Night at the Montfort

Yesterday my wonderful sister organized a family gingerbread house decorating activity. So I was up and about all day. I had the wheelchair, but I was pretty active and rolling myself around and hanging out with my family. It really wore me out so at the end of the day when I felt like crap, I though I had just over done it a bit

Then in the evening I was changing the bandages on my leg because my incisions had oozed through them. When I unwrapped my foot it was huge, angry red and very hot. When I touched the skin it hurt like a thousand tiny stabbing knives. My dad was worried about infection, and so was I. We decided to go to the emergency room.

We got there at about 11pm. I got registered and then waited. And waited. It was night time and there was only one doctor on staff and something like 13 ambulances came in during the night. My dad eventually fell asleep in a chair but my pain kept me awake. It was a good thing I brought my meds with me because I need to take my painkiller every 4 hours or my whole leg would feel like its gonna explode. Throughout the night I had interesting conversations with some other patients, mainly this one guy who had a nasty cut on his hand and was probably gonna lose his finger. I also got my dad to change the waiting room tv channel to Discovery Channel, but they were marathoning a show about Hawaiian kayak fishing and by the time I got bored of it, dad was already asleep. I eventually sent him home at 5am.

I finally got called into the clinic at 7:30am. By then the day staff had arrived, and there were more doctors and nurses available. I got put into a room and a nurse took my vitals again and said the doctor would be in to see me soon. Even though I had a bed I still couldn't sleep. At about 8:30 I saw the ER doctor. He unwrapped my foot and looked at it. He said my blood pressure was a bit high and my foot looked really bad. He said he didn't know why it was so red only in that one spot, no where near the incisions. He said that Dr Steeves, my surgeon, was on call and that he would just have him come see me. In the mean time, he ordered an IV for antibiotics and blood tests.

When the nurse came in to put my IV in and take blood, she said I'd have to go to another waiting room while the IV went through. They needed the bed. After getting all hooked up, she wheeled me to a waiting room. I was there for only 15 minutes when the ER doc came and found me. He said that Dr Steeves was in surgery, but would be out in about an hour and would come see me right away. I thanked him, and then I asked if there was somewhere I could lie down. At this point, I had been awake for over 24 hours. He said he would see what he could do.

Only a few minutes later a different nurse came to me. She was so nice! She couldn't get me a bed, but she could get me a reclining chair, almost as comfy as my grandmas La-Z-Boy chair. She also got me into a smaller waiting room where there was no one else and it was quieter and I could have the lights off. I asker her if I could have a blanket, but I was so tired that I couldn't finish the sentence without breaking down in tears. She actually was really comforting and put her hand on mine and re-assured me that I would be okay and that it was normal to feel so overwhelmed after being awake for so long. Then she brought me a warmed blanket. I got comfy and finally closed my eyes.

When I opened them again it was 10:30 and Dr Steeves was flicking on the light. "So I hear you have some ugly toes" he joked. I was still so exhausted, I just groaned. "Wow, you are not your usual self, something is up." I love when doctors care and can tell when you're not well. He took a look at my foot. He said my post-op x-rays were very good and my ankle was stable. The surgical sites themselves were healing well and not infected. But the amount of pain I was experiencing from the swollen red parts of my foot were concerning. He touched my foot and I cried. He asked if it was like a stabbing pain, and I said it was like a thousand fiery little knives were stabbing my foot. My pain was a 6/10 even though I was on the max dose of Tramadol. He said that the Tramadol probably wasn't helping with the pain in that part of my foot because it was something called neuropathic pain. The nerves in my foot were damaged and trying to heal, causing pain and swelling. Also several areas of my foot and leg were still numb and I couldn't move my toes. The redness was from blood pooling in my foot when it wasn't elevated all day. He said it would eventually turn brown before fading. Gross. Dr Steeves prescribed a new med to take with the pain med I was already on. Its called Lyrica and stops pain signals in the brain. He also said I had to keep my leg elevated above my heart, and that I should be on bedrest for the next two weeks.

I thanked Dr Steeves. He said he would get me back to good. After he left the nice nurse came back. She said she had checked on me a couple times before Dr Steeves arrived but I was out of it. She said she hoped I had a good rest and would be able to get more at home. She took out my IV and then wheeled me all the way to the mail lobby where I could get a cell signal. She even stayed with me until I had made some calls and got a ride home.

My dad picked me up at 11:30, so he probably got 5 hours sleep. I got home at noon and dad went to fill the new prescription. After he dropped that off, I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 5:30 this evening.

My surgery was only a week ago today.

Pre-op X-rays

The last x-ray I posted was from February. This one is form November. Some of the screws broke, but most concerning in this x-ray is where the tibia and talus are touching, and the dark shadow underneath. Thats the arthritis.

Anyways, recovery is going okay. I sleep a lot and my sister is here to take care of me while my roommate is home for the holidays. It doesn't feel like Christmas though.

Never Say Never - Surgery Number Four

X-ray from surgery #3

This is a long over-due update. I finished all my finals and graduated from Design Studies. I was accepted into the Graphic Design program. My summer was a bit hectic: I opted to spend my time outdoors a lot, geocaching, going to the beach, exploring local parks, and camping. Being so active wasn't easy or painless, I still felt very limited in my endurance and range of movement in my ankle. After an active day, I would spend the next three limping around with a very swollen leg. Other summer activities included finishing drivers ed, getting my G2 licence, adopting a cat named Tesla, and traveling a bit. The summer went so fast and the next thing I knew I was back in school. I started Graphic Design. Its a three year advanced diploma program with a very heavy course load, high standards and lots of stress. And I love it!

At the end of September I had a check up with Dr. Steeves. My x-rays showed that my ankle bone, the talus, was ever so slightly out of place. With the fibula where it should be, it was causing the tibia and talus to grind together and the resulting arthritis was already showing up on the x-rays. It also explained my chronic pain and the swelling. We tentatively booked a surgery date for the first week of my winter break, and made an appointment for November, to see if anything improved or got worse.

In the time leading up to that appointment, my physio coverage ran out and I actually became more active on my feet due to my busy school schedule. I started to have more bad days than good ones. Some days were so bad I had to use the walking cast because I just couldn't afford to take the day off. November came and the x-rays showed I had barely any cartilage left in the joint and the arthritis was deep. Dr. Steeves and I decided to go ahead with surgery. The plan: fuse the talus and tibia.
So on December 16 2015, almost two years after first breaking my leg, I went under the knife for the fourth time.

Dr Steeves and I

Remember when I woke up on the operating table last time? Well I got the full story from my anesthesiologist. He said that after I woke up and asked to go back to sleep, he tried to re-sedate me but I had a bad reaction and got really anxious and agitated, and I started crying. So they ended up putting me under general anesthesia. They usually don't put me under general because I have asthma, so its a bit more risky. It explains why it took me so long to wake up the third time, and the breathing tube.

Because of these past complications, they decided to admit me into the hospital overnight for this surgery. The operation itself took about three hours. Dr Steeves explained that they would be opening my old incisions and taking out my old metal, making a couple small incisions for the scopes so they could cut away the bone from around the damaged joint before fusing it together with a few screws. In addition to the nerve block behind me knee that lasts a day or so, my anesthesiologist added a long-acting morphine to my spinal, and an anti-anxiety med to the sedation. This time I stayed asleep and didn't freak out.

I went into surgery at 11:00 am and I woke up in the recovery ward at around 4:30 in the afternoon. The nurse observing me was really cool, we got to talking about photography and my family. I was waking up much better than last time and I wasn't in any pain because of the morphine and the nerve block in my knee. After an hour or so under observation they took me to a room on the surgical ward. Thats when things got rough. My oxygen was low so they had to put the air tube around my nose again. My blood pressure was really low, I got really itchy from the meds, and I was really nauseous and dizzy. I was able to eat a bit at first, but then I threw up on a nurse. I also couldn't fall asleep, so they ended up putting like four different meds in my IV for itching, sleeping, nausea, and an antibiotic. At midnight I still hadn't been able to go to the washroom on my own and the ultrasound showed my bladder was very full. So I had to get a catheter put in.

Hospital selfie

The next morning they took it out but I still couldn't go by myself. My blood pressure came up and I was able to eat without throwing up. I saw Dr Steeves and he said he was really happy with the surgery, he was able to get my foot properly poised under my leg before fusing it there. I met with a physiotherapist to go over exercises I can do in bed to keep my leg muscles strong. In the afternoon I could finally pee so they sent me home that evening.

Now I'm home to recover over the winter break. I go back to school in three weeks, but I have to spend the next 10-12 weeks completely off my leg! That means wheelchair and crutches and not walking on my own until March. I have a follow up appointment in a couple weeks. I'll try to remember to update here with x-ray pictures.

No More Surgery!

I'm six weeks post-op. I walk everywhere, but still hate stairs. I got to physio twice a week. I get to take the Air Cast off in two more weeks. And at my last checkup, Dr. Steeves said NO MORE SURGERY!! YAY!!

So I've been focusing on school. Its almost finals, so ill keep this short. Ill post more when I have free time. (Probably April)

Homework

I have 5 assignments to do before reading week is over:

1. Business stationary set (letterhead, business card & envelope)
2. Colour still life study
3. App icon designs
4. Drink menu design
5. Portfolio pages x5

Today I took a few steps with the help of a cane. Just a few and then I got sore. But hey, that's progress. Tomorrow I'll take some more and maybe Friday I'll be able to walk all I want.

Assignment 2 of 5

Reading Week

Pain: 2/10

Appetite: Normal

Mood: Trying VERY HARD not to be depressed.

I'm going to spend all of reading week working on the homework I didn't do last week. I've already had a couple anxiety attacks about all my homework and I've just been feeling super down lately. I'm diagnosed bi-polar, and now would NOT be a good time to swing around.

I'm impatient to start walking again. I've been getting out of the house more. I played D&D with my friends yesterday and today I went out and bought a printer.

I wish I could just play Skyrim all day, but the homework is calling. Maybe I'll get it done and out of the way so I can play all weekend.

Day 8 - A HeartHappy Valentines Day

A Heart Attack <3

Pain: 3/10
Mood: Feelin' the love
Appetite: CHINESE FOOD
Progress: Got my avatar to level 5 in Skyrim

Today was pretty interesting. My friends Michael, Ethan, Meghan and Carley stopped by for a bit. Meghan stayed over to hang out and then the sister missionaries from church came over and spent some time with us. Then after the sisters left, we discovered we had bean "Heart Attacked".

Best roommate ever!!

I've been playing Skyrim to pass the time, but I'm starting to feel a lot better. I will start on my homework Monday and catch up all reading week.

A huge shout out to my bff Carolyn and my roommate Ana. They have been doing so much over the last week to take care of me. Ana even did my eyebrows!!

I gave Hello Kitty valentines to all my friends :)

One Week After Surgery

Pain: 6/10
Mood: Blahhh
Appetite: Its back
Progress: swelling is way down

I got my bandages changed since they were so loose.

I have two incisions, one on each side of my ankle. I've been opened in the same two places three times now. What does that mean for scarring?

 I spend my time playing Sims, Mario Kart, and Minecraft. I browse meme blogs and creep Facebook. My mind is full off fuzz. My leg feels like its full of knives.

I dunno, I just feel zoned out. I didn't wake up until 1pm today.

Whatever.

Day 6 of Recovery

Pain: 4/10
Mood: Anxious about missing so much school
Appetite: Starting to feel hungry sometimes
Progress: I went outside

The Air Cast. I change up the colors of the straps
every so often

So I went on an adventure this morning. Elder and Sister Adams drove me to go see my family doctor, Dr Bruce. I made the appointment to see her long before the surgery, and didn't want to cancel. My friends told me I snored really badly, so I was worried about having sleep apnea. It would explain why I never feel rested after sleeping and the headaches I get. She booked me in for a sleep study at the hospital by my house, so that will happen next month,

On my way out of the doctors office, my crutch slipped, and I fell on my bad leg. That really hurt. The crutch also pushed up on my arm and now my shoulder is sore. No more adventures for me.

Before going home, I stopped at the college. I got an email saying I had won the Nepean Ben Franklin Bursary, and I was awarded over $600. So I picked that up and deposited it. Yay money. I miss school.

Tonight the missionaries are coming over for dinner. Carolyn is making a breakfast buffet with pancakes, eggs, sausages and hash browns. I'm looking forward to it! My roommate Ana and our friend Conner will also join us.

Day 5 of Recovery

Pain: 6/10
Mood: lazy
Appetite: I miss food
Progress: I pooped

The new medication schedule and a little school pride

Last night was another hard night. The strong meds were having some nasty side effects. Carolyn has been taking care of me since the surgery, but she called in Sister Adams to help. Sister Adams is a senior missionary for our church and a retired nurse. She came over and my blood pressure was super low. I was feeling terrible. So they changes up my medication and wrote out a new schedule. They set it up so Ill be taking less of the narcotic stuff, and subbing in some Advil. She also started my on Benadryl for my itching.

Today the pain hasn't been to bad. Sister Adams helped me get a shower and after that I was so exhausted, like I had run a marathon. But I felt clean. After the shower she changed my dressing. My leg really hurt after that.

The Benadryl makes me sleepy. I slept all night and all day and I'm still tired. I worry about all the school work I'm not doing. I just don't have the ability to concentrate or be creative. my mind is blank, my thoughts are blah. I just super sleepy.

I felt a little hunger for the first time after I pooped. but not since. I eat when people tell me to, but if they didn't I probably wouldn't. There's so much I cant do for myself. I can't cook or clean or even fill my water bottle.

Day 4 of Recovery

Pain: 6.5/10
Mood: mellow
Appetite: still nothing

No plaster cast, but I do have the Air Cast. I have to wait for
the swelling to go down before I can put it on though.

My leg twitches sometimes. And it sends pain shooting all up my leg. My hips and lower back are sore from laying in bed all the time. Getting up is super hard, I get very dizzy and feint. I get pale and my leg swells up so much as soon as it isn't elevated. So pretty much just like my first surgery. What is different from all my previous surgeries is how incredibly itchy I am. I itch all over. My arms and legs and tummy and back and head and even my eyes and nose. It kinda feels like dry skin; I don't have a rash. Its bringing back memories of when I had chicken pox. Hopefully I'll be strong enough to take a shower soon, and that will stop the itching.

I'm pretty much out of it concerning my cognitive abilities. Time goes by at weird paces. I find it incredibly hard to concentrate on anything. Ill find myself staring at a spot on the wall and next thing I know three hours have passed. or I'll go down for a nap and wake up ten minutes later feeling like I've slept for days. Sometimes I get impatient and frustrated by the smallest things. Like how my phones touch screen doesn't recognize my finger when its cold. I cried over that one.

I don't get hungry. I don't feel anything in my stomach wanting for food. I drink a lot of water because my mouth is dry, and I have to pee all the time. But I never feel hunger. I feel the effects if I don't eat, like I'll get the shakes and a low blood sugar headache if I don't have anything for a while, but just the thought of most foods make me feel queasy.

Anyways, enough updates for today. I'm sleepy.

Day 3 of Recovery

Pain: 6/10
Mood: Kind of cranky and impatient
Appetite: Nonexistent. I have to force myself to eat.
Progress: I can wiggle my toes.

A happy drugged up Julie

I have two different medications for pain. I have the Hydromorphone with is great for the pain and makes me sleepy and happy. I also have Tramadol which really helps with my pain but my head stays a bit clearer. For the first three days of my recovery, I was on the max dose of the Hydromorphone because the pain was so bad. I started lowing my pain meds a few hours ago. Not because the pain let up, but because I was worried about what the meds were doing to me. They are strong narcotics and I don't want to become dependent. I also don't want to damage my liver or kidneys. I need those
I'm going to try and post every day, just a short checkup so I can track my progress.

Until tomorrow

Surgery #3 - Waking up on the table

Almost 11 months after the original injury, I had my leg re-broken.

Pre-Op Smiles :)

The day surgery nurses are starting to remember me. I arrived at the hospital the morning of my surgery, sleepy and hungry. I'm not allowed to eat anything for like 12 hours before surgery. It was all the same at the last two times. take of all your clothes, put on the uncomfortable hospital gown. Get poked and poked by IV's and needles. They kept me for a couple hours before surgery for observation to make sure I was stable. Getting wheeled into the operating room was the same at always. I looked at the clock, it was 10:40 am. Then I got a needle in my back, needles in my leg, and drugs in my IV. Dizzy, then sleepy, then nothing.

Dr Steeves initials the leg to
be operated on.

When I came to, I immediately knew I was not in the recovery room. I could hear doctors talking loudly. I opened my eyes and saw a blue sheet. I turned my head and saw I was still in the operating room. I was still being operated on! I saw my anesthesiologist above me.
I said "Can I go back to sleep?"
"Are you awake?" he asked.
"Yeah. But I want to go back to sleep. I'm not done." I wasn't really panicking about being awake on the table.
"Okay were working on it. Just hang on." he said. Then I hear Dr. Steeves voice. I couldn't see him, the blue sheet blocked everything.
"Do you like the music?" he asked me.
"No" I whined.
"Why not?"
"I don't hear any music." Maybe my brain just couldn't process music at that point, because I don't remember music. I wish I did. Maybe I can pick the playlist for my next surgery.
I started to cry. I wasn't in pain, I didn't feel anything. I just cried and asked to be put back to sleep. The anesthesiologist put a mask on my face and asked my to count down from ten. I don't remember counting at all.

Post-op discomfort

My surgery took two hours. When I came to in the recovery room, It was almost 6:30 pm. I had come out of surgery around 1 pm, but I had stayed asleep. Sometimes the body just needs to rest. I remember having dreams. In one of them I was being put into one of those cupboards in the morgue. In another, I was being isolated in this room with rusted pipes, no windows and a faint green light. I don't know why. Dreams are weird. Anyways, When I woke up, I was crying, as usual. I always cry when waking up from surgery. There was a nurse beside me and she asked how I felt. I told her I woke up in the surgery. She said "I know! Its so strange." When I spoke, I realized my throat was killing me. When I told this to the nurse, she said it was because they had to put a breathing tube in me after I woke up in surgery. I don't remember them taking the tube out.

My daddy is the best

After waking up and getting my stats up (blood pressure, oxygen sat, pulse) they sent me back to the surgical ward. There the nurses get me to go to the bathroom. They also make sure I can drink and eat without getting sick. And after they have observed me to see that I'm okay, they discharge me. My dad came to get me at 8 pm. He brought me a balloon, I love balloons.

When I got home, I went right to bed. My friend Carolyn came over to help care for me. At about 2 am, the nerve block in my knee wore off and I was in so much pain that I cried out loud for a few hours. The pain I felt was just as bad as my very first surgery, just as bad as when I was lying on that sidewalk with shattered bones. When Carolyn called the Telehealth nurse, she asked me to rate my pain. I used my 10. I never say 10 because what is I can have a worse pain. But this was blinding agony with no relief. I decided to take the max dose of painkillers. and it took the edge off just enough so I could sleep. But sleep was uneasy and the pain was almost unbearable.

Check Up

Surgery #2 Post-op X-ray

When I had my follow up appointment on December 22nd, just two weeks after my second surgery, Dr Steeves walked in and said "I'm not happy with how these x-rays look. Essentially, this surgery failed and I don't know why." His plan to use a wire to correct the misalignment didn't work. So he sent me for a CT scan of my leg and ankle. The CT revealed bone spurs, and confirmed that my fibula was still misaligned. I was told I would need a third surgery, And soon.

Then it was Christmas. I made cookies for my family because I am a broke student. I spent my break relaxing and watching Netflix. I didn't go out much because I was still recovering from surgery.

One frame of my CT scan

New Years came and the new semester started. I have mostly morning classes and I've been feeling tired all the time. My next surgery was booked for February 6th. I tried to get it during reading week, but that was as close as I could get it. My new roommate moved in and she is wonderful. She is kind and polite and not mean and she cleans up after herself.

I got through the first month of the semester before my third surgery. Today I had my pre-op appointment with Dr Steeves. He explained to me that when I broke my ankle my fibula healed slightly shorter, probably by about 3-5 millimeters. Its not a huge difference, but it was enough to cause my pain and weird ankle alignment. He wasn't sure how to fix the problem in a way that wouldn't be too invasive and not require multiple surgeries, He said he had sleepless nights trying to figure out how to fix my ankle. So he brought my case to an surgical conference where top orthopedic guys (the kind who work on NFL super stars!!) consulted on my case . Together they came up with a plan.

• Open up my incision again and remove the rest of my old metal from the first internal fixation.
• Cut off the bone spurs and shave down the excess bone growth from the side of my fibula
• Go in with the arthroscope again, and cut out even more scar tissue
• Cut my fibula below the original break (called an osteotomy) Push the talus bone back into place. Insert a plate and pins through to my tibia to hold the pieces of the fibula in place so it heals longer
• On the left side of my ankle pull on on the ligament that has gotten stretched out over the last 10 months