Saturday, April 03, 2010

That's The Breaks

My Peeps

I know. I've been a bad blogger. Part of it has to do with Spring Break, part of it has to do with our computer being buggy, and most of it has to do with the hubs working from home this week.

Speaking of Blogger, is anyone else finding the new photo upload option(s) s-l-o-w?

I had an ortho appointment this week. No surprise, but the foot is still busted. This time I had the where-with-all to bring a camera and take pictures of my x-ray.

Middle metatarsal bone... Not just a fracture, but the bone frayed. Yeah, when I break something, I break it good... *sigh* I guess the Costco incident* in addition to running did more damage than I thought. I wasn't planning to post the pic but, apparently, a lot of you are curious and asked me to show the pic -- so there it is!

I came into the appointment wearing my new Pearl Izumis. The doc busted me on not wearing the boot. The boot is hard and flat, and I have a really high arch, and it caused me to overcompensate through my ankle and knee. The doc pointed out that I need a lot more stability while I'm healing so that I don't cause more injury. The Pearl Izumis are relatively firm and stable, but they still bend -- the doc doesn't want my foot to bend. I've added an arch insert to the boot, which helps, but it still wears me out. I return to ortho in two weeks.

I also had an appointment at RU the following day. Bryan seemed a bit more sympathetic to me after seeing the pic of the x-ray -- not that he wasn't sympathetic before, but seeing how smooshed my foot is, he realized it wasn't as small a fracture as he thought. Sooooooo... instead of the usual workout routine, I got a nice foot massage, did some easy upper body dumbbell matrix exercises, and ankle mobility exercises. He also did casts of my feet for custom orthotics, finally. I return to RU in two weeks.

It was also suggested that I get a prescription for a bone stimulator**. [Feel free to insert an inappropriate joke here, because my mind is mush and can't think of one.] It doesn't feel much like anything when I use it for 20 minutes a day, but it's supposed to help the healing process, and according to the site, it says it "gets patients back to their normal activities 38% faster." I guess I'll find out, providing a trip to Costco is normal activity with steel toe boots. Maybe I'll be able to get in and out of Costco 38% faster. Maybe I'll be able to run 38% faster.

Since I can't run I've been doing other things to keep busy. My side and back yards have been quite neglected, and I decided to pull weeds and add some perennials and drought tolerant plants. I've been mindful of my foot and have been sitting for most of this gardening adventure. I've completed one side yard planter area and a small square in the center of the backyard with a new bird bath. Now, I need to slowly tackle the rest of the unruly backyard.

The strategically cropped photo -- So you can't see the rest of the unruly backyard.

I'm also trying to keep some kind of exercise routine going. I have yet to get into a pool, but that's on the list of things to do. I've been doing a lot of upper body exercises that don't require feet, like stability ball push-ups -- which are probably equivalent or equal to knee-down push-ups, bicep curls, tricep extensions, dumbbell flys, shoulder presses, abs exercises, etc. I've been trying to do modified squat and lung matrices, but I really have to pay attention to the foot with those.

In other news...

The hubs had some rather unexpected excitement earlier in the week. It was later in the day, probably about a half hour before closing when everyone in the office started smelling smoke. They went outside to figure out the source, and discovered that smoke was coming through their basement. 911 was called and they were soon surrounded by fire trucks, police and the local news. Luckily, the fire wasn't that big, the damage was confined to the basement, and they've hired a company to take care of the smoke smell. Oh, the news coverage was minimal. I tried to find a news link because the story aired on the 11 o'clock news on three local stations, but I guess it wasn't news worthy enough to keep the story since no one was injured and the building didn't burn down. As a precaution, SDG&E cut the power lines to the building. They actually went up in a cherry picker and physically CUT the lines. Hubs was more horrified with the cutting of the lines than the actual fire because that meant he wouldn't be able to work at the office with deadlines looming and picky clients wanting their projects done NOW. Hubs worked at home for three days. I pretty much stayed out of his way, since he was on the computer most of the time and had a phone stuck to his ear. By the way, everything at the office returned back to normal on Friday.


Last night we attended a party/reception/thing at RU. They were launching a new training program and had vendors with free goodies, plus food and drink. There were several people there who I hadn't seen since the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon/Half Marathon in December, and was able to catch up with all of their race plans for this year. I'm not sure what it is, but every time we go somewhere that is mostly my thing, my hubs almost always sees someone he knows there. This happens frequently. For example, at my 10 year high school reunion he knew someone I went to high school with, and I had no idea because when he referred to her it was by her married name. Their firms shared an office space together. At the RU thing, he saw a guy from Rotary, his former intern, and a contractors who he works closely with. I wish this would happen to me. I go to his industries receptions/parties/things and NEVER see anyone I know -- and at his things it's all about business. It's not a lot of fun for me to discuss square footage, drywall, lighting fixtures and flooring unless it's for my house. ANYWAY, back to the RU party... I had some explaining to do about my foot, and that's where everyone said they wanted to see the x-ray pic. Towards the end of the event, they had a drawing for some nice goodies like massages, hydrostatic body fat testing, shoes, etc. Hubs won a mesh bag with triathlon gear inside, which was a bib holder/belt, Glide, a sun visor, and a few other small items. I guess he'll have to take up doing tris now. Heh.

I'm not 100% sure what's happening for Easter, but I can venture to guess that my SIL will be hosting it. They ALWAYS plan these kinds of things to the last minute.


Whatever you're celebrating on Sunday, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Wednesday's Song:
California Sun - The Ramones


PEACE

* A lady ran over my foot with her full cart at Costco.
**Ultrasound bone healing system

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, you've been keeping busy! You seem at least 38% busier now than before! Hmmm, I won't touch the stimulator comment...I'll have to bone up on some good one liners though...my mind is mush today too.
Love the Peeps picture!
I don't know why but I have been hear about RU a lot lately.
Have a nice Easter and I hope your bone heals up miraculously fast!

Unknown said...

I must admit to being very intrigued by the xray. Thanks for posting it.

Hope you heal quickly!

Happy Easter!

Anne said...

That looks painful, even in 2D like that. And how on earth did a woman run over your foot at Costco?!

Aka Alice said...

still giggling about the "stimulator"

I read that if you clear your cookies and cache, the photos will upload faster in the new version of blogger, and since mine weren't uploading AT ALL, once I did this, I saw improvement.

I ran with Michael this morning and he didn't tell me ANY of this...of course he told me lots of other stories. :-)

RobinLK said...

Wow, Irene! So much to read and catch up on w/ you! First, That's the Breaks: Kurtis Blow or George Strait?? :-)

Okay, now - as a fellow boot wearer (as of this past wk), I liked seeing your Xray. I have a fracture in almost the same spot as yours, but I didn't get run over by a lady's cart at Costco (though nearly did today at grocery store - by a elderly lady in an electric cart - in reverse at full speed, me limping and dodging... I'm sure it was entertaining to someone! I was freaking out!) How long w/ the boot for you? My foot doc said all the same stuff: stiff support, no bending of the foot allowed, etc... I go back 4/13. Can't come soon enough...

Oh, and speaking of _____...Um, never mind. I'm with Alice, though - giggling about the stimulator. hee hee

SCORE on the freebies!

Take care and HUGS from Orlando!
robin

Jo Lynn said...

Yup, that's a break alright. How the heck do you break THAT? Strange. Injuries suck, no matter what.

Glenn Jones said...

Ouch! That was a little more than just a stress fracture!

I've quit using Blogger to create/edit posts. I'm using Windows Live Writer. It allows you to create and format offline and then publish to your blog. Works really really well.

Thanks for the suggestions about getting a *real* body fat analysis. I'll be doing so shortly!

Black Knight said...

What a sexy foot! The Ramones were my favourite band when I was a teenager. Have a good Easter.

Deene said...

At the medical mj convention this weekend there was a booth providing massages, aromatherapy etc. they had a vibration therapy machine and were letting every give it a try - we got a good laugh after standing on it for a half minute.
what happened at costco?

Being Robinson said...

orthotics are the best, i got them after my (first) stress fx, same spot as yours. hope it heals up quickly, but it sounds like you are staying busy, which = GOOD!

Maryland Girl aka Michelle said...

Wow shredded bone. Yuck. It is good that you are doing other types of exercise too. I hope it continues to heal. Stay away from the shopping carts!