I have never been the most graceful dancer in the ballet, but what I lack in poise, I generally make up in sheer non-stop activity. My mother said that when I was little, she would wait for me to get still. If I was still for more than a few minutes, she knew I would be out for the count. Even now, when I am finally settled on the sofa to watch a movie, I often find myself drifting off. The only time, I can sit still for long periods of time is when I am reading--then my mind is running around. I am active, I am not a homebody. I want to Go-Go-Go.
So it has been a real challenge as I have found my mobility decrease over the past 2 years. It all started, November 28, 2015. Saturday morning we arrived at the library after being closed for two days for Thanksgiving. As we entered the workroom, we noticed water on the floor. The only water source in that area was the janitor's closet, I opened the door and saw a hose attached to the faucet that was spewing out hot water, I crossed through the Amazonian mist to shut it off. After that I came out and crossed to the water to my office to call in the emergency. As we were sorting out how clean up the mess, I was crossing back over the water to get mops (I think--it is kind of fuzzy) when I felt my feet go out from under me. My hand hit the shelving in the area and I flipped a metal bookend off which hit me in the head. I crashed onto the floor banging my head. I didn't even know I had been it in the head. Someone said that I was bleeding. No, no I said, I'm OK. Then she pointed to blood on my badge and I felt my head and my fingers came away sticky. I said in hesitant voice: "Uhmm, I think we need to call 911."
Actually this fall isn't what caused the initial problems. I was actually fine, no concussion, no broken bones, no twisted ankles, just a laceration from the metal bookend that required me to be glued back together. I felt rather Humpty Dumpty like. I would rather be Little Bo Peep but at least Humpty Dumpty when you can be but back together is better than the Old Woman in the Shoe any day.
But because we called 911, the fire department responded along with the ambulance that took me to the hospital--I was released about 90 minutes later. But while I was off being seen to, the friendly firemen squeegie-ed up all the water the workroom. Getting to the water required moving tables around. One of those tables was the craft table. And on that table was a bottle of glycerine. The bottle of glycerine rolled off the table and in the next few days went un-noticed. The cap must have been slightly ajar because by Monday evening, a small puddle of glycerine had formed on the floor.
I came by, and you guessed it, slipped on the glycerine. My left ankle abducted and I ended up with a burn on the top of my foot as result. I couldn't understand what caused the fall, until I investigated the area and found the spot I had slipped in and a bit further on the glycerine bottle. For reference purposes, glycerine is surprisingly slippery.
I didn't report this slip, as I thought I would be OK in a few days or weeks at the most. I was super embarrassed that not once but twice in the span of 3 days I had had 2 slip and falls at work.
But I didn't get better, the sprain persisted. I would re-injure the sprain with an ankle wobble while I was walking, or another actual fall. Let me tell you a sprain that lasts 2 years is not joy. I have long been prone to my ankle giving out--the first time, I was 25 and thought I would jump down off my my apartment foundation on to the parking lot with my mountain bike. I just crumpled with my bike on top of me. How very embarrassing. After that about every 3 -5 years, I would do something that would cause the ankle to give way--like miss a step while going downstairs, stepping on a wet manhole cover going downhill, My foot landing wrong coming off a curb while running, etc. But I always got better, not this time.
And then on March 1st this year, the straw that broke the camel's back occurred. It seems that I had made a complete circle. It was a Wednesday morning, I had had come to work from Church, it was Ash Wednesday. I was covering storytime for a Librarian who was at training. I was getting everything ready and had gone up and down stairs several times. Our meeting room has a set of double doors. We most often enter and exit the north door as that is the one that opens with our badges, but on my final exit, I left out of the south door and that trajectory, meant that I was entering the stair case as angle closer to the edge of the stairs. It just so happened that there was an oily substance on the floor at the head of the staircase. My left foot, hit the oily substance, my left foot swept out from under me and I ended up grabbing on to the stair rail to keep myself from falling further. My left foot came down on first step, my right foot was on the top step. As I attempted to get up, I felt that this was not a normal problem. And it wasn't. Since March 1st, my ankle has been swollen, I have had to wear my ankle brace continuously, and I have experimented with all sorts of non-narcotic pain medications. What works best for me is 2 Excedrins with a cup of coffee.
My orthopedic surgeon tells me that I have a loose ankle. So far there isn't any structural damage, thus making me a good candidate for the Brostrom procedure. My surgical date has finally been set at August 29th. There is no good time to be out for 4-6 weeks but from my point of view--it is happening after Summer Reading and before the winter holidays and the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in late November.
I am nervous and for the past 5 months, I have been wavering between, I don't need this surgery--I'll get better, to can I can't be scheduled fast enough. I have been trying to mentally prepare myself for not leaving the apartment for 4 weeks excepting medical appointments. I have good friends that have offered to assist me. From what I can tell, it is the first two days that are the most challenging and painful and then the first two weeks of limited movement. I will visit with my surgeon's assistant on Friday to get more details but this journal article from Podiatry Today gives me a bit of an idea of what will happen. And here is an article on recovery from the procedure and another one from the Sussex Foot and Ankle Centre. Any way, I look at it, I will have a challenging road ahead of me. But I am hopeful that by January 2018, I will be much better and this annoying little hiccup in my active life will be a memory.