Please don't be thrown off by the dates... This post has been sitting a word doc for quite some time. In the next few posts, I am going to try and "catch-up" to the current week.
July 1, 2016
It is hard to put into words the week that I had been
having. My husband was off to Nicaragua
for 10 days. I had picked up extra classes at the gym trying to earn some extra
vacation money and signed the kids up for swimming lessons. I also had to pack for our family of 5 to
leave on vacation. It was the 3 kids, 2
dogs, a garden to tend, and myself.
Journal entries from the
week:
6/25: so thankful for my dad helping me
pick peas at 6:30 am before I had to leave for work
6/28: “be strong in the Lord” is in the passive tense –
strength is something God gives you
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| My To-Do list from that week |
6/30: Interesting Recap.
This schedule while busier – just has work & kids – it’s been “easier”
to manage
It was definitely hectic and to say that my to do list was
long might be an understatement – well just look at page one of it. But things
were getting checked off.
Friday started with me cancelling a coffee date because of
that list. Laundry - check. Start packing
– check. The day moved on as normal. We were off to the gym at 4:30 for Friday Night Boot Camp (which
is an absolutely amazing class by the way).
The class ran through the normal warm up. I did a few things but my right leg was tight.
Since I had subbed extra classes the day before, my legs were definitely tired. SO I decided
that for the rest of class, I was not going to participate in class but to
coach and “take it easy”. My class was playing bear crawl tag. There was laughter and sweat – a great
combo. Through the round, as much as I
wanted not to play, I found myself playing the game. Soon they realized that I was fair game to
be tagged. A quick step out of the way to avoid the tag then a big step and
POP! Several people heard the pop and
some thought the floor board at broken.
The instance after the pop, I felt like something had kicked me in the
back of my leg. I looked to see what
could had fallen on me then I knew. My
face said it all. My left Achilles
tendon had just ruptured. The class
stopped and I hopped to the front of the room.
After I had sat down, I told them to continue playing the game.
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| Wrapped with ice |
The next hour was really a blur between
instructing class, texting my family (remember my husband is in Nicaragua), and
having other staff members come and check on me. Comparably speaking to childbirth, the pain
wasn’t awful. It was a mix of throbbing
and numbness. When it throbbed, that
was a 15+ on a scale of 0-10 for pain. Class rapped up. On a
loaned pair of crutches, I exited through the back door. My sister was waiting
for me and after a moment of hesitation (to take her car or mine) off we went
in her car. We just started driving
with no idea where to go (we aren’t crazy about our local hospital). My mind was racing and the thought to call the
Institute of Foot and Ankle Reconstruction at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore. I had seen a doctor there before. Kathy and I started talking about where we
were going to go – FMH, Mercy, and Carrol – with no decision we pulled off into
the park-n-ride to formulate a game plan.
We conferenced called my other sister for extra input and decided to
call Mercy. Kimmi looked up the number
for us and while we waiting for the phone number, I realized why I was hesitant
not taking my car. My wallet (licenses,
medical card, etc.) was in my car. With
that realization, our game plan was done.
We would call Mercy, order dinner, run an errand, take dinner back to my
parent’s house then head out to wherever we needed to. In calling Mercy, we left a message for the
on call doctor and off we went.
Pizza ordered. Kathy
ran into Walmart and Safeway. I tried
calling my husband then sent him a text.
“IF you could call, that would be great.” Also, I texted my friend Steph who partially
ruptured her Achilles to get her take on it.
You never know what you do in a situation until you are in
the situation. My mind was trying to
prepare for what was next. I’m a “fix-it”
person. If there is a problem, let’s
figure out the plan and fix it. It’s
also hard for me at times because there are times when my gut says to do
something but can’t explain why. For
example, the hesitation about which car to take. My mind didn’t connect that my wallet was in
the car but my gut knew.
At my mom’s house, the plan wasn’t coming together because
we had no clue where we wanted to go.
Steph said our local hospital had misdiagnosed her Achilles as a
sprain. “Don’t go there,” she said. Where then? Was the question. Just as we
were gearing up to go somewhere, a call from the 410 area code come in. It was the on call doctor from Mercy Hospital
calling me back.
I explained the situation and our conversation went like
this:
- “Do you have a
boot?” Yes Do you have crutches? Yes, then save your money, put yourself in a
boot, stay off it and call us on Tuesday.
- Then I told him that I was supposed to be leaving in 24
hours for our vacation. He was honest and said that I might have to cut my
vacation short.
More conversations and I finally decided that I would go on
vacation then fly home from NH if the doctor told me too. The kids spent the night at Grandma’s as planned (originally
I had several client appointments scheduled the next morning) and I headed
home. Mentally, my brain was on go mode to pack, finish laundry,
clean … blah blah blah
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| Me and my backpack trying to do laundry for the trip |
Quickly realized: laundry was in the basement and I was on
crutches. I made it down the stairs to analyze
the situation and realized that a backpack was going to be necessary for the
things besides my textbooks. I needed
it to carry things around.
Moved things around then decided it was best if I went to
bed… this was the start of a very long
process.
Looking Back:
If you would had asked me
that day, I never would had guessed in a million years that my left Achilles
tendon would rupture. My right leg was
tight but my left felt fine. And while
my left ankle constantly had problems, the doctors always checked the achilles and said
it felt fine. Unfortunatley we will
never know what actually caused it to blow, we are just left with lots of speculation.
Functional for Life
With this knowledge in hand whenever
someone asked me if I was all recovered, I simply said let me show you. 
