Ankle update

It's been a tiring week dealing with  my ankle.  I've been doing partial-weight on crutches, since without support I'm reducing to a slow shuffling gait.  Most of the swelling is gone, it's just the areas below the toes and around the ankle bone that still have firm swelling around them.  The bruising made it halfway up my calf and wrapped around the other side of the ankle, although not as impressive as the outside.  But look!  It's foot-shaped again!

 

I'm starting heat therapy now, since sitting in the hot tub at the gym made it feel looser.  I think I prefer feeling the immobile stiffness though, the looseness made it more likely to move in uncomfortable ways.  I'm hopefully going to start PT soon, to try and speed the strengthening and healing process.  Overall it's going good, I'm just frustrated how minor things are such a pain now that I can't just zip around like normal.

Incomprehensibly clumsy

Impressively so. Inexplicably clumsy. It boggles the mind.

So the weather has been beautiful here lately. On Sat. I decided to take Windy running down the riverwalk. It was our first official run of the season and we were both loving it. She's a really good running partner normally, stays right near me with the leash slack between us. She had a couple dips in the river and was insanely joyous. We ran up a leaf-strewn trail that went up a ridge quite easily. I made a point to constantly watch the ground a few feet ahead to spot any trouble. I really respect how potentially dangerous running on uneven ground can be. On the way back down we were near the end of the trail when we saw 3 guys walking up. They stepped off the trail for us to pass, Windy balked as we approached, but ran ahead at my urging. Something spooked her after we passed and she lunged off into the woods. My foot slipped on the leaves and I took a terrific tumble. I fell to the left and my right ankle turned under and rotated onto the top of my foot.  In my mind it felt like my ankle dislocated and my weight landed on my legbones. Not truly what happened, but that's what it felt like. Most of the rest was just scrapes and mud streaks on my shins and forearms. I had to sit on a rock for about 5 minutes rocking back and forth until the pain subsided enough to walk again. I saw my ankle already swelling over the lip of my shoe. Unfortunately I was about 1.5 miles from my car, but at least it was on the paved path. By the time I got to the car I was able to walk with barely a limp. I went home and plunged my ankle in a bucket of ice water (better than putting ice on it), then bound and elevated it. Been pushing 800 mg of ibuprofen too. But today my foot looks like a zombie limb. The entire area between my ankle bone and the bottom of my foot is purple/grey, thick and hard, with shiny skin on it. My whole foot is swollen, grey, and my toes look fat. There's a pinpoint bruise behind my ankle bone that I think was an internal point of impact, and some bruising runs up my leg a few inches. Nothing's broken, but it's pretty ugly just the same.

What sucks most (other than my lack of mobility) is just how long this is going to take to heal. Ever since I started running I've been pleased how strong my previously-weak ankles seemed to be. Running is clearly out for the next month or so, as is the aerobics class I've started taking. I'm hoping swimming doesn't hurt too much, or maybe the elliptical machines will be ok soon. Grah!

I love this hotel

More photos from my recent trip. The sun started to rise while waiting at the gate to board on my way there. This picture is special for more than just the sunrise. For those of you who fly out of the same airport -- Look! A jetway! Can you believe it? Made me feel all high-dollar not having to go out on the tarmac to board. I always do an extensive yoga routine at the gate before boarding. It helps get the blood flowing and keep limber during many hours of sitting. I really wanted to get a photo in Warrior II (my fav. pose) at the gate but just couldn't bring myself to ask a stranger to take a pic. Esp. since most of them were staring at me surreptitiously over the rim of their coffee cups that early in the morning. Even knowing that no amount of embarrassment is worse than regret/failure, I still couldn't get the nerve to ask. Maybe next time.

The hotel is famous for its "View from the tub". It has plantation shutters that you can open to see into the room, and since my room overlooked the ocean it was possible to sit in the tub and see the water. Very cool, and I made sure to take a bath one day to experience it. Actually, the shutters were a great feature. I kept them open the whole time, and it made the room feel really big, plus kept the bathroom from steaming up. It was easy to keep my iPod dock on the ledge separating the rooms and access my music wherever I was.

Stepping out onto the balcony, this was the view:The rectangular pool bridged the lower one with waterfalls sheeting down on each side into the bottom pool. The "hole" in the middle is actually glass, so you could see people swimming in the other pool. It was fun to be in the bottom pool and have someone swim down to the glass from the top. The ocean was great too, warm enough so long as you stayed in the water. No waves though, which was disappointing. And the water wasn't nearly as salty as I had expected (my last ocean experience was the Pacific, which was really salty tasting). So many people went from the ocean to the heated hotel pools that the pool water was slightly salty instead of chlorine-tasting.

Stepping back into the room, you had to step over this 5" lip on the door frame. I don't know why it was so high, it's not like the floor had a flood hazard that high up. Now, given you knowledge of me, why do you think I'm including this in my post? Could it be that I tripped so mightily over the lip the first few min. in my room that I went almost 10 ft. before landing? See where the bed and my shoes are? That's where my shoulders impacted. I hoped the scuffs on the carpet from my fall would show in the photo, but alas they don't. And I neglected to take a photo of my carpet burned, bruised, slightly bloody knees. Though I'm sure they looked great the rest of the week with my skirts.

One final thing that was a nice touch. The in-room coffee maker was pretty neat. No steamed milk or froth, but far better than the dreck one normally gets as in-room coffee. Until next time...