Never Say Never!!

...and I mean NEVER!  So - this post should have been made back in February - but hey, I forgot I had a blog back then so I am playing catch-up, forgive.   

Lets go back to February 17th or so - imagine me and all my girlfriends at the dance studio chatting it up like we always do.  Somehow we get on the topic of injuries and surgeries .....  I myself bragging the whole time that I have NEVER had a serious injury and have NEVER had to have surgery - minus my wisdom teeth but those don't count (at least not for the sake of this story). 

Now, fast forward 1 simple week, say to February 24th - I had just purchased a pair of THE cutest jeans ever and just had to show them off to the ladies at dance - however, they are just a just a little too long to wear with my customary flick-flocks (flip-flops by normal standards).  So - what do I do - put on my tallest pair of high-heels and strut my stuff (as well as I can strut it in 4inch heels).  Just as we are getting ready to leave to dance Kelzey tries to talk me out of wearing my heels - she said to just wait and hem my jeans and wear something else with my flick-flocks ... well, of course the vanity angle was on my side and I didn't listen and wore my super cute jeans instead.  

Now - imagine just a few minutes after we get to dance I am oh-so gracefully walking down the stairs at the studio and what to my surprise I have completely killed my foot.  Believe me - it was a surprise - I still think about it and have absolutely no idea what happened - did I twist my ankle (no, for once I did not), did I miss a step, not that I recall, did I slip ... nope, how about my jeans getting caught on my heel or a trip?? no and no - we have NO idea what happened but there I was - one step on the first landing sitting on my fanny in complete agony!!   I felt like such an idiot - I hurt so bad I couldn't even speak (rare I know).  After a few hours or not being able to breath ... okay, in all reality it was a few seconds, but it felt like slow-mo and a few hours to me - I finally got out "Miss Gina" who comes running to the rescue.

My right foot was completely swollen and I could put Zero pressure on it.  Luckily one of our friends was an EMT and knew just what to do.  We put some ice on it and I sat wit it elevated - only a few hours of dance to go ... no problem, I could totally make it ... but wait, right after dance was bunco at Krissy's and there was NO WAY I was going to miss that.  Emily ended up driving us home, since I was unable to, and luckily she was going to bunco with me as well.  My entrance to bunco was almost as graceful as my decent down the stairs at dance.  I ended up having to crawl up the stairs, gingerly so it could not hit my foot, which in itself is not too bad - the fact that Shaun (Krissy's husband) was at the top of the stairs as an innocent bystander watching the whole thing - that was the worst =)   

I cannot tell you much about bunco that night - who knows who won, who lost (not like there are losers in bunco, we are all winners) or what we had for dinner ... all I recall is my mind being completely dulled by the horrible pain =)  

Emily finally talked me into going to the ER after bunco - we sat there and waited forever - all I recall is some guy x-raying my foot and making me pull on it with a towel so he could "get a good angle" - his camera work was still pretty bad as we had to do it several times.  I was trying to be macho and not let on that it hurt much - but Emily read my face plain and clear - I think she wanted to kick the guy as much as I did =)  At any rate - when all was said and done I had completely split my ankle in 2 - pretty much from the lower inside corner to the upper right hand corner - and had fractured my lower ankle joint - darn, that would explain why it hurt so bad ;) 

A few weeks later and I was in for surgery - the initial plan was to have to put in 4 screws, a plate, and a pin in my ankle.  The surgeon assumed the break was due to me having soft bones, since there was no other cause really, but once he got in there it was not a problem and he ended up only having to put the 4 screws in there.  Life after that was one big crazy circus ride - I couldn't put any pressure on my foot for 6 weeks (so a total of 8 since I first hurt it).  I started off on crutches and that last a few days - I kept hurting myself more - I know a clutz, go figure, so my doctor was able to recommend a knee scooter for me - that sure was fun.  If I wasn't completely dependent on the thing I might have enjoyed it a bit more.  Thankfully I was blessed with wonderful friends who lived near by - they soon became my personal chauffeur's - for which I will always be grateful.  

And so here we are ... 6 months later ... while I am able to drive and walk on my foot now it is still a pain in the ankle (get it .. ankle .. haha!)  I daydream for the time when I will be able to walk or even sit and lounge without it hurting - hopefully that day is not too far off - and I just have to keep in mind, it could always be worse.

Here are some pictures of my foot in all its glory and grossness - those of you with weak hearts I would turn away now - it is not pretty:

Take note of the beautiful mis-matched glitter toes and the "yes" written on my leg.   I asked the surgeon why he wrote "yes" on my foot nad he said it was so they knew which foot they were doing surgery on ... I would think the completely bruised and swollen foot would have been a better give away.   the glitter toes were not on purpose =)  I had purple when I got hurt - but they were sorely in need of a redo so I just did the left foot - I think it was a silver or something, I forget.

Here is where it really gets ugly:

 

 

If I remember right this was a week or so - maybe more - after the surgery - the swelling has gone down some but as you can see it is still pretty gruesome!! The scar is a nice big L - I tried to get him to make it into a Y but he said point blank that I would have to find a new surgeon (He is a huge Utes fan ... poor man).  The more I look at this picture the more I see a U instead of a L - rats - I KNEW I should have went somewhere else.

Here are some of the z-rays from the surgery - with the screws:

Oh well - all-in-all I am glad it was not worse - but still I cannot wait for the day until it is all better ... hopefully it is sooner rather than later.  

So - as mentioned at first - the moral of this long story is "Never Say Never!!"  Or at least don't "brag" while you are doing it ..... =)