I felt like asking the doctor that today. My cast is now fully removed, a week ahead of the initial schedule. I was supposed to wear the rear half of the cast until next week, but after another 4 x-rays today (man I think my doctor just loves looking at new ones) it turns out that my Fibula has healed quite quickly.
Apparently the bone has repaired enough for me to start putting some weight on in. I credit the calcium pills I have been taking every morning, and the yougurt that I have been trying to have daily. (Now on the same note, I am sure that not drinking milk contributed to my leg breaking...that and the tree I hit.) The doc looked at my leg and said she was pleased that the bone has done so well. So, yay! Fixed bone, and no more cast (just my leg brace 24/7).
That being said, the hard part is really starting. The doctor measured how much pressure I could put on my leg today, and I was able to get almost all my weight on it before it started hurting. At least my leg is still that strong...it really looks like a piece of spaghetti beside the other one...sad really. So I still have a fair ammount of strength in my leg. However, the range of motion is the killer.
The doctor says that if I am to get ACL surgery that I need to have full range of motion first...which for Japanese people is 150 degrees. Now I can sit "seiza" (sitting on your knees with your feet tucked flat, sole up) for a little while, but due to the size of my legs I am not able to really sink into it like most Japanese people can. I don't think my leg has ever been able to go 150 degrees, simply because my calf is kinda meaty. Anyways, there is no way my leg can go anywhere near that right now anyways. We did a range of motion test, and I pushed as hard as I could and I barely got to 70 degrees. Let me tell you, it hurt a lot. I pushed (or rather pulled) as hard as I could until it felt like I was going to tear things in my knee. It is probably just swelling, but still it felt like things were going to pop and tear (funny since my MCL is already torn and that's where the pain was.)
So, my homework for the week is to work on my range of motion. She wants me to try for 90 degrees for next week. I soalked my leg for a long time in a super hot bath tonight and started to work it out a little. I think I pushed a little farther than this afternoon, but I am now starting to realize exactly how laborious this rehab is going to be. I will make slow progress, but I am determined to get through it. This afternoon 20 degrees seemed like...if not a walk in the park, then just an easy little hike. This evening 20 degrees seems like a little more. I wouldn't call it Mt. Everest, maybe more like the Grouse Grind...possible, but not without effort.
All that being said, I can walk again. I still use the crutches, but really just for a little support. I am probably going to have them for a few weeks, but for the first time in a few weeks, I have actually used my leg. I have to keep looking at the path ahead and preparing for the rigours that it will bring, but I have to remember to look back and to be proud of getting to where I am.
The Japanese have a wonderful and horrible word all rolled into one. "Gambare" or sometimes "gambatte." Either way, it means "do you best" or "try as hard as you can." Those are direct translations though. They use it in many situations. I get told "gambare" when they see me struggling to put on my shoe, or when I am hoofing down the hall at work, or sometimes when people just see my crutches. I say it is both wonderful and horrible because of how often it is used. Sometimes I just think "of course I am trying my hardest, aren't you watching" but other times I really feel the support of the words. Gamabre is one of those words that even a description like this can't make clear. Ask someone who has lived in Japan what they think of Gambare, see how they take it.
Another phrase that brings both postitve and negative feelings is "kawaisoo." It translates to "pitty" or "poor." It's kinda like saying "poor you" or "what a shame." Most of the time people use it to show sympathy. I get it a lot when I tell people about my leg, or about difficulties in daily life. I even get it when people just see my leg. I don't know why, but "Kawaisoo" is really irritating at times. I just get sick of people saying "poor you." I know it is something that is lost in translation, both lingual and cultural. I appreciate the gesture that people are making when they say it, but I relly don't want their pitty.
Maybe the previous 2 paragraphs have sounded harsh. They are not designed to be. It's really just a little cultural insight I want to share, and at the sametime vent a little. Bless all the people here that are making things easy for me, and offering their support and sympathy. I really appreciate their comments, even when they irritate me
On another completely unrealated note: everything here is gritty. A fine layer of sand has been dusting most of Japan. I have been told the ski hill is turning a little yellow; I know that the skies in Kyoto are taking on a yellow tint; even my windshield has a little dusting of sand. The sand is being picked up by strong winds that are sweeping over China and then it is carried over the sea and starts to settle on Japan. It very strange. It is making the news daily, but so far it seems to be causing no more than minor difficulties. I don't know if anyone at home had seen this on TV or in the paper, but do a search on the internet for it...it's kinda interesting.
Well that's it for tonight. I feel like a cuppa joe and a good sit with my book. Even though I can walk around a bit, I have come to appreciate a good sit. Hope your all well, and please feel free to comment here or email me at aj22@shaw.ca! I love hearing from everyone, and thanks to those of you who have been keeping in touch, it has really helped keep me positive during this stressful time. And please pardon any spelling or other mistakes in this post, I haven't re-installed Office yet...
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
What a month...
Well I can finally update my website again. It's been a while, but I left everyone with a good read didn't I? There is a reason for why I haven't been able to update sooner. You see, my luck in the first half of this month has been absolutely awful. Let's recap:
March 1st:
My car won't start. I take it to the mechanic. The starter motor is fired. About $400 for a new starter motor. Mechanic says that the model of my car is a "torabaru oii kuruma" or lotsa trouble car...read lemon. But hey, $400 later it starts and runs, and feels better than ever.
March 4th:
Got up close and personal with a tree. If you want more info on this read my previous post.
March 6th:
Appointment with Orthopedics. They do a bunch more x-rays (read more $$ out of pocket for now, insurance will pay be back, but not for a bit). The doc drains 3 vials of blood off my knee, and says she thinks I tore some ligaments. Schedule an MRI, and get a cast all the way up to my thigh.
March 11th:
Sleeping in since I can't go snowboarding. Get a call from my firend Rich. Since my newly fixed car is manual, I can't drive it with my cast. Rich, Joyce, and I did a 3 way car trade. Rich has my car. He asks what the problem was last week, and if it had something to do with the clutch or gears. I tell him that no it was the starter motor, and that it just wouldn't start. He says "Oh, cause something else is wrong now." The gears are slipping when he takes his foot of the clutch. He take it into a mechaninc, and speaking almsot no Japanese gets the point that whatever it is requires the whole engine taken out to fix. The estimate is about $1200. I say screw it, my mechanic told me the resale value of my car, and with the $400 before and $1200 now, I really should just buy a new car. Rich brings the car to my house and takes Joyce's car. Now I am completely stranded at my house.
March 12th:
Computer starts to go. It's acting like it has either a virus or some software is not agreeing with other system operations. Try as I might, windows is slow and sluggish...if it does what I want it to do at all. Between the second breakdown of my car and this, I don't know what to do...but thankfully I still had a working TV and hockey games on tape (Liz you are a lifesaver...or at least sanity)
March 14th:
MRI. It went really well. I zoned out and relaxed. It only took around 20 to 30 min. The best part, since it was my knee they were scanning I didn't have to put my head into that tiny little tube.
March 15th: -The Ides of March-
Results. What a day to recieve results. I was half laughing and half frightened about the date of my meeting with the doc, but hey that's just bad luck for Ceaser, right? Well not fully. I got the MRI results, and it looks like I have a torn ACL and MCL, and there is a good chance I tore something in my Ankle. The doc isn't willing to say surgery is needed, but it is definately an option. She feels that if I want to do the high strain sports I enjoy that surgery is probably the best route...but she wants to wait and see.
That was the first half of the month...let's take a little peek at what the second half has held so far...
March 18th:
First day of spring break. Formerly known as two weeks of solid snowboarding, now known as two weeks of trying to figure out what to do with myself. That being said, my new Playstation 2 is keeping me entertained for a fair ammount of time.
March 20th:
Finally decide to screw the computer that is still giving me a hard time. Full format and reinstall. Trash it all, and start fresh. Luckily I was able to back up all my important files before this point. Now my computer works beautifully again. Maybe my luck is improving...
March 22nd:
Meeting with the Doc. Getting the front half of my cast cut off. I will be able to remove this half cast and then I can take a shower...yay, sponge baths are very cold. The cast frees my ankle too, and I am supposed to start some rehab on that. I am to have this cast till the 5th of April, but that's the first day of school. I ask the doc if we can re-schedule. She says how about next week. So there we go, I get my cast off fully a week early. I still cant walk on my leg and I have to wear my knee brace all the time, but I can deal with that.
And that brings us to today. I can finally respond to emails on a regular basis, and I can update my website. Thanks to everyone who has commented recently on my site, and to those who have sent me emails. It's really nice to have some contact with home, and it helps pass the time while all my friends are up snowboarding. I will try to respond more regularly now that my computer isn't on the fritz. Drop me a line!
March 1st:
My car won't start. I take it to the mechanic. The starter motor is fired. About $400 for a new starter motor. Mechanic says that the model of my car is a "torabaru oii kuruma" or lotsa trouble car...read lemon. But hey, $400 later it starts and runs, and feels better than ever.
March 4th:
Got up close and personal with a tree. If you want more info on this read my previous post.
March 6th:
Appointment with Orthopedics. They do a bunch more x-rays (read more $$ out of pocket for now, insurance will pay be back, but not for a bit). The doc drains 3 vials of blood off my knee, and says she thinks I tore some ligaments. Schedule an MRI, and get a cast all the way up to my thigh.
March 11th:
Sleeping in since I can't go snowboarding. Get a call from my firend Rich. Since my newly fixed car is manual, I can't drive it with my cast. Rich, Joyce, and I did a 3 way car trade. Rich has my car. He asks what the problem was last week, and if it had something to do with the clutch or gears. I tell him that no it was the starter motor, and that it just wouldn't start. He says "Oh, cause something else is wrong now." The gears are slipping when he takes his foot of the clutch. He take it into a mechaninc, and speaking almsot no Japanese gets the point that whatever it is requires the whole engine taken out to fix. The estimate is about $1200. I say screw it, my mechanic told me the resale value of my car, and with the $400 before and $1200 now, I really should just buy a new car. Rich brings the car to my house and takes Joyce's car. Now I am completely stranded at my house.
March 12th:
Computer starts to go. It's acting like it has either a virus or some software is not agreeing with other system operations. Try as I might, windows is slow and sluggish...if it does what I want it to do at all. Between the second breakdown of my car and this, I don't know what to do...but thankfully I still had a working TV and hockey games on tape (Liz you are a lifesaver...or at least sanity)
March 14th:
MRI. It went really well. I zoned out and relaxed. It only took around 20 to 30 min. The best part, since it was my knee they were scanning I didn't have to put my head into that tiny little tube.
March 15th: -The Ides of March-
Results. What a day to recieve results. I was half laughing and half frightened about the date of my meeting with the doc, but hey that's just bad luck for Ceaser, right? Well not fully. I got the MRI results, and it looks like I have a torn ACL and MCL, and there is a good chance I tore something in my Ankle. The doc isn't willing to say surgery is needed, but it is definately an option. She feels that if I want to do the high strain sports I enjoy that surgery is probably the best route...but she wants to wait and see.
That was the first half of the month...let's take a little peek at what the second half has held so far...
March 18th:
First day of spring break. Formerly known as two weeks of solid snowboarding, now known as two weeks of trying to figure out what to do with myself. That being said, my new Playstation 2 is keeping me entertained for a fair ammount of time.
March 20th:
Finally decide to screw the computer that is still giving me a hard time. Full format and reinstall. Trash it all, and start fresh. Luckily I was able to back up all my important files before this point. Now my computer works beautifully again. Maybe my luck is improving...
March 22nd:
Meeting with the Doc. Getting the front half of my cast cut off. I will be able to remove this half cast and then I can take a shower...yay, sponge baths are very cold. The cast frees my ankle too, and I am supposed to start some rehab on that. I am to have this cast till the 5th of April, but that's the first day of school. I ask the doc if we can re-schedule. She says how about next week. So there we go, I get my cast off fully a week early. I still cant walk on my leg and I have to wear my knee brace all the time, but I can deal with that.
And that brings us to today. I can finally respond to emails on a regular basis, and I can update my website. Thanks to everyone who has commented recently on my site, and to those who have sent me emails. It's really nice to have some contact with home, and it helps pass the time while all my friends are up snowboarding. I will try to respond more regularly now that my computer isn't on the fritz. Drop me a line!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Close Encounters of the Coniferous Kind
That’s what I had last Saturday. Now being a nature lover, I usually savour the chance to get close with various trees…however this was never what I had in mind.
Last weekend at Nozawaonsen was very lovely. There had been a little bit of fresh snow on top of a base that had been soaked with rain for a little over a week. The fresh snow was wonderful and light, unfortunately it was on top of a hard icy base. That gives the fresh snow a tendency to slip off of the ice and leave bare spots. I managed to find one of those spots. I lost my edge and started to bounce off the snow. The smooth icy surface offered no friction to slow me down as I bounced along the ground. My board edge wouldn’t dig in no matter how hard I tired…and trying ended up causing me to bounce, and bounce, and finally do a bit of a 180 in the air. As I came around in the air, I realized I would stop soon. I knew that because I was about 3 feet from two 30cm circumference trees. My left leg went straight into one of them (or maybe both…my memory of that exact moment is fuzzy to say the least) and spun me around to a stop. The stars in my vision and the pain in my leg led me to believe that I had either broken my leg or I was one luck bastard.
Lady luck was not on my side, as an x-ray at the hospital proved that yes indeed I broke my leg: my Fibula to be exact, about 3 cm below the knee. I was in good spirits the whole way to the hospital (mostly on a snowmobile, the worst way to get off a mountain) and while I was there. I was in some serious pain, but I have been hurt before and I was dealing with it. They cast my leg, but they did it below the knee, which made no sense to me. They also made an appointment at the large regional hospital, which just happens to be a few blocks from my house. I couldn’t get crutches at the hospital I was at, but they assured me I could get some when I went for my appointment at
Well Monday rolled around, and after hobbling around my house with a walking stick and a rolling chair I was glad to sit down in a real wheel chair and make my way around the hospital. Now I would have thought that the
Finally they call my number and I get to see and orthopaedic doctor. She says yup its broken, and that the cast needs to be redone since it didn’t even cover the break (what gives eh?). She also feels around my knee a little while it is accessible. She had some concerns about my ligaments. She figures I tore my MCL, but says that that shouldn’t require surgery. She is also concerned about my PCL and my ankle, so she has scheduled an MRI to take place next week. Also, it seems that I had a lot of blood pooling in my knee, so she drained off 3 vials. It was kinda gross, but I watched the whole thing. After that it was off to the casting room. The nurse cutting off the old cast was funny, but she nicked my ankle bone with the bloody saw…it didn’t break skin, but left me with a little burn. Then it was casting time. I was glad because the bigger hospital also had more selection. Nozawa had a whole selection of white and white casts. Hokushin had white, pink, and blue. So needless to say, I now have a big blue stiff leg. My cast goes from the ball of my foot to mid thigh.
This being my first broken bone, it is also my first cast. They are cumbersome, but it isn’t bad. Its way better for my knee than the first low cast they put on. The itch is there, and I am sure I will sing a different tune at the end of the month, but for now I can deal with the itch. And heck, I have a buncha metal clothes hangers that are just waiting to be straightened out into leg scratchers.
Well I now have crutches so I can get around. I traded cars with a friend so I have an automatic and I can drive. I have been at work since Tuesday. I am trying hard to say in good spirits, and to figure out how to do the daily things that have become so difficult. From putting on underwear, to going to the bathroom in my closet of a toilet, to staying clean with out taking a shower or a bath, it’s all new. But I love to create new and easy ways of doing things, so at least my mind is stimulated while my body is gimped.
Well I will update this after I get the results from my MRI. I go for the test on Tuesday and the results on Wednesday. If you have any to spare, please send me some positive energy. I am staying positive, but a little help will never hurt.
With that I am off to hobble and roll to the kitchen to make some dinner. I hope everyone is having a good time, and staying safe…watch out for those rascally trees.
Adam the Tripod…or is that triped???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
