Hurry up and wait....5 days post op

Jul 12, 2009

 

Welp…as you all might have already read, my first day post op was awesome. I had energy I hadn’t felt in forever and I was on a great positive high. Not only did I walk around Wal-Mart that day, but that night I went for a 10 minute walk at my neighborhood park, then sat and visited with my best friend for over an hour (at the park in the AZ heat…which wasn’t too too bad in the night).

Anyyyyyway, as you’re probably guessing….the days following haven’t been as productive. My second day post op, I made the mistake of weighing myself first thing in the morning. Ummm….did I have a loose screw? Did I not realize that there would be some post surgical weight gain? Well…the non-thinker in me stepped on that scale and froze in misery….I had gain 2 pounds. Ok ok….yeah…it’s just 2 lbs…but for Cloud 9 me…after all that walking and energy the previous day…I didn’t expect to see that. And how did the fatty in me handle that? Well of course….sadness. I was crushed. My husband did remind me of the post surgery ups and downs of my body changes. He reminded me that this too shall pass. So I swallowed my negativity and tried to bury it deep in very back of my mind and listen to his positive encouragement.

The pain that day was also stronger and I was moving a lot slower. I needed to shower and get ready for a doctor’s appt. to have the cast removed from my left ankle. Oh yes….cast removal….how exciting. I’ll be able to walk freer and life will get moving. Positive thinking….yes….I’m positive that I’ll get moving.

 At the orthopedic office, my adorable Disney’fied cast is removed and it felt sooooo good to move my foot around and feel the fresh air on my leg. From the cast it was now time for a walking boot. No problem. I can handle that….I mean….after all…it can come off and on….cool. But the news of how little weight I could put on my foot hindered my happy thoughts. Only 20 percent at first, then gradually add more. Ummm…only 20 percent? Can’t I just ease into the boot and try this walking thing out without crutches? I really want to be walking. BUT…in the words of Jim Carey….”wrongo”!!! I stepped down into that boot with almost all my weight and OUCH!!!! I thought the pain would shoot me through the roof!!!! I couldn’t even put my foot completely flat. I was sooooo ready to cry.

On our way home from the doc’s my husband asked where I wanted to go to next (you see I thought I’d be able to walk around the mall or something after the cast came off), but I told him home. I was in too much pain and I just wanted to get off this foot.

Since that day, I have done my best to get that foot and its muscles moving. Doing the stretches and flexes I was told to do. I can tolerate the 20 percent of weight now but I am not walking. Well not in the way that I should be to help myself lose weight. It’s driving me NUTS!!!! I had promised myself that I would not weigh myself until my next WLS doctor’s appt…..but….I did. And joyfully…I have lost 10 lbs. I know this isn’t the time to lose weight but to focus on healing, but I could feel it in my clothes that I had lost, so I felt ok to weigh myself. So today…I feel a bit better about things, but I’m still stuck in super slow-mo. I wish I could be up and about, but it’s just not going to happen. My orthopedic doctor is giving me 4 weeks to give my foot/ankle the ability to tolerate up to 40 percent weight on it. I have to accept the fact that moving will have to be slow. I need to train myself not to focus on the scale. This is just the first month in the rest of my life. My health is important and I need to listen to all doctors at this point.

Positive note to self….slow and steady wins the race!

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About Me
Goodyear, AZ
Location
Surgery
07/07/2009
Surgery Date
Nov 17, 2008
Member Since

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