17 Things I Learned About Having a Broken Foot Revisited

17 things I learned about having a broken foot.  Authored by Moi, on December 15, 2009.  I never thought I would need to revisit this for the sake of going through it again:

    1. Walking three blocks on crutches is harder than you think.

2. 2. The bruising on your palms, chafing on your sides and ache in your back will hurt more than the broken bone.

3. 3. Take advantage of not being able to drive..... wine, whine and wine.

4. 4. Sliding down the stairs on your ass is overrated no matter what your kids think.

5. 5. Do not rock your 30lb child to sleep in a chair that is across the room from the crib.

6. 6. A broken foot does not excuse you from washing dishes, doing laundry or making school lunches.

7. 7. There is no shame in crawling up stairs...or just crawling in general for that matter.

8. 8. When carrying a full wine glass while using crutches hold it by the rim, otherwise you will have an empty wine glass.

9. 9. Do not attempt to get the mail, vacuum or carry a full cup of coffee while using crutches.

1010.  Hoping in socks is easier than hoping in shoes or bare feet because you can do a hop slide sort of thing and move a lot quicker.

1111.  Having a stool in the shower to sit on is not such a bad thing.

1212.  Your 7 year old will amaze you with his willingness to help without whining even though you know he wants to.

1313.  Your 2 year old will take full advantage of the fact that you can't catch him (see #10)

1414.  Your husband will step up and bathe the kids, drive you around, cook the meals and try not to complain.

1515.  When you wonder how you will get through another day, your neighbor will greet you with a smile in the morning, zipper your kid's coat, kiss your other kid's cheek, drive you to work and tell you that she actually enjoys doing it. (I will miss our morning rides)

1616.  Strangers will go out of their way to help you, especially children.

1717. Your family, friends and co-workers will amaze you with their support and willingness to help out in any way they can.

TTHANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED US THROUGH THIS. YOUR HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED AND WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!!!!

Okay…so I tried to focus on the positive things.  What I really remember is that I thought the healing process would never end, yet five months later (exactly one year ago), I ran my best time in the Broad Street 10 Miler.  A run, that I will be missing next week…Oh the irony.

In October 2009 I stepped off a random curb, landed on an acorn and broke the fifth metatarsal on my right foot.  A Jones Fracture, the most difficult break to heal due to the lack of blood flow to that particular area of the foot.  The doc said I may never run again, I read horror stories describing years of healing…non-weight bearing for months and months.   Luckily I was non-weight bearing for only 9 weeks, in the boot for another 3 and walking after a total of 12.  PT for 2 months and I was off and running…literally. 

Yesterday I came barreling down the stairs after putting my now 3 ¾  year old in time out for the umpteenth time in 2 hours, stepped on a shin guard left at the bottom of the stairs and did the exact same thing to the left foot.

So here I sit, trying to find the silver lining, the positive learning experience, the lesson the universe is trying to send me….haven’t quite figured it out yet.  Thoughts are welcomed…what good can come of this experience??  I suppose that which doesn’t destroy me makes me stronger, or some shit like that.

The two biggest hurdles I remember from last time are:

1.     How to clean my house

2.     How to get my exercise on

Last time, after several arguments and not being able to stand the nastiness of my house any longer, we hired a lovely couple to clean every two weeks.   I loved coming home to a sparkling house, you know the one, it smells clean, feels clean and you didn’t have to scrub anything?  Once I was able to get around again though, we let them go.  A luxury we couldn’t really maintain…this time I may forego the arguments and get right on the cleaning service.  If anyone knows of someone who is willing to do some serious scrubbing at a reasonable rate for a limited period of time please hit me up!

So, on to the exercise dilemma.  How to stay fit with a broken foot…hmmm.  Last time I did some limited upper body moves a few times a week.  This time around I am in a different place.  Having done P90X and Insanity for the last 18 months I have learned a lot more about exercise and fitness.  I know new moves and can probably come up with some pretty good routines, which I will share as part of this blog (thus the Bring It! reference – Tony Horton fans say “Hey”!)

For now though…since the ER doc didn’t give me any good meds, I will practice bicep curls using a full glass of wine and try to focus my metabolism for the next 24 hours on healing my foot.   That, and not killing my kids who have decided that today is a good day to start a band…drums and all.