March was a tough month for me. I found out I needed surgery, and then had that surgery in less than three weeks. Fortunately, it was an ankle surgery and not something else, but it was still a significant curveball for my March plans.
Pre-Surgery
Once I found out about the surgery, I had about three weeks to plan. That sounds like a long time. However, because it’s ankle surgery, I was informed I would not be allowed to walk for an undetermined amount of time. Talk about a whopper.
So instead of keeping to my regular schedule, I batch cooked a month of food. Instead of routine writing, I figured out what needed to happen to make the assistive devices work where I live. After surgery, the only way out of my home would be with help.
All the time bit into when I usually work. Instead of maintenance business activities, my time went into client work. I pushed client work forward so that it would happen before surgery and built myself some buffer time afterward.
Post-Surgery
The surgery went off well in late March. I spent the two days after getting rid of the worst of the anesthesia side effects. In my case, that meant a lot of water and sleep. After the initial recovery, I ended up still feeling ill for a week.
The thing no one really expected was how much time and effort goes into being non-weight bearing while healing. For me, it was being a perpetually exhausted pigeon. All the things that generally happened, like showering, now required at least triple the time. I was back to client projects and not much else.
It got better over time. I transitioned to a walking boot, which helped immensely. I finally got ahead enough on the facts of living to go back into enjoying writing.
All the Little Things
There are a lot of things you realize you take for granted when you can’t walk. It’s eye-opening. Then there’s a lot about ankle positioning and not dragging on it too. I was definitely surprised by how much some of the casting materials weighed. That, and how exhausting they were to lug around.
It’s astonishing how much something seemingly small can affect your life. I’m still struggling with resting and listening to my body when it demands rest. This surgery certainly made me slow down and connect with what my body needed to heal.
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