Just the beginning  

 Part 3: Accident series

I was finally home after 16 days in the hospital.  Seeing the new wheelchair ramp that was built by our fire family made me cry.  Crying because it was built with love and support.  Crying because this is my new normal until I work my way out of the chair.  

When I finally got inside, I got to see my fur babies.  Obviously, they didn’t understand why they couldn’t jump all over me, so they lay beside me on the floor.  They would occasionally bump my hand to ensure I was still there.  

Then the medical equipment started appearing.  Nothing ruins your dignity more than having a portable toilet beside your bed.  Though I will say I had fun making Woody uncomfortable by staring at him while sitting there!  HAHA!!  My daughter helped me get on my new shower seat so I could take my first real shower I’d had in the 16 days.  As I sat there with the water just running over me, I cried.  I bawled until there were no more tears.  I washed my hair.  Let me repeat…. I washed my own hair!  The hospital had these dry shampoo caps that gave the illusion of washing your hair.  Nothing felt better than scrubbing all the crud out of it.  I sat there for probably 20 min just enjoying the water.   This was my routine every day for the next few weeks.

Everything was bandaged up so I never truly got to see what was going on down there, but Woody knew.  He changed my bandages three times a day and every time he looked defeated.  I was scheduled for surgery about a week after I got out of the hospital.  I had a wound vac attached to my foot and they were going to remove it.  

Woody and I had a big decision to make after the surgery.  Will we still be going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with a group of our friends? Our daughter said it would be good for me to get my mind off things.  Two weeks after my release we went to Tennessee. 

This my readers are how the Traveling Dingleberries began.  

One couple we had never met before and the wife of someone we had only met once.  Everyone and I mean EVERYONE helped with anything I needed.  We all had an instant bond that I cannot describe.  It just felt right.  These are my people!  The type that you don’t have to see every day or even talk to every day, and you can just pick up where you left off the next time you see them.  This vacation was good for my soul.  So much laughter and love flowed that week.

There’s so much that happened the next month I’m going to do a small breakdown. 

Stitches and staples were removed.  79 stitches and 30 staples.  The majority was my foot alone.  I had a skin graft done while in the hospital.  That was probably one of the most painful spots to remove staples from.  The nurse was even crying along with me.

Started physical therapy.  In the first month, I was given exercises to build up the muscle I lost.  The biggest issue was the swelling in my foot.  The swelling was keeping my foot from bending to a regular angle.

I started having ridiculous pain in my foot at the beginning of December. We made a trip to the Orthopedic ER to find out what was going on.  After the x-rays, we found out the tiny rod placed on my fibula slid down into my foot it turned out.  I was then scheduled for surgery to remove it.

I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.  I was emotionally and physically drained.  Then the worst thing happened….  I lost my Bullseye.  My daughter took him to the emergency vet since I had a doctor’s appointment I couldn’t miss.  I never thought I would get the call that he couldn’t be saved.  He started having seizures the night before.  When scans were done, they noticed he had tumors on his brain.  He was 10 yrs old and he had the best life.  His sister was more at a loss than I ever thought she would be.  He was her sight dog since she was blind.  

Once the rod was removed the swelling went away within a few days.  When I went to my next physical therapy appointment my therapist was shocked and excited because I was going to be walking soon! 

On December 31, 2020, I walked 30ft!!!! I was able to walk into the new year!!

The next few months we used to gain strength and hopefully find some shoes that would work with my prosthetic. The prosthetic I got was expensive and I’ve only used it once or twice.  It really amazed me the lack of shoes that are out there.  Just because I have a wider foot now doesn’t mean I want them black and Velcro.  Horrible.  I finally found a company called Billy Goat that sells shoes geared toward kids and adults that have ADHD, muscular dystrophy, amputation, etc.  Let’s just say I love this company and what they do!

Greenlight!!!  I was finally able to go back to work after 5 ½ months.  My ortho doc gave me the go-ahead!!  Was I completely healed?  No, but I was still able to go back.  In the following months, I still had doctor appointments, but we’ll get into that another time.

I have so much more I could discuss, but I’m going to save that for future blogs!  I’m sorry it took me a few extra weeks for this one, but this was for some reason a hard one to get out.  So much to say, but I didn’t want to bore everyone! 

Until next time! Thank you to everyone that followed along!