More Adventures From Clumsy Land!

I had a perfectly awful weekend, feeling helpless like a baby, unable to do anything for myself. You know you've pretty much screwed your world up when your eleven year old daughter has to "guard" you while you take a sitz bath on the edge of the tub for fear that you will injure yourself even further.

On Friday evening, the orthopedist's office had put me in a sort of half-cast. The nice nurse who triaged me cut off a length of big fluffy bandage, and what looked like a length of white support hose. Nice Nurse then stuffed the fluffy bandage inside of the support hose, making sure to have both ends covered well. She then put the fluffy bandage/hose combo package into a bucket of water and then rolled it up, squeezing excess water out of it as she rolled. Next, she fitted the wet bandage to the back of my leg, shaping it around my heel and the bottom of my foot. She then took gauze and began to wrap this around my leg, starting from the toes and working her way up. When she'd gotten a good layer of gauze, she then took two Ace bandages, and did the same, adding another layer. As the support hose/bandage contraption hardened, it took on all the qualities of an actual cast. Never having had one before, I had always wondered how they accomplished that. Now I know.

So, anyway, I headed back to the ortho office this morning for another evaluation. The "foot specialist" I saw there was a nice young guy who tells me that he *does not* see a fracture, but that sometimes the fractures can be obscured. The x-rays we took on Friday were non-weight bearing ones, since it hurt to even brush my foot on the floor at the time. Doc explains that he'd like to see me back in a week, and we'll try to do some weight-bearing x-rays, which will reveal if there are any fractures that show up with added strain on the foot. Sounds painful, but I can see his point.

Doc pokes and prods at the multi-hued ankle and hums under his breath. I ask him when I can go back to work -- he's not really all that thrilled with me stomping on the foot and getting climbed on like a jungle gym. So, I am to stay at home until NEXT Monday, when I go back in to be re-re-evaluated. He tops this off by having a nice young gentleman named Tim fit me with one of those ultra-classy boot devices. Man, this thing is high-fashion. It's even got four seperate little pumps in various places for extra support. Sort of like your prehistoric pump tennis shoe.

The best thing about the boot, however, is that I can take it off to bathe, or sleep, should I wish. Thank goodness, because the other one itched like crazy, and I just KNEW I was going to be stuck with one for the next six to eight weeks or so, and I had already armed myself with chopsticks to scratch all the way down inside that sucker. So, instead of itchy, I'm just saddled with clonky. At least it helps keep me in the running with those dork points, huh?