The days before and after surgery

So I did end up getting that appointment with the ortho clinic two days after the fracture. Also, surgery was scheduled roughly 2 weeks after I broke my ankle. My surgeon said something to the effect of, “whatever you end up messing up between now and then, I’ll just fix it when I get in there.” Something about that statement stuck with me.

I spent most of my waiting time in those days in a recliner. I was supposed to keep my foot elevated as much as possible in order to minimize the swelling. And after surgery, I still had to spend a couple of weeks like that, too. This post is about how I spent that time.

I had a TV, a laptop, and a phone. I caught up on a lot of streaming. If I wanted to be lazy and watch movies and binge tv, I had my excuse.

I also had my meals brought to me (thanks, dear!), and so I ate from the recliner, too.

During the workday, I would sometimes want to sit at my desk rather than recline. So I had a wheelchair that let me do that. Because of the request by my doctor to try to elevate the foot when I could (and because of my desire to do so), I only spent an hour or so at a time in the wheelchair at my desk, and instead spent most of my time reclined.

The wheelchair

The wheelchair was more of a thing I used after surgery, not before, as I wasn’t really brave enough to maneuver to and from it that often. But once I started using it, it was convenient for me to wheel from the office to our open kitchen to fetch my own drinks. I did not use the wheelchair to get to the bathroom, as doors for bathrooms are much narrower than wheelchairs allowed. Still - it was handy.

The knee scooter

While I had both a set of crutches (the ones issued to me by the hospital ER on the day of my visit), and a wheelchair (which I got on my own to help with going to and from my home desk and the kitchen), another device that was recommended to me by the surgeon was a knee scooter. You could either buy one of these, or rent one. We decided to rent.

In hindsight, I didn’t really use it that much. I think I took it on one outing, but I would’ve been just fine with crutches. I did like having the option, and I’m sure it may help others, but I didn’t find that I used mine at all.

The thing I kept within arm’s reach

One thing I’m glad I had with me was a grabber tool. I kept it folded up next to the recliner and used it whenever I needed something just out of reach - a dropped napkin, the remote, even flipping the fan or light switch on the wall without having to get up.

The one I had was extra long, so it came in handy.

I should likely tell you how the surgery itself went.