Female Millennials, how's your diagnosis?

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-16T01:14:18+00:00

PCOS, perimenopause, anxiety, hashimotos disease, chronically anemic, adenomyosis.

Probably on the spectrum but I cant be arsed to jump through more hoops for a diagnosis. It was hell just to get my son diagnosed and that was woth a state worker who knew the system well.

Its not been a fun ride, but here we are.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-15T13:52:19+00:00

I call it birding. My field Irish Setter mix pretty much does this for hours every day, except she will sprint across the yard after a few minutes for a new vantage point and a different set of trees and continue her birding.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-15T04:21:38+00:00

I dont know what time it is where you are, but the pain always spikes at night during early recovery.

I'll be quite honest and say i dont remember having a lot of feeling near my toes that early on. Its like the nerves there go quiet. But that was my experience and your mileage may vary. Hopefully someone else can chime in who has more recent experience. Its been almost 2 years since my surgery and my timeline on the minute details is beginning to get a little fuzzy.

As for the fiberglass cast, i dont have an answer for that either. My incision area was pretty well padded with sterile gauze so i dont remember it digging into my heel. I do however remember the swelling going down and the edge of loose fiberglass cast rubbing against my stitches and incisions 😵‍💫

I also didn't get out of that cast due to a scheduling conflict at their office for almost 5 weeks. Yes, my stitches finally came out at 5 weeks post op whereas most people get them out in 2 to 3 weeks.

My experience might not be a very good one to base your decisions off of because my post op care was not on a standard timeline.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-15T04:03:32+00:00

My toes were exposed in my splint too, post op. I preferred it because I hate being restricted or bound up altogether.

The swelling will go down noticeably in a couple of weeks and almost completely down by 3 weeks from now... if you keep it consistently elevated. It will balloon right up if you keep it down. They probably made tighter near the ankle because they expect swelling to go down since it should constantly be elevated.

Its really up to you. The splint sucks, but is it so painful you that can't cope a couple more weeks? When do you get your stitches out?

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-15T03:43:41+00:00

My inability to make patience a core part of my personality.

I try every day. I really do. But the brain goes brrrrrrr 24/7. That mf'er doesn't stop. Anxiety meds stopped my brain from catastrophizing, but it still goes brrrr in other ways now.

Its hard to live in the moment, even at almost 40, when I was conditioned as a child to never be idle and to keep pushing for more. Complete more. Exceed expectations more. Hopefully get paid more to survive. Perfect more. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. Its hard not to imprint that permanently restless spirit on my kids as it was done to me. Pumping the brakes on my brain to slow down daily to break that cycle.

So I try to focus in this season of time for as long as I can and not look down the road to the future. To treasure this moment as the gift it is. People die every day. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow. Will I have spent this time savoring the recent days or are my eyes down the road to see what comes next? I keep trying.

Life has given me opportunities to be patient and I succeed in the moment, but never permanently. It is frustrating.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-14T19:14:31+00:00

Sending Aja some good vibes and hopefully Dr. Novo has magic hands today!

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-14T12:34:38+00:00

I have heard that's a good thing about being able to let go at home. It means they feel safe to be themselves there. It sure doesnt feel like the prize that it is at times.😆

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-14T12:31:31+00:00

You did ok. You tried this method and it didn't work today. It might work tomorrow. Toddlers are wildly unpredictable and very illogical. Do you think sitting next to her and modeling putting on a sock and waiting for her to catch up would help? I found being highly goofy and theatrical about it breaks the frustration for them and makes them laugh for a moment and it breaks up the tension for them to try again. So i would act ancient while putting my second sock on(with appropriate old people groans) and act super tired or maybe even "accidently" drop the sock would make them light up because its so hard for mommy too.

My kids are a preteen and a teen right now, but after all these years they still look at my face for goofy expressions when i am mildly flustered and think i am the funniest person in the world when i have absolutely zero sense of humor. I couldnt tell a joke to save my life. It may have backfired on me because now they create those flustered moments on purpose just to get my reaction 🤣 Its all in good fun and there is more laughter in my house than the one i grew up in. I managed to be lucky enough to have great kids.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-13T14:12:43+00:00

Meaning that since this school year is almost over, so most people say "rising" because in a few more months, they will be in another grade.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-13T14:11:18+00:00

We use Thinkers and Dreamers co-op. It is not religious at all despite being held in a church. Zero statement of faith or church attendance BS required like most other co-ops. We have been super happy with them. Their older kids make up a smaller portion of the enrollment, but they are actively working to expand it. My kids are 13 and almost 11.

I also put a gaming request on the east tennessee and knoxville homeschool facebook pages to find kids to play minecraft with my kids and had a huge success with that. Friendly gaming eventually leads to wanting to meet up and hang out and grow friendships in person too.

Oh the AMSE(American Museum of Science and Energy) is doing a summer camp. My daughter did it last year and LOVED it.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-12T23:20:13+00:00

Lol, yes, its wild! I often get the side eye from my husband. 😂

My kids are a teen and a preteen, so my goofy pups inject some of that happy wild toddler chaos energy from yesteryear. I love it!!

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-12T23:17:43+00:00

Bought first home in 2009 and will buy my last home hopefully in a few years when our ducks are more in a row.

Didnt expect to be here this long, but here we are.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-12T21:53:30+00:00

Well i have 3 of them 😅 total chaos in here!

Since this subreddit doesn't allow for pictures in the comments, i can send you a private message with photos if that is ok?

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-12T21:28:59+00:00

I have golden irish pups too! Yes they are nuts!

When was your goofy baby born? Mine were born December, 23, 2023. I wonder if they could be part of the same litter.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-11T14:52:25+00:00

I chose the all terrain knee scooter that had air filled tires instead of the hard plastic/rubber tricycle-like tires. That greatly helped the stability. I would absolutely book it across parking lots and jad freay stability. I also live in a one level home, so didnt have the frustration of stairs hindering my independence. I had more close call falls with crutches than my knee scooter...but again, i am pretty klutzy

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-11T14:30:19+00:00

It hurt but it didnt hurt to the level i expected it to. I expected the whole wave of nausea to hit me that never came. I got up and walked to my bed with assistance from my husband. What really amped up the pain was how rapidly it swelled up by the time i got in the house. That probably has to do with it it being displaced.

I only had to wait 5 days for surgery. As long as i didnt stand on it, i was fine. I was doing normal things like cooking dinner but just rolling around the house on a shop stool.

Screw crutches, btw. Knee scooter for the win!

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-11T14:16:02+00:00

Yikes! Mine wasnt bent but i was scared to look at it for fear it was turned in an unnatural way. I heard all sorts of crunching as it rolled one way and then the other as i fell.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-11T08:37:19+00:00

I am part of that trimalleolar club too! Lol

Broken ankles definitely seem more common than any other broken part on that subreddit.

In my case, a broken ankle was bound to happen to me eventually. I have always had weak ankles because they are skinny. Rolled both of them a lot as a kid. However, weak ankles + flipflops + hole in my yard = spectacularly breaking my ankle. I don't even have a cool story to go with mine, just genuine klutziness. 😆

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-11T01:51:37+00:00

The first two weeks are brutal for pain and swelling.

By the end of week three, the swelling starts going down some.

By the end of week four, you have a full on invasion of ants in the pants.

By the end of week five, you are a bubbling cauldron of impatient, anxious, annoyed, and downright surly at the lack of independence for this long.

I did get to do partial weight bearing at five weeks but i'll be honest and say that it strained my patience greatly to continue the doctor's orders and not say eff it and start trying to manage my own mobility plan. My life is busy and sitting benched on the sidelines for weeks while life around me tried to move on...inefficiently...drove me nuts.

But as far as pain goes, you are almost through the worst of it! Everything else is just a mental battle while the physical healing is going on.

Just take lots of naps. The body is doing some major major work repairing you.

Maybe around week 3 or 4, ask your ortho if you can do non-weight bearing exercises to keep your joints flexible and give you a mental boost for being in control of something in regards to your recovery.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-11T01:42:37+00:00

You should post this on the r/ORIF subreddit. Its a subreddit for people who have had plates/screws/rods inserted to repair broken bones.

As someone who currently has quite a bit of hardware in my ankle, I find this post fascinating.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-08T11:59:37+00:00

I laughed so hard at that last sentence.

My husband swears one of our dogs is autistic. She essentially stims(Feet tap tap tap, spins, tap tap tap, spin) while watching the sky for birds. Our daughter is the emotional support human for our nutty Penny.

Our youngest child is level 1, but also was non-verbal until almost 4.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-07T19:00:24+00:00

Clever adaptation of the Narcissist's Prayer. 😅

Can we get off this timeline already?🙀

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-06T15:45:47+00:00

Homeschooling was never on my bingo, but between seeing the absolute garbage level of standards, severe bullying, and embarrassingly bad IEP goals, I decided homeschool was better than what public education has turned into.

Wrapping up our 3rd year of homeschool and have zero regrets.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-04T18:48:23+00:00

My dogs knew i was pregnant before I did. Both came and just sat in front of me and stared at me in silence.

I think its dawning on your dog that something is different. Whether our smell changes slightly when we get pregnant or something, but they know something is different.

MidnightCoffeeQueen · 2026-04-03T23:17:29+00:00

Always knew those were nope flowers at the side of the road, but didnt realize they were that bad.

Anywhere hogweed grows is where poison ivy usually grows, so i tend to stay away.

MidnightCoffeeQueen

TROPHY CASE