cannot succeed? And then there is still the financial aspect of it. If you are forced to use all that are made, who pays for the medications and surgeries to use them up when you don’t want to have a baby? Or will people stop doing IVF because of these fears and risks?

And outside of the concerns about the right to an abortion, the draft shows a scary future that the Supreme Court might be creating. They mention that this needs to be overturned and that other things were decided based on the same “invalid” reasoning. These include the right for same-sex couples to marry, the right to have access to birth control, and the right to interracial marriage. This is a slippery slope and I can’t imagine what would happen if they come after those rights next. But why would they mention them in the draft if this wasn’t a preview of their plan?

But now is not the time to be scared. This is the time to fight. And there are many ways to fight. First, if you want to donate to help those who need access to safe and needed medical care, there is a good list on this page. There are talks about protests coming and I would watch social media to see more about that. Make sure you speak up however you can. This draft might have been released so they could see our reaction, and we don’t want to be quiet and have people think we are ok with this. We need to be loud and make sure that safe abortions are accessible. Overturning this will not make abortions go away. It will only make safe abortions go away for millions of people. Those who have the means and money will always find ways to have safe abortions. They might travel to another state to do it or find another way to make sure they get the care they want. But those who don’t have that option will be the victims of this. They will find unsafe ways to end their unwanted pregnancies and we do not want to see that happening. We need to keep each other safe, and keeping safe abortions legal is one way to do it.

I really hope that this draft ends at just being a draft and those on the Supreme Court somehow change their minds, but we can’t just wait and see. We have to make sure we are fighting because if we don’t before we know it more rights will be gone. And now is the time we have to fight for this right and I will not be quiet as long as I have my voice.

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Posted in Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged health issues, rights

Random Days Of Sickness (or I Don’t Know What Caused This)

Posted on April 27, 2022 | Comments Off

I’ve clearly been going through a lot of stress lately, and I know stress can do crazy things to your body. I haven’t been sleeping well, my eating habits are all over the place, and I’m just having anxiety all the time. And that’s outside of the physical issues I’m having connected to moving such as the pain from lifting so much.

And I knew there was a risk of all this stress getting me sick, but you can’t really predict how and when it might happen. But I got pretty sick yesterday and I have no idea if it’s connected to stress or if I got something like food poisoning. Being sick is never fun, but it’s worse when you have so much you have to do and you aren’t really in a place where you know where everything is.

I spent the night before just feeling rotten. This was different from how I feel each month and I just couldn’t get comfortable in bed. I’m glad I wasn’t scheduled for a workout that day so I could have a bit of a lazy morning. And I tried to just be gentle with myself during the day. I had to work and move stuff from my old place, but I was taking my time with things. I also moved around my place while working to be as comfortable as possible. I’m not really set up to work from my couch right now, but I tried to work there so I could stretch out. I also spent some time working from my bed. I know I’m lucky that I’m able to do this since I work from home. If I was someone who had to go into an office I would have had to call in sick.

I’m hoping that this bug or stress sickness will be done now. By the end of the day, I was still feeling a bit off, but significantly better than how I was in the morning. I know that when I get bugs like this it can take a few days to feel fully better. I usually have a few days of uneasiness or being off-balanced.

I know this is a shorter post than what I normally do, but I’m still trying to feel better and I have a lot I need to get done today. I know I’ve said this so many times, but I just can’t wait until the move is done so I can get this stress out of my life. I’m almost there, but I still have a few things I need to do so I can officially say I’m no longer in the process of moving.

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Posted in Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged moving, sick, stress

5 Year Anniversary Of Being A Medical Miracle (or Somehow This Feels Like The Last Big Milestone)

Posted on April 20, 2022 | Comments Off

5 years ago today, I was supposed to have my liver surgery. Because I seem to be a medical miracle and my tumors shrank, the surgery was pushed off. I think originally we thought that we would see what size they would stabilize at and then plan for the surgery. Obviously, the smaller the tumors are, the easier the surgery would be. And because of how my tumors are stuck in my liver, the smaller the tumors would be when I had surgery, the more of my liver I could keep. I know livers are weird and can regenerate, but it’s always better to not have to regenerate as much. Originally, I think we were thinking that I would lose 20-30% of my liver in the surgery. But if the tumors shrank and I only had to lose 10%, that would be a much easier recovery for me.

Even with how much the tumors shrank within the first 6 months, I never expected that the surgery would be completely put off. But every time I went in for my MRIs, the tumors seemed to get smaller and smaller. And at one of my last in-person appointments with my liver surgeon, we discussed that my situation was now where they wouldn’t recommend surgery for me. The tumors were small enough that they were no longer as life-threatening (although there are still things that could happen that would be more dangerous for me than for others because of them). And the placement of the tumors would actually be harder to remove than when they were at the biggest size. It would be more of an issue to remove them than to leave them there. So the plan was that I would do one more MRI and as long as they didn’t grow I wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore.

My last MRI got pushed off by a year because of the pandemic. But it worked out just fine because at my last appointment my surgeon said I could do the next MRI in 1 year or 2, so I was still following the recommendations he gave to me. And as I wrote in my post after the MRI, the tumors were the same size they were 2 years prior. Of the 3 tumors I had originally, only 1 could be seen and it was 10% of the original size. I didn’t even have an in-person follow-up with my surgeon after the results. He let me know the tumors were stable and that I no longer needed to be monitored.

My last MRI was 5 years to the day from my first MRI, and that made the 5-year mark feel extra special. And since today marks 5 years since I didn’t need surgery, it somehow feels like the end too. I won’t have future MRIs to check on things (unless things take a drastic turn) so I won’t be celebrating the tumors shrinking or being stable. And I know I can continue to celebrate each year that passes after I didn’t have to have surgery, but there’s something about knowing I had the last MRI that makes this non-surgery anniversary feel like it’s the last one too. Then again, I still celebrate how many years have passed since my hip surgery, so there’s a good chance I’ll continue to celebrate this too.

And maybe this feels a bit like the end because I’m moving away from the place I was living the entire time I dealt with the tumor saga. I had a similar feeling when I moved away from the apartment I lived in during the time I had my hip surgery, but it wasn’t as strong. But my hip issues continue to this day versus the tumors which really don’t have to be something I think about all the time.

Whether or not I continue to celebrate this medical miracle anniversary, I love knowing that I’m 5 years past the date that I was supposed to have major surgery. And while for a few years after it was a little stressful not having the surgery and still being worried about the tumors, I’m still grateful I didn’t have to go through that and I have been told by my surgeon that I can move on and not think about this anymore.

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Posted in Celebrations, Health

Tagged anniversary, health issues, liver, miracle, surgery, tumor

Another Panicky Dentist Appointment (or I Don’t Like Unexpected Moments)

Posted on April 5, 2022 | Comments Off

I still hate how I have panic attacks when I go to the dentist. I am tired of them and it’s annoying for me. And because of how my panic attacks can manifest in my body, they can be exhausting and sometimes painful. And even though I haven’t had a lot of bad dentist appointments in the past few years, I can’t get over these attacks. I would think that having enough normal appointments would help. And when I’ve had more major work done, it’s been a lot better than it used to be. I have tried so many things to make dentist appointments easier for me, but I always have a horrible pit in my stomach every time I go.

I am still grateful that everyone at the dentist’s office is understanding how I get at appointments and they do try to make things as quick and easy for me as possible. But I still look miserable when I’m arriving and I think they have thought at times that I might pass out. One of the ways they help me work through my panic is by trying to keep things to a routine so I know what to expect and in what order. But when things are changed up, my attacks can get pretty bad. And unfortunately, that’s what happened at my last appointment.

I know I have to do x-rays every so often. The x-rays aren’t painful or bother me, but I know that doing x-rays can reveal things that are bigger problems. And I understand that’s the point, but it’s always tough knowing that’s going to happen and getting myself prepared for that. So when I went into my recent appointment and thought it was just a cleaning, it was a bit of a shock for me to find out that I was supposed to also do x-rays. I started shaking and feeling sick. And I feel pretty pathetic that I get that way but I can’t really control my panic attacks. Because of how I was reacting and how nervous they were that I would have an even worse panic attack, the plan changed for my appointment. They did detailed photos of each tooth instead of x-rays. That shows if there are any external issues with any of my teeth, which is mainly what my issues have been with cavities and chips in my crowns. I know that seeing the photos would make me panic even more, so I just kept my eyes closed and didn’t look at the photos when they were done. Again, I felt a bit silly and pathetic, but I knew I needed to do that to get through all the negative feelings I was having.

Fortunately, as expected everything was fine with my teeth and they were able to move on to the cleaning and get that done. I still was shaking throughout the appointment, but I also know different things I can do to distract myself a bit and that helps make the shaking not quite as bad. And since things are a bit better with the pandemic, they were able to use some of the tools they had to stop using because of the aerosol they create. But things like the ultrasonic tools help make my appointments easier to tolerate so I’m glad that those are back. And I wasn’t having additional panic attack issues because of the pandemic this time, so that was good too.

I will have to do my x-rays at my next appointment since I didn’t do them this time, but at least I will be more prepared for them at that point. I know it still won’t be easy for me and I’m sure I’ll have a panic attack going into that appointment, but it will be better than being surprised and not being prepared. At least I have 4 months until that next appointment and I don’t have to stress about things for a little while. And even though it seems extremely unlikely, maybe somehow my panic attacks won’t be as bad when I go in for that appointment.

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Posted in Health

Tagged dentist, health issues, panic, panic attack

Some Things Are Starting To Return To Normal (or I Still Have To Make Smart Choices For Myself)

Posted on March 8, 2022 | Comments Off

For almost 2 years now, I have worn a mask pretty much everywhere I have gone. There are a few exceptions such as eating outdoors (I still have not eaten inside a restaurant since the beginning of 2020) or going over to a friend’s house if we both are ok being unmasked. And while this may be a choice others find risky, I do go without a mask at my workouts since they have allowed us to do so. But I only do that because they do require proof of vaccination and I know everyone there is taking the situation as seriously as I do. I still bring a mask with me to my workouts so I can put it on if I feel like I need to wear it.

But other than those few rare occasions, I always have a mask on when I’m around others. I remember at the start of the pandemic when I didn’t have proper masks and I was trying to make them out of whatever I had at my house. Now, I have a collection of masks and I always have at least one with me. I have one that is always in my car and one that is always in my purse. And I have a bunch at my front door where I keep my purse when I’m home so I can always grab a different one since some are better for different activities or circumstances. And I quickly learned that masks do trigger my claustrophobia so I have had quite a few panic attacks while wearing them. But there is no doubt that wearing a mask has kept me safe and healthy for almost 2 years. While I do wonder if I had Covid at the very beginning of 2020 (I lost my sense of taste and smell for almost a week, but that was before that was a known symptom), I haven’t gotten sick since I started to wear masks. And I’m grateful for that and I have no regrets about how careful I have been.

But things have taken a turn for the better with the pandemic. While the number of cases every day isn’t the lowest it’s been, the number of people who are in the hospital is dropping significantly every day. And that’s a good measure about how things are going since we know there is a chance this may just become a normal cold that is rarely fatal. Because things look better, more and more changes to return back to the old normal are happening. One of those changes is not requiring masks indoors as long as you are fully vaccinated.

Of course, a lot of places are relying on others and believing that they are fully vaccinated without requiring proof. And I have a feeling that most people who choose not to be vaccinated would also choose to not wear a mask if they could help it. So I didn’t think too much about the mask mandate being changed since I knew I would keep a mask on while indoors unless I knew they were requiring proof of vaccination. And I didn’t think too much about this until I went to the grocery store this past weekend.

I only had to pick up a few things and I didn’t want to wait until I might do a grocery delivery, so I went to the store myself on a Sunday afternoon. And even though I knew that they might not require masks, I think I briefly forgot about that because it was a shock to see people inside without masks on. Especially since there was nobody who checked to make sure anyone unvaccinated was still wearing a mask. A majority of the people inside were still wearing masks, so I wasn’t the only one still making that choice. But there were plenty of people inside without masks and it honestly felt a bit weird. It shouldn’t be weird since a majority of my life people weren’t wearing masks inside, but for some reason it really just hit me. And I was feeling a lot of anxiety being inside there so I quickly did my shopping and went home.

I know that this is a good thing that we can even consider not wearing masks, but I’m not ready for that just yet with a lot of situations. I’m sure that in the future, I will be so grateful I don’t have to think about masks anymore and we will be back to whatever normal means at that time. But for now, it still feels like a bit of an in-between time where some people still have the same fears and concerns that I do and others are ready to be over the pandemic and back to the old normal. I haven’t had to confront this feeling too often in public because masks have been required for so long, but I do feel ok with the choices I’m still making for myself and making sure that any risks I take are acceptable to me.

And maybe in a week or two, I will feel differently and will be ok not wearing a mask indoors and around others that may or may not be vaccinated. One thing I have learned over and over again for the past 2 years is how I need to be able to adapt based on the information I have available to me and be flexible in my thinking. But for now, I’m just not ready to change that much.

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Posted in Health

Tagged health issues, pandemic

Finally Feeling Healed (or Recovery Took Longer Than Expected)

Posted on March 4, 2022 | Comments Off

When I had the minor procedure done on my foot, I was told that I would probably be walking normally again after a week or two, and then maybe it would be another week or two after that before I would feel completed healed. And the first part of that was accurate for me. A week after it was done, I was wearing normal shoes again and I didn’t need crutches or my cane. But I was still in pain as my foot healed. And I had to keep it bandaged for almost a month because my skin was feeling very sore and tender. The pain reminded me of a bad sunburn or if you burn your fingers on a hot pan. And I guess in a way, that’s pretty close to what it was. It was new skin that was healing and the tightness I felt was the skin coming back together.

But after I was off my crutches, I felt almost completely better. I didn’t mind having to keep a bandage on my foot since I was walking normally and could wear any shoes I wanted to. And as each day passed, the tenderness I felt was subsiding and I had fewer moments where there was a sharp zap of pain because of how I was stepping on my foot. Because I’m used to so much pain normally, this didn’t bother me too much. But I did want things to be done healing so I could finally be past this time.

And it really took until the beginning of this week before I felt like I was done with the tough healing process. Right now, you can still see the edges of where my foot was cut on my heel because the skin hasn’t fully healed over. But it’s now looking more like what your foot looks like when a blister is almost fully healed. I can put lotion on my foot again, which is normally a regular part of my daily self-care. And while I’m still waiting to do some things to my foot for things to fully heal (like different foot masks that I like to do from time to time), I feel pretty confident that I’m finally on the other side of having to worry about this wart on my foot and the treatments I’ve been doing for so long.

I know that there’s always a chance I will be the extremely rare case that will either need more freezing treatments or to have something cut from my heel again, but I’m trying to remain hopeful that I won’t be. I have another appointment with my dermatologist in about a week and a half, and I think he will be able to give me a better idea of if things are done or not.

Even though this healing process was longer than I was hoping it would be and I did have about a month where I was dealing with a lot of pain and discomfort, this will be worth it if I finally am past this and don’t have to think about it again. I still have plenty of other things in my life that cause me pain and discomfort, but to have one less thing is nice.

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Posted in Health

Tagged health issues, pain

Another Normal Therapy Check-In (or It’s Still Nice This Are Easy To Get Through)

Posted on February 18, 2022 | Comments Off

When I started going back to therapy several years ago, the main reason for the appointments was to get on medication for my eating disorder. But I also had some tough appointments in the early months of therapy. I understand why my therapist asked me the tough questions and we did work through a lot of things from my past that have affected my life quite a bit. The good thing about that was that I learned quite a bit about myself. The bad thing was discovering a lot of what has been affecting my life are things that I really can’t change. I can adjust my feelings about them, but I can’t change them.

So after those first few months of more intense therapy, most of my appointments were check-ins to make sure I was still doing ok and that the medications I was taking were working. Occasionally adjustments to my medications were made, but things have mostly been stable for the past few years. And I think that’s why my appointments are every 6 months now.

And since my last appointment was in August, I was due for my therapy check-in this month. Appointments are still being done virtually, and I see that staying that way. I was doing virtual appointments before the pandemic, but they were mixed in with in-person appointments. But for appointments like mine that don’t really involve much, I think virtual appointments are probably easier for both me and my therapist.

And as expected, this appointment went as easy as the rest have been recently. We discussed my medications and agreed I’m at a good level right now. I did mention some additional stress in my life, but that it was temporary stress so I don’t feel like I need to add a new medication for that. I have taken medication before for anxiety, but I know that what I’m feeling now is not like I experienced before. Plus, when I was on medication for anxiety that was regarding general anxiety. Right now, all the anxiety I’m experiencing is connected to very specific things and most of them are not going to be issues soon. So taking something now really doesn’t feel necessary to me.

And of course, I was asked about how was doing with all the anxiety and worry regarding the pandemic. And I had the same answer I had before. That if I was doing ok, then I think that would be a sign of a bigger issue. We talked about how I’m managing that anxiety and not letting things overwhelm me. I do check the numbers each day, but I’m focused more now on hospitalizations over cases since that seems to be more telling. And I think my therapist agreed that I was doing well considering the circumstances. I think she understands how much we all want to be past this and how the worry has been taking a toll. But also, I know that I have to still be careful and consider what are acceptable risks and what are not. And I think she agrees with me that looking at acceptable risks is probably a good way to decide what I’m ok to go and do.

Overall, I think it was a good appointment and nothing really is changing. And I won’t have another follow-up for 6 more months unless I feel the need to discuss something with my therapist sooner. But I think I’m doing ok with everything and that I’ll just have another routine and boring follow-up 6 months from now, which sounds great to me!

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Posted in Health

Tagged health issues, mental health

Taking Time To Heal Was The Right Thing (or Giving Myself A Week Helped)

Posted on February 3, 2022 | Comments Off

It was just about a week ago that I had the unexpected in-office procedure done on my foot. And it’s been an interesting healing process for me. Because I wasn’t prepared for this, I had to figure out how to manage healing and what I would need to get. And I had to find what I could get delivered to my house since I was struggling to walk at first.

When I was at that appointment, I asked the doctor how long before I was healed. He said that it would be about a week before I felt like I could walk again with some weight on my heel and it might be another week or two before I’m fully healed. And I needed to allow myself that time so that I wouldn’t form scar tissue or a scab, which could make things harder for me.

Most of last week was spent at home going nowhere. I wasn’t using the crutches in my house since I had a soft boot from the doctor that I could wear and I just walked on my toes. It wasn’t the best thing to do because I started to get shin splints, but it was much easier than using crutches. When I had the rare errand out of my house last week, I was using crutches because I needed the support.

Then over the weekend, I started to use the cane that I already had. Again, I only used it outside of my house since I could walk on my toes while inside. And I was still limiting my errands outside my house so I could relax and not accidentally do too much.

And now that it’s been a week, it seems like my doctor was right. Monday night was the first time I was testing putting weight on my heel again. It was not easy and I do still have some pain, but it was manageable. And on Tuesday and Wednesday, most of the time I was walking pretty close to normal. I still put more weight on my toes than I do on my heel, but it’s not too uneven. And I feel like each day I can put a little more weight on my heel and it’s a little less painful.

But I know I’m not done recovering just yet. When I change the bandage, I can see that it still needs to be covered and that I need to give things a bit more time. But I think seeing how much progress I’ve made in a week is a sign that giving up my time to focus on healing was the right thing. It was frustrating and I was impatient at times, but it’s clear my body needed me to do that so I could be feeling close to normal now. It would have been more frustrating if I was still a few steps back in my healing and stuck there for longer.

Hopefully my doctor was right and it’s only another week or two before I don’t have to worry about letting my heel get better and I can be back to everything normally. But at least a week in, I’m able to start adding a few things back and I am feeling much better.

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Posted in Health

Tagged health issues, surgery

Not The Workout Week I Expected (or I’m Craving My Workouts)

Posted on January 31, 2022 | Comments Off

From the time I started at Orangetheory, I was always doing at least 3 workouts a week. But more often than not, I have done 4 workouts a week. This has been my regular schedule and I rarely have things happen in my life that prevent me from achieving this. Even when I was working out at home, I was still getting in my workouts on my own. I have been sick in the past and needed a day off, but that’s pretty much the extent to my absences from my workouts.

Until this past week.

Because of the procedure done on my foot, the only workout I was able to make it to was on Monday. I was planning on going to all my workouts last week and I even asked the podiatrist how many days would I need to rest. I knew while he was cutting into my foot that I would have to take the next day off, but I really thought I’d be able to make it back at some point in the week. But when he told me it would be probably a week or two before I could fully put weight on my foot, I felt defeated.

I said when writing my goals for the year how my workout goal was going to be the easy one for me. But taking a week or two off would possibly prevent me from getting there. But I know if I don’t allow myself to heal, I could cause some issues that would last longer than taking the recovery time. So I had to accept that I would only make it to one workout last week and be ok with that.

But every morning I woke up last week and knew it was supposed to be a workout day, I was sad I was missing out. I wasn’t expecting to need this time off (like I was planning for my liver surgery that was canceled). I hadn’t mentally prepared for it. I wasn’t depressed, but I was in a funk when I was thinking about how I should be at my workouts at that time.

For this week, I’m honestly not sure what will be happening. I took today (Monday) off because I know I can’t really put my weight on my heel. But I have made progress. I am using the cane I got for my hip and not my crutches. And over the weekend, I slowly have been trying to put a little more weight on my heel instead of walking on my toes. And as I change the bandage, I can see that it’s starting to heal and close up. I wasn’t told an exact point where I could start putting weight on my heel or working out again. I was told I would know when my body is ready. And I know today I’m not ready yet. I’m still not in a normal shoe and I still am very hesitant to put my heel down. But I’m hoping that I will make it back at some point this week. I just don’t know if I’ll make it for 1 workout or maybe 2 workouts. I really doubt I will make it for 3 workouts.

I just have to wait and see what happens. I know I’m still upset about missing workouts and I feel like my body needs them. But I also know my foot isn’t ready to do what I need to do in a workout. So I’m going to keep working on recovering, testing how much I can do, and as soon as I can go back I will be back!

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Posted in Fitness, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged fitness, health issues, Orangetheory, pain, surgery, workout

Not Doing A Lot For Now (or Managing Without Preparation)

Posted on January 28, 2022 | Comments Off

I haven’t had many surgical procedures in the past. But except for the one on my foot, they were things I planned for and had some preparation done. For my hip surgery, I prepared a lot with different things around my place to manage the day to day stuff after surgery. I had a chair in my shower since I couldn’t stand up unsupported. I had organized things in my room so I didn’t have to search for things I would need. I did similar things for when I had my tonsils out. When I had the surgery on my face, I was prepared with what I would need to take care of my skin and to keep the scar to a minimum. And for my liver surgery that didn’t happen, I was very prepared for recovering at home and the challenges that might bring.

But for my foot, I wasn’t expecting to have anything other than a normal doctor exam. And I know this was a minor procedure and I should recover soon, but I was still unprepared for it. I actually was planning on going grocery shopping after my appointment, which I clearly didn’t do. So when I got home after my appointment, I tried to get some things set up in my house so I could relax while I let my foot recover.

One of the good things about living in such a small space is that I don’t have to do a lot of walking around my house. As long as I’m only stepping down on my toes on my left side, I don’t have to use my crutches. So I haven’t been using them in my house. I’m glad I can do this because crutches are pretty uncomfortable and I wasn’t going to order things online to make them more comfortable.

But I have been figuring out things I haven’t been prepared for and have been finding ways around them. I had to order some medical supplies online to be delivered because I didn’t have what I would need when I changed the bandages. I am grateful for next day delivery because I got everything I needed and I’ve been able to change the bandages and make sure I’m healing well (so far, things look like they are the way they should be). Showering is a bit tough because I’m not supposed to get my foot wet. I wrapped my foot in plastic, put a hair tie around the top, and taped the top of the plastic to try to keep as much water out. And because I have to balance on my toes and my foot is in plastic, it’s a bit slippery. So I put a towel on the floor so there would be a bit more grip there. But it was tough and I know it will be tough for the next week or two.

There are a few things I have to do outside my house while I’m recovering, but I’m trying to limit them or combine what I can into one errand. But I will do what I have to and use my crutches. And I just have to remember that this is only for maybe two weeks.

This will be a blip in my life before I know it. And the most important thing for me to do right now is to take it easy, rest, and let my foot recover and heal so I can move past this.

Comments Off on Not Doing A Lot For Now (or Managing Without Preparation)

Posted in Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged health issues, recovery, surgery

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