Ankle Impingement

Looks weird, heh? Well, after the cat scan Dec 31st, the diagnostic ultrasound last Thursday, and then a doctor visit Monday with an injection to confirm the diagnosis, I finally have an answer to what is causing my ankle pain and instability and to lock up. I actually have 2 problems - the ankle impingement and a metal allergy to the screws and anchors they put in my foot. So surgery has been scheduled for the 21st of May. I will be non-weight bearing for up to 8 weeks and then weight bearing cast for who knows how long. I was planning a trip to Toronto July to August and was told to prepare to still be in a cast for the trip. This time they will do both sides at the same time.

So what does ankle impingement mean besides pain? Actually the ankle sprains and ruptured ligaments I had from that fall in Philly July of 07 caused it along with the subsequent surgeries to repair the ligaments. As the repaired ligaments healed, they formed too much scar tissue. This scar tissue can form a mass of tissue and when I dorsiflex my ankle, it traps this tissue between the edge of the ankle joints causing pain, popping, and a feeling that my ankle will give out and not support me. This is what happens to me. I will be walking along - ok limping along - and all of a sudden, my ankle will lock up and the intense pain will make me kneel down and pray for relief. My doctor said to think of it as biting the inside of your cheek all the time - same feeling - cheek tissue trapped between your teeth.

The first time the ankle impingement happened, of course the person in front of me was my husband who thought I was kneeling in front of him, thinking I was worshipping the ground he walks on. All of you who know me, know that although I love my husband deeply, it would be a cold day in hell before I would kneel before him and worship the ground he walked on. That just isn't me.

So the other thing that we should have realized but didn't - I have metal allergies. This is the reason you will seldom see me in jewelry. My wedding ring I have to coat the back of with clear nail polish. I wear a leather band on my watch. If I have to get dressed up and be fancy smancy, the earrings and necklace I wear will leave read marks on me for up to a week. I have 3 pinpoint areas of pain on my foot besides the impingement area. These areas correspond to the 1 screw and the 2 anchors. So they will be coming out.

Ever been torn? As long as I sit and don't move, my ankle feels fine. I can walk for an hour or 2 or 3 or 4 and then I worship the floor. I never know when it will happen. So my options are either spend the rest of my life on my rear, or have another surgery which will make me sicker than a dog for a week plus be in a non-weight bearing cast again with a scooter, and then confined in a cast for who knows how long.

I am picking surgery. The upside to the surgery besides being out of pain: my husband waits on me hand and foot and does all the cooking etc for as long as I am in the cast.

I think I need a new bell.

Dementia Day

Friday, hubs and I spent the entire day with inlaws. We took MIL to a new doctor in the am which she loved and both hubs and I approved of. (Inlaws current doctor was in a solo practice and although this is not necessarily a bad thing, you better have someone covering for emergencies and there were way too many times we would call and no one answered the phone - no one, not even a machine). So we wanted to change their doctor and were thrilled she liked the new one. That appointment over, we took MIL to lunch, met BIL, then picked up FIL and we all went to the elder care lawyer to sign the paperwork for a whole bunch of documents.

We had pre-warned the lawyer's office that FIL had a doctor's appointment so to please just give him the papers using simple language to have him sign. We tested FIL on the way over to the office on what his name was. We were taking a chance that he would remember and could write said name around 15 times. We had tried before to do the signing of the paperwork and he didn't know his name so this was our second attempt. If he didn't do it this time, we would have to go through mental competency hearings. Thankfully, he was bright eyed and bushy tailed that day.

He breezed through the paperwork and the lawyers were great. So FIL and I got up to leave and MIL, BIL, and my husband were staying to sign the rest of the paperwork and set up the trust. FIL and I were going to his appointment with the new doctor. I didn't quite know if he would go with me and had prepared a photo book I had just made for him, hoping to distract him.

We did fine although his memory level was still about 2 minutes. I had my GPS on to tell me how to get to the new doctor's office. The photo book? Forgotten. The GPS unit? FIL was absolutely enthralled with the idea that something was telling me when to turn, etc. He kept picking up the unit, turning it over (and disconnecting it), wondering how it worked. I tried to explain it to him in simple terms but it was a WHOOSH over his head. (FIL has this thing he does when we try to tell him things he has forgotten - he picks up his hand and "whooshes" it over his head - so we have all picked up this habit for whenever we forget something).

So we get to the doctor's office and I hand in his paperwork and go sit down to wait our turn. FIL kept distracted by the babies in the waiting room. He loves kids and had a riot making faces and playing with 3 that were near us and they were just as enthralled with him as he was with them. Then his name was called and we went to meet the new doctor. She is a really good looking woman. FIL might have dementia but obviously the 'noticing a good looking woman' part of the brain wasn't affected. He kept trying to flirt with the doctor and once told me I could step out of the room - that he didn't need witnesses. The doctor took it in stride. We are going to start him on another memory drug in patch form. I am probably more worried he will peel it off himself not remembering what it is there for, so we will see.

Since the others weren't done with the legal stuff, I took FIL back to his group home. Again, he went for the GPS. When we pulled up in front of the home, he said that it wasn't his home. I said, well, the GPS knows this is your home - it's labeled as Dad's home. So he said well okay, and we went in. Of course, once he was there, he remembered and the caretakers are great - greeting him like a long lost friend.

We settled into doing a puzzle on the table when one of the other patients there brought out the National Enquirer. The 3 men who are the most alert pored over that magazine like it was a regular newspaper. One would read and then pass it around for the pictures. So our discussions were centered on the latest alien child and how this miracle cream would erase wrinkles and age spots. Now remember I said FIL's memory lasted usually 2 minutes? Well, he remembered the cute doctor and proceeded to tell the others all about her relating this miracle cream to him erasing his age (which he couldn't remember) so he had a chance at the doctor. Photo memory book? I put it in his room.

There is nothing funnier than sitting and listening to 3 dementia patients have a discussion only they understand about aliens and the qualities of a good looking woman. It made my week!

Weirdness

I am telling you - the cosmos is really weird right now. Maybe it is just my aura or me but all the same - weirdness is happening.

Once upon a time....okok.....it started last week. I have been in a weird mood anyway - total exhaustion from the hours we have been working - total frustration dealing with insurance companies and precertifying patients for their surgeries - then we had one of our patients admitted to the hospital so that now means hour long hospital visits to add to our already 14 hour daily schedule - then the senseless killing of 3 parishioners with another in critical condition.

Somehow during the wee hours on Monday, I became target practice:

Yeah you are trying to guess what, right? Well, it was for this critter:

Not once, not twice, not three times, but 5 times. Were they in nice places? Nope. Now in Chicago, the weather isn't supposed to be conducive for those little pests to be around yet - after all we are still getting down to the 30's at night and Monday night into Tuesday we even had snow! Do you think that bothered them? Do you think anyone else in this household got bit? Nope - they made a bullseye for my - gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Do you know how hard it is to sit still?

Then this morning, going for a coffee cup, I encountered this instead of my cup:


Weirdness. Just. Weirdness.

Life is precious!

I am in a weird kinda mood. Actually have been for a few days now. Lots of thoughts crowding my mind.

All the offices have been nuts, then add dinner meetings, etc, we have been swamped. The recession hasn't hit us yet but we have had a few patients cancel their surgeries because they lost their job. But there seems to be 2 to take their place. I am thinking of revising our schedule again because we both just collapse at the end of the day, totally exhausted.

Parents and inlaws have been behaving although there was a caretaker change at FIL's group home which sent MIL and BIL into a tizzy. Of course, I miss having a caretaker that actually speaks English there but it doesn't seem to be affecting FIL. I will be with him all day this coming Friday so shall see then.

Kids have been okay. Daughter and son-in-law took a trip to CO for some skiing and had 2 feet of fresh snow the past couple of days. We have had granddoggies so have totally enjoyed having them around. Nothing beats snuggling with them.

The only downer was what happened in a town close by and are parishioners of our church. 3 people dead in a senseless murder. The mother is in critical condition. To say our church is reeling is putting it mildly.

Today I sit thinking of all the blessings I have in my life.

It is Wednesday

That is all. I slept for 4 hours last night. I guess waiting till D-Day to file taxes for son wasn't such a good idea. Who knew the website would keep going nuts even at 3am? I am tired and all I want to go to do is go back to bed instead of going to work and going to another dinner meeting/seminar tonight.

Plus I have been doing the medical forms for inlaws - we are trying to get everything done so the final signing is the 24th. That happens to coincide with the day that they will be going to visit a new doctor who mailed me an inch thick of documents that needed to be filled out and returned to them within a week before said visit. Of course they only gave me one day to complete said documents.

But some good news: daughter and son-in-law are heading to Colorado and hubs and I get our grand doggies for the next week. Nothing like opening the door to the house and having someone greet you like you were a long lost friend. Warms the heart! Our cat will be on the top of the frig though for the next week....so at least we will be spared her incessant meowing all night long.

Happy Easter!

Fairly low key day today. Yesterday we spent the day with hubs parents and brother. When we went to see FIL, he thought I was his sister-in-law. He had my name right and his name right but could not get the daughter-in-law out. He insisted I was his sister-in-law. He knew I was married to his son though. Ahhh....the mind of a dementia patient. Thankfully with a switch in when he was taking some meds, we are status quo right now with health issues. He has new Polish caretakers who don't speak a lick of English. I am looking into getting a English-Polish dictionary. I have no idea if he has been eating or exercising or anything. I get the same pat answer "Yes, missus. He good." Hookay.........sorry Dakota - loved that and had never seen anyone else use it. Reviews on her Accidental series coming up!

Today we met one of my sisters, my one niece with my grand-niece: precious Didi, my other niece with her husband and my other grand-niece DramaQueen aka the one who dived headfirst off the trampoline 2 days before daughter's wedding, and my grand-nephew we have nicknamed Brutus. He wears his nickname well, sporting a huge knot on his forehead from running into a wall. After spending 2 hours with him, I was exhausted watching the others chasing after him. He is Mr. Houdini and gets out of all restraints and takes off at a dead run. All my kids were there including hubs and my parents. We went to a favorite restaurant of ours - White Fence Farm where we dined on Southern Fried Chicken and all the fixin's.

My parents have been cleaning out file cabinets, etc and I was given a folder of report cards from grade school and high school, along with the programs from my capping ceremony, grade school, high school, and college graduations, along with a lot of other things from my childhood. Twas a wee bit interesting peeking back into my certificate from winning the state penmanship contest (3rd grade) and all the things that were buried in the deep recesses of my mind.

I did get to "attend" church via cable TV. First Easter Sunday service I have been able to attend in a zillion years since I have a huge allergy to lilies.

Life is good. We just won't talk about the fact that I will be undergoing yet another surgery on my right ankle in the very near future.

Full Moon = Craziness

Do people really go crazy on the full moon? There is folk wisdom that is fueled by doctors, emergency rooms, and the general craziness that seems to happen more on a new or full moon. Scientists take the question with a lot of seriousness and there have been numerous studies to prove and disprove this. But it is a fact that nobody notices when there's a full moon and nothing happens.......you only notice when something does happen. Plus there is the fact that the word 'lunatic' is built on the Latin word for moon (luna).

So is there proof?

Dunno. All I know is today I put my scrub top on inside out. I kept trying to put my things in my pocket and they kept dropping on the floor. I thought I was just missing the pocket or I had a hole in the pocket. That is, until my son pointed out that I had my top on inside out. Then there is the fact that instead of putting on my work pants, I pulled out my pajama bottoms which are also black but rimmed around the ankles with black ribbon, and I put them on. But I didn't notice I had done that until I got to the office. I just know I have never ever done this before.

Hubs says lunatic fits me today.

I say it's a full moon which is the reason for my odd behavior.

Hubs says that this day is different from another - how?

The jury is still out on whether or not he pays for said comment.

Book Review - Sacred Heart Diaries

From Ms. Giggles:

Sacred Heart Diaries is a thematic collection of naughty short stories set in the late 18th century. Sacred Heart is an isolated convent in which our impoverished but enterprising 18-year old Candacis Vremont decides to send stories of the amorous and carnal adventures of her fellow Sacred Heart inhabitants to her cousin Philipe for publication. Supposedly she wants the world to know that women are capable of taking part in hornytoad adventures, blah blah highbrow blah-blah'isms, which is why, of course, I am reading this book, to enlighten myself that I too should break down the hypocrisy of society, et cetera. Oh, and the stories are pretty hot too, which makes the chore of enlightening myself about the true nature of humanity and what-not more edifying.

Yep, all that and more. It was one of the best set of short stories I have ever read. Felt even a bit naughtier when reading them on my new Sony505 ereader during lectures. But Ms. Vremont nailed the Catholic schoolgirl to a tee.

5 of 5 stars from me. Note - this will fall under erotica reading.

Happy April Fool's Day!

I am off to a seminar after work. I promise not to fall. Can't promise there won't be broken bones because already have some that need to be taken out. I will try not to get any more.

Haven't played a prank yet but have something cooked up for work. Can't wait.