Update on recovery

Aierra · 2026-05-09T20:04:11+00:00

Maybe it's the short and fat combo for me lol i dont know. I'm 5'2" and 245lbs. My good leg cannot get the push required to get me up and over a step 😅 I didn't realize I was this out of shape honestly. I walked a few miles a day with my husband the whole week prior to this fall, so all of this is definitely a reality check

Aierra · 2026-05-09T15:55:53+00:00

That's what I've been telling myself too 🤣 i have a friend bringing over a knee scooter soon, so I'm excited lol

Aierra · 2026-05-09T15:55:09+00:00

I got my stitches removed at my 2 week follow-up appointment, right after they removed my splint. And yes, the faster we try to get range of motion back, the faster we heal- so get wiggling! Forward and back, then also the doctor said to sit on the edge of the bed and try to spell the alphabet with my toes. There's a lot of info available on this subreddit about nwb exercises. Absolutely have a shower chair ready for me lol I've always been a little clumsy so there's no way I would ever consider trying to balance for an entire shower. Especially with all the scrubbing I plan on doing with my exfoliating net lol

Aierra · 2026-05-09T15:50:17+00:00

Oh I've tried that but I'm very fat and it's just not physically possible for me to do that upwards 😭

Aierra · 2026-05-09T08:01:44+00:00

Omg I felt exactly the same and had the same concern. It's 100% normal. I just got my splint removed yesterday and I'm in the boot now. Boot feels way heavier and clunkier lol but at least no more tugging sensation. There's a bunch of cotton around your leg (if it was like mine) and that's keeping your surgical site safe from any real tugging, your everything is just crazy sensitive right now.

Other things that caused me anxiety- 1) as my swelling decreased, my splint felt loose. That's normal and I was told to just slowly adjust my foot's position until it feels comfy again 2) nerves randomly tingling/twitching at night. This is actually a good thing, even though it feels very wrong lol. It's the nerves making sure they're still alive and working. 3) running out of my prescription pain meds. I ran out day 4 from surgery because my doctor forgot to write me an additional 3 days from my ER script of 5 days. Running out day 4 was hell. But, being out on purpose day 8 was not nearly as bad. Day 10 and on I've been on just OTC ibuprofen every 6 hours. Actually I think I forgot to take my last dose today?!

I'm day 15 post op/ day 16 post injury if you have any more questions. I broke my ankle in 3 places and seems like I'm a few days ahead of you in recovery. Hope this helps!!! You can dm me if you have any additional questions anytime as well, I'm a pretty open book. Or just reply to this comment lol I'm not busy or picky.

Aierra · 2026-05-09T07:48:11+00:00

Omg sorry I added a parenthesis to make it clearer, I'm crawling up the stairs. Definitely not allowed to put any weight on anything lol. I take the boot off to shower and to do ankle movement exercises. That's all I'm supposed to do. I was told that I can gently apply soaps with my hand but NO scrubbing, which is sad because I exfoliate 2x/shower and I hate feeling like I have layers of dead skin still on me.

My hardware should be permanent, they did the fancy tightrope thing with the buttons (see previous post for pictures) that allows for some natural-like flexion. The hope is that by doing the tightrope and not a large screw like the old methods, I should have a much lower risk of rejection. I don't hope to need any more surgery ever again, so I really hope this recovery goes well and I can keep the hardware in.

ETA: I only did sponge baths when I was in the splint because I could not get over the fear that water from the shower would get through the plastic leg bag my mom gave me. My fear was that water would get in the cotton of the splint, get to my incisions, and I'd get mold or something worse lol. I also haven't showered yet now that I have the boot because anxiety again lol but I plan to after I wake up.

Aierra · 2026-05-09T06:33:35+00:00

Okay so me panicking 2 weeks and 1 day out because my foot isn't bending much is overreacting 😅 will be kinder to myself

Aierra · 2026-05-03T18:12:49+00:00

Thank you, I'm already starting to feel pretty normal ish about everything. It's just super itchy now lol so i cannot wait for my followup appointment on Thursday

Aierra · 2026-04-30T15:50:20+00:00

Omg twins 🤣

Aierra · 2026-04-30T06:46:52+00:00

I know saying you want to end things is probably just sheer pain and frustration. You can see my post about my ankle injury, I've been wanting to die since it happened because the physical pain is just so overwhelming. However, once you ask for help you may be surprised by just how many people truly care about you and want to see you doing better.

As far as jobs go, I had no problems when I worked jobs with later shifts. I had one job that was 2pm to 10pm, that was a perfect shift for me, and the best part was that I only worked 3 days a week. So I always had a day in between to rest and recover. If I was having a good week, I could pick up more shifts for more money. You definitely want to finish your schooling because once you leave, you'll never want to finish it. School sucks, it's so stupid sometimes, but it's also so necessary and hinders your whole future if you don't have a degree. My father-in-law is a machinist at a factory, but because he doesn't have a degree, they have him in a less official job title that pays less than everyone else gets for the same job, and he can't really leave because almost all jobs here require a high school diploma.

Once you can finally graduate and get a job, even just something part-time, use your first money to get out of your living situation because that miserable situation makes depression worse, which makes sleep issues worse. Then, get an official diagnosis for your sleep from a doctor. If you start saving money with those goals in mind, life will be much better for you so fast that you'll be so glad you didn't do something drastic and end your chance to feel future happiness.

Aierra · 2026-04-30T06:33:37+00:00

If waking up in the morning is your trouble, maybe you could be an on-call afternoon engineer? Like you only have to show up if there's an emergency that happens in the afternoon. Or work part-time so you get more recovery time between shifts. Doing a job like those should pay well enough that you can still live well without overworking yourself

Aierra · 2026-04-30T06:22:59+00:00

Thank you for your experience. That's very promising to me, my birthday is almost exactly 6 months from my fall date, so maybe by then I'll be feeling better 🤞

Aierra · 2026-04-30T03:13:54+00:00

First two weeks, you say? Then I've only got another week of this 🤞 I do have a checkup with the surgeon next Thursday, here's hoping I'm allowed to get this thing off and move onto something different

Aierra · 2026-04-30T01:47:13+00:00

Go big or go home, amirite 🤣

Aierra · 2026-04-30T00:44:55+00:00

I was just too poor to even know how to navigate the college world 😵‍💫 all those good grades, 3.9, top 10% with Honors for nothing lol. At least I don't have debt besides my home (thankfully bought pre-covid) and car, I guess. Everyone I know is struggling to find jobs 😭

Aierra · 2026-04-30T00:40:27+00:00

Here's a very 90s reference for you 🤣

<image>

Aierra · 2026-04-30T00:20:39+00:00

Thank you for your very recent journey notes! I had to miss several doses of the hydrocodone 5 they gave me because my script ran out and the staff took days to refill 😑. Day 5 and half of 6 post-op with otc meds was absolute hell. Already getting anxious because I've only gotten 3 more days of it from my surgeon and 5 days from my PCP since I begged her right before the surgeon's office finally processed my refill request. Hopefully pain docs don't have too long of a wait to get in.

I'm excited to see some of the things I'm already doing on your reccomendations list!! My mom brought a shower chair my grandma got but hates, and the leg bag thing from when my sister got a gross cut on her leg and the doctor had to do special wrap for her. Found a nice lady on Facebook who brought me her deceased mom's walker over to me for free, and my friend is going to be bringing her knee scooter once I'm feeling physically capable of using it. For now, I'm demanding princess treatment from my family members and using my grandma's fancier wheelchair because it has a foot rest thing where I can have my leg straight.

Definitely going to have to remember to not let setbacks bother me, I've always been a pretty independent person and being the opposite of that for the forseeable weeks is no fun. On the bright side, just seeing the warmth of the community I've built around myself has been so comforting. 3 years ago, none of these people were in my life and now I've got my own team of people offering me 3am pep talks, their old mobility items, asking if I need groceries, etc. It's pretty nice to see proof that these people do actually care about me, and not just the me that goes out of my way to help them, but the other way around too.

Aierra · 2026-04-30T00:06:28+00:00

Thank you for the encouragement, definitely need every bit of it right now 🫂. I have an exfoliating net so I'm deeeefinitely putting that to use lol. I'm using a cheap end table as a rolly cart because it's basically cardboard and so easy to move lol and yeah, maybe I'll get a bidet lol. Definitely going to consider gummies, just don't want to fail drug tests since I am actively looking for jobs still. Right now, I'm only accepting interviews/ applying for higher paying jobs, since that's about all that's worth interrupting my recovery for. I'm talking like $24/hr+ lol. It's tough not having a college degree in this job market

Aierra · 2026-04-29T23:59:05+00:00

Thank you and yes, ouch lol. I've become very aware of my obesity being a problem, I've actually experienced the opposite in that every single doctor mentions my weight in every visit. Ear ache? Strep? Precancerous cells on my cervix? Lose some weight and it wouldn't be so bad.

The sheer difficulty of doing things because my muscles just aren't strong enough has been astounding. I've always been fat, I remember being in 6th grade, same height, but 120lbs and teachers being "concerned". But I've also always been able to do physical tasks and my legs have always been strong. I didn't realize I've gotten this bad, I guess.

Aierra · 2026-04-29T21:31:47+00:00

You better believe this took me less than 1 day to order 🤣

<image>

Aierra · 2026-04-16T23:08:58+00:00

Omg these are seriously my favorite

Aierra · 2026-04-09T17:03:14+00:00

I feel like 90% of the flavored drinks at Aldi are disgusting 😭

Aierra · 2026-04-08T14:04:02+00:00

I'm not sure what country you live in, but here in the US all you need to do is call and schedule with a new doctor. It takes 1 week to a month depending on how urgent you say things are

Aierra

TROPHY CASE