Update

So, I have a lot to report since my last blog entry.

I went to the hospital last Thursday morning and found out that I did in fact fracture my left fibula in two places (spiral fracture) just above my maleolus (ankle). It was a clean break and in line, but had shifted 2mm to the mid-line and the ER doctor referred me to the on-call orthopedic surgeon. This meant a 45 minute drive to Burnaby Hospital where Dr. Dunwoody who is amazing told me that he would recommend surgery due to the nature of the break and my age. I certainly wasn't expecting to hear that I needed surgery, so I left the hospital needing some time to process the information. I also felt that this was all quite dramatic considering I had been walking on a broken ankle for 9 days and it seemed to be improving. After consulting with a few friends in the medical profession, I decided on Friday morning to head back to the hospital and be added to the "add-on" list for surgical repair. Alethea and Robin drove me to the hospital on Friday evening and helped to get me settled in my room. I was admitted to the 4th floor Unit 4C where the nurses were fantastic. The hospital was as clean as I have seen and I was the youngest patient on the orthopedic unit by about 40 years.

Saturday morning arrived and Nelson, Alethea and the girls brought me Tim Hortons (the first since returning from Haiti) for breakfast and spent 2 hours with me which was wonderful. I was hoping that I would be called in for surgery later that day, but I was presented with a brown paper bag around 8pm that evening that contained a sandwich and applesauce......... obviously I wasn't going for surgery.

Sunday came and went, the same drill, maybe by lunch, then maybe by dinner and again, the same paper bag was offered. At this point, I had not eaten for more than 24 hours, I had an IV in my hand since Friday night and was feeling very weak, tired and lethargic. Nelson, Alethea and the girls came back to see me for a few hours but I know I wasn't very good company as I was feeling pretty sick and frustrated that I had spent more than 48 hours unable to go further than the end of the hallway while awaiting surgery.

Finally, on Monday morning, the nurse let me know that I was officially scheduled for surgery between 10 and 11am and sure enough, at 10:45am, I was wheeled down to OR. I was never so happy to be going for surgery. The anathesiologist commented that I looked nervous, and I quickly responded that the reason my pupils were so dilated, was because I was starving so he should hurry up and put me to sleep so we could get this over with. I woke up about 1.5 hours later in the recovery room to a wonderful nurse who gave me some fantastic medication for my post-op pain which was downright horrible.

I was returned to my room feeling like I couldn't keep my eyes open and fighting several waves of nausea but the best friends in the world, Nelson and Alethea again came to my rescue and brought me a "girl" happy meal for dinner. I fought through throwing it up in front of them a few times from the nausea but fell into a drug-induced coma shortly after they left. I received three more rounds of antibiotics through my IV before being discharged the following morning.

I am now at home using a walker to get around. I feel like one of the residents that resides in the facility that I work. It is very hard to use a walker and only weight-bear on one side. I find that I can only go short distances before fatiguing and needing to rest. This has been an eye-opener for me and makes me realize how quickly your independence can be taken away! I went back to work on Thursday and Friday this week and I'm feeling very frustrated and a bit depressed. I'm tired of not being able to to anything that I want. Not properly showering or washing my hair is just downright gross and outside of Haiti not socially appropriate. I want to nap all of the time and my house is slowly falling apart.

I have an appointment scheduled at the cast clinic this coming Friday (6 more sleeps) and I hope that if I am told I can't start walking on my left foot, that I can at least start wearing my aircast again and weight-bearing. I want nothing more than to get rid of this walker. My shoulders hurt and I've gotten into the habit of counting the number of steps it takes me to get to various locations around the house. Right now, I regret making the decision to have surgery, so I am living on the hope that I will be cast free in less than a week so I can at least start getting out of the house and doing the simple things we all take for granted. The irony, all I wanted to do is come home and be able to take hot showers, and since being home I've only been able to take one..... I feel like I'm back in Haiti again!!