Sunday, May 11, 2008

Hello Again

So, where do I start? As I mentioned previously, I broke my ankle. It has turned out to be the worst thing that I've ever done to myself. I have a new respect for permanently disabled people because I flat out couldn't do this all the time. It would be slightly different if I didn't have the use of my legs, but as it stands I'm essentially helpless. I can't really feed myself because I can't move a plate or glass because of my crutches. I'm not too bad with things with bags, and I can use two fingers to hold a pop bottle and still operate my crutches, but aside from that, I'm screwed. I've gotten pretty astute at getting around at least. I can shower and get dressed by myself, as well as navigate around my apartment. I'm back working, but I'm pretty useless there. There are some narrow areas and I can't get around with any sort of speed. Aside from that, if I have my foot down for more than maybe twenty minutes my ankle hurts quite a bit. I was going to try driving today, but we went to the mall so I could pick up Virginia's graduation gift and I was humbled by an escalator which took the wind out of my sails on the driving. Driving would involve my left foot exclusively as I still can't put any weight on my right foot. Anyway, those are the nuts and bolts.

Emotionally, I'm doing a lot better. I was laid up the entire week after my accident. I tried to go to work on Tuesday before I had surgery, but I only made it about five hours before I had to throw in the towel. I spent the rest of the week on the couch with my leg up. It really wore on me. I was really mad at myself, as well as feeling like I would never be able to walk again. I also felt like I would be in pain for the rest of my life. This feeling was compounded by several things. In the quest to permanently keep my foot elevated I have to sleep on my back. Normally, I can NOT sleep on my back. This means that I'm only getting four or five hours of sleep a night at most. Also, I developed a tolerance for my pain meds, meaning that I was in a constant state of discomfort. I was fine when I had Virginia here with me, but when she left Thursday morning I had a long weekend. Everything has gotten better. They put me on new pain meds, my ankle is healing which means that I'm in less pain in general, and I'm not such a burden on my sister anymore. I'm still a big pain in the ass, but I've gotten some other people to do things like give me rides and help me out at my apartment. I'm still eagerly awaiting the 29th, which is the day that I will start physical therapy and be able to walk in my boot. I think I have nearly a month of that, so it will be July before I'm walking bare-legged again. That will be a good day. For now, I have to settle for small things. They skipped putting me in a permanent cast, so I went from a splint to a boot, which was cool. Everything appears to be healing quickly, which is why I'll be walking on the 29th and not three weeks after that. Also, my friends and family have been amazing. Like I mentioned before, there's no way I'm going to be able to repay my sister for all of the help she's given me. Picking me up most of the days of the week, getting me food, doing nearly everything for me, she's been awesome. My buddy Mike has been helping me out quite a bit too. Also, people have been keeping me company as well. D'vo and his girlfriend Sarah came over last weekend and watched a movie with me. This weekend, Caleb and Tisha were in town for a wedding. They stayed at my place. Even though they have other friends in Omaha, they stayed in with me Friday night and came back a bit early from the wedding on Saturday to hang out with me some more. It was very cool of them.

I've done several things to keep myself occupied. I've read two Car and Drivers, one Popular Science, and I'm halfway through another one. When I finish this magazine, I'm going to tear into my real estate book and hopefully polish it off by Thursday when I leave to go to Reno for Virginia's graduation. I've also got some other plans for productive things while I'm laid up, but I'm keeping those under wraps for now in case I change my mind. I've played over twenty-four hours of the new Grand Theft Auto. I'm still not even halfway done. I watched every single show that was on my DVR, which was nearly twenty hours worth. I've also played a small amount of poker. I've avoided writing because my general state of drugedness and sleep deprivation reduce my eloquence. Hopefully I'll get back into the habit of blogging regularly. Well, that's all for now, hope you are all doing well.

PS - Go skydiving. It's amazing. Just make sure you are better than I am at landing.