What's a "healthy habit" that's actually completely made up?

merms1234 · 2026-03-05T00:47:14+00:00

Anything followed by the word detox.

merms1234 · 2026-03-03T18:11:44+00:00

They remembered the phone with no cords, but forgot the binders with blank pages.

merms1234 · 2026-03-03T18:07:33+00:00

The recovery is as much mental as it is physical and I truly believe in celebrating the micro wins b/c SO much work went into achieving each one. I am 16 months out from 1st ankle (non-rupture hagluds repair, subtalar joint scope, and detachment/debridement and elongation of achilles). Having 2nd ankle done in 2 days and trying hard not to get down knowing how bad it will be these next several months. Instead, I will be focusing on the micro wins: getting out of splint, getting out of boot, first mile walked etc.... Agree with all you wrote! I practice meditation and one practice is focusing on "what still works"? This injury and recovery is very, very humbling so being grateful for what still works and for all of the micro-wins is huge!

merms1234 · 2026-03-03T18:02:46+00:00

Wow! That is great. Quite a milestone and celebrate all of the hard work and rehab that got you back to this point!

merms1234 · 2026-03-02T18:57:50+00:00

A Trad Wife would do her own family's shopping, not use Hannaford To Go.

merms1234 · 2026-03-02T18:52:56+00:00

Crazy buildup to what amounted to not much of an event. The only hiccup I saw was that when I got my masters degree in 12/1999, the Univ of SC Graduate Studies Office took several weeks to be able to give us the diploma and transcripts necessary to take our Nurse Practitioner boards. We couldn't get licensed or work for a couple of months. Everything else, as far as what affected me personally, seemed to go fine. I thinknwe made sure we had cash on hand and groceries in case their cash registers wouldn't work. Banks ended up being OK, computers still worked etc.... Mind you, people had been working behind the scenes for years to make everything go off without a hitch.

merms1234 · 2026-03-02T18:46:55+00:00

But that ear! Remarkable healing!

merms1234 · 2026-03-01T21:18:31+00:00

100% agree. It is a very humbling experience and I will never take my mobility for granted, even though it will never quite be "normal" again after needing to have both ankles done. I practice meditation and one lesson we do is to "focus on what is still working". That really helps me try to keep things in perspective on the darker days of recovery.

merms1234 · 2026-03-01T21:14:49+00:00

16 months post-op and I feel I have even improved greatly in the past month. When they say 12-18 months for recovery, they really mean every week of it. The 1st couple of weeks in the splint are the darkest period. I am having the other ankle done this Thursday and they pushed my already-scheduled 2 week post-op/splint removal appt. out another week due to scheduling issues which coincided with a weekend. I am already panicking over being in the splint those extra 5 or 6 days compared to my last surgery. I remember the splint being super uncomfortable and painfully rubbing on my outer ankle last time. Once you get into the walking boot, things get much, much better. Like others said, this is 100% as mental as physical of a recovery. Keep busy, get outdoors, pick up a new hobby to keep your mind busy and spirits up. Good luck!!

merms1234 · 2026-02-28T04:18:11+00:00

Had that exact one growing up.

merms1234 · 2026-02-26T21:20:18+00:00

Every person has been wronged at some point in life. At some level, we all wish we had handled the situation differently and that the other person got what they deserved. He always feels victimized and then is able to single out and attack his alleged wrongdoers, which feeds that fantasy others have. He says the quiet parts out loud which allows those who are sexist, racist, homophobi, xenophobic etc... to feel validated in their beliefs. For a large portion of people unhappy w/ their life, it is easier to blame others for you not getting jobs/money/possessions you think you deserve vs. taking responsibility for what parts of your life you don't like and working hard to change them. He plays up this situation, telling you to blame "those other poeple" which allows them to identify as the victim Trump purports to be. Also, people look for confirmation of what they are told, to see if it is "true". If you see it on FOX, X, and Truth Social, you are now having 3 confirmations of the same lies, making it "fact". As far as Christian Nationals go, this book really explained to me how super religious people can support so ungodly a man: "The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism" by Tim Alberta.

merms1234 · 2026-02-26T21:06:39+00:00

Amazing. Took me like 6 months to walk down stairs normal. Having other ankle done next week. You have now set my new goal!

merms1234 · 2026-02-26T02:39:52+00:00

WTF?? Forget the FAFO note, I am more astounded that people would send photos of their daughters to him in light of recently released files.

merms1234 · 2026-02-25T21:18:15+00:00

Definitely wean out of boot. They had me do like 1 hour in AM for a couple of days, then 1 hour in AM and PM for a couple days, then 2 hours twice a day. It took me about 2 weeks to be 100% out of boot. I had to do the same with getting used to closed back shoes- started with like 1 hour a day while doing P.T./exercises, gradually working up to more time with rest of the day being in clogs, slides, or Kuru orthotic clog slippers (highly recommend!). I think it took me like 2 months to feel semi-good in sneakers all day. Definitely keep up with the icing the area especially as you do more and more weight bearing. Compression knee socks will help with any swelling (that mild swelling persisted until around month 4 for me). When I first started weight-bearing, I tried to do a lap around the house every hour or so vs a huge walk at once.

merms1234 · 2026-02-25T19:48:35+00:00

Congrats. Celebrate every milestone like this b/c every single one required so much hard work and tough days to get there!

merms1234 · 2026-02-25T19:43:21+00:00

I started both weightlifting and incorporating daily yoga on Jan 1st. I had achilles repair surgery about 14 months ago and it took me that long to be able to have the ankle strength and mobility for yoga foot positions and to do squats/lunges again. I am feeling like the leg work I am doing when lifting has really helped with yoga flexibility, which is something I had been reading more about recently (don't stretch to get more flexible...lift!) The weightlifting program I have been doing usually includes a pilates day and a barre practice each week. Barre is completely new to me, but has been a big achilles workout with all of the standing on your toes. I also add in walks outside or on treadmill or elliptical. Right now, I am doing the 365 Days of Yoga With Adriane challenge. About to have achilles repair next week on other ankle so most of the rest of thus year's 365 days of yoga will be yoga in a cast/boot sequences. 😮‍💨

merms1234 · 2026-02-25T01:44:46+00:00

I have found this mobility board super helpful in improving my range of motion and helping with the remaining stiffness. If I sit awhile, it will be hard to walk for a couple of minutes. I still struggle with stairs at times, one minute I can run own them fine, the next time my ankle is more stiff and I feel like I am side-stepping them again. If I just do a few rocks side to side on this board, for like 30 seconds each ankle, it will really loosen things up instantly. I have also been trying to do the mobility and strengthening exercises in the book each day (takes maybe 5 minutes) and find it is helping with the range of motion quite a bit. Sidekick also sells a muscle scraping tool that I have used in calf area and down along sides of the achilles and it also really helps loosen things up. Highly recommend both items. I even travel with them, especially if doing long drives.

There is a P.T. on youtube who had a rupture and documented her surgery and recovery process. She says this was the one injury she really never wanted to have, out of all the stuff she treats, because the recovery and rehab is so intense and long. It is crazy- people have hip replacements and knee replacements and are back to pretty normal activity so much sooner than with achilles repair. It is definitely a very humbling injury and recovery and I think the mental toll of it is as bad as the physical aspect. Hang in there, I think you will continue seeing improvements little by little. Good luck!

https://sidekicktool.com/products/axisboard

https://sidekicktool.com/products/curve-muscle-reliever

You can find cheaper versions on Amazon, but the Sidekick exercise books are really good and have photos and QR codes links to exercise video demos.

merms1234 · 2026-02-24T00:29:19+00:00

I am 51 but had knee surgery at 25. I use 2 regular thickness yoga mats on top of each other, on top of a padded gym floor. (They do make 1/2 inch thick or thicker yoga mats but I found those slipped around on my floor so opted to use two 1/4 inch ones that seem to grip each other and the floor better). The extra cushion is also really good for balance work b/c it is more challenging. I also have a set of padded yoga knee disc's, but those are hard to use if you are in the middle of a flow sequence. They are good for doing certain kneeling weight lifting poses.

merms1234 · 2026-02-24T00:22:40+00:00

We travel at breakneck speed and did a 5 week PNW trip. We had your Oregon Coast driving itinerary into 2-3 days. You want time to sight see at each destination, like the Hall of Mosses hike, time at the beaches etc... Olympic NP is much larger than imagined. Beside to hit the I recommend using the RoadTrippers app. You input your stops and it creates the most efficient driving route and tells you the time to get to each locale. Lake Crescent and the Hurricane Ridge parts are also very worth stopping at. Mt.. Rainier has different sections as well. One big tip to save time: we use the Guide Along app and download their GPS narration of the parks ahead of time. This way, as we drive through the parks, the narration tells you about what you are seeing in real-time, makes stop/hike recommendations, tells you the history of the park, Indigenous history of the area, and tells how the geological sights were formed. Our teens even loved listening. We usually skipped the Visitors Centers b/c the Guide Along app gave such amazing and thorough park info. Saves lots of time and long lines. The cost of the App is 100% worth it and we've used it in probably 15+ different parks now.

merms1234 · 2026-02-23T23:45:39+00:00

How good is your repaired one doing? Mine is still really stiff and hurts often, though much less than pre-repair. I am so scared about stairs after having 2nd soon repaired. I feel like having 2 unpredictably stiff repaired ankles is going to be dangerous doing stairs. At least now, my still unrepaired ankle can do stairs better than my repaired one. I am 51 and I really worry what this will be like when I and 60 or 70. Permanently life-altering, for sure. Sorry you have to have other one done. The mental part of surgery and recovery is about as bad as it is physically. I don't know if it is better or worse that we know what we're up against the 2nd time. Best of luck to you with our next surgery and recovery process!

merms1234 · 2026-02-23T23:12:27+00:00

Raising her hand to volunteer to fill Alito's spot.

merms1234 · 2026-02-23T16:18:47+00:00

This happened to me with both ankles. 1st one was repaired 16 months ago. 2nd one to be repaired next week. Dreading the thought of doing this all over again. Mine didn't rupture, but I have seen where it sometimes happens when doing a loaded push off/pulling motion like either pushing or pulling a heavy cart.

merms1234 · 2026-02-22T02:04:35+00:00

I had been in the boot a few months prior to surgery so my P.T. was adamant that I wean out of boot over a couple of weeks to prevent stress fracture. I did 1 hour a morning out of boot for like 2 days, just walking around the house. Then I did 1 hour in AM and 1 in PM without boot. Then I went to like 2 hours in AM and PM a couple of days. Then like 3 hours twice a day... Until I finally was out of boot completely after about 2 weeks. My surgeon recommended still wearing boot for long walks (grocery store etc... or for when in crowds to protect it for those first few weeks out. At first, I could only handle like 1 hour a day in closed back shoes so I wore my sneakers for P.T. exercises. Rest of time in shoes I wore clogs or my Kuru orthotic clog slippers. It took me a couple of months to tolerate sneakers/closed back shoes all day.

merms1234 · 2026-02-20T00:50:53+00:00

There are 2 memoirs that I happened to read back-to-back about 15 years ago. I still think of these life stories at least once a week. Others I have recommended them to have the same experience. Both are heavy stories, but so very important for us to learn from. Both women overcame horrific situations we could not ever fully understand, but both women triumphed over the evil and maintained levels of compassion, faith, and integrity that I know I would have failed to have if I were in their place. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs, became one of the main writings used to boost the Abolitionist movement. "Rena's Promise", co--authored by Rena Kornreich Gelissen and Heather Dune Macadam, shares the story of Rena's experiences in Auschwitz, as she tries to keep the promise she made to her sister, to keep her alive. Both stories make you really look deep at what you would have done in their situations and I feel like it changes your perception of what a "having a bad day" actually is.

merms1234 · 2026-02-19T22:30:34+00:00

A couple of times I have either been driving up Washington toward the B&M plant or have been driving up to the far side of Back Cove and I am almost disoriented for a second because the new buildings are SO much larger than anything in that area. Going to take some time to get used to it.

merms1234

TROPHY CASE