sanity still intact

Yup, I'm still sane! I haven't gone for a run in 4 weeks and as frustrating as it is for me, I'm oddly calm. In all honesty there is an important factor to why I'm surviving this, and I really should thank him. I'm going through a learning process of channeling the mental energy I'd use for running, into other aspects of my life. Not as easy as you'd think. Remembering to eat better and cutting back on indulgences is hard to do, I can't run that extra mile to burn off that extra caloric intake. Blah. Running has also become my therapist of sorts, it's my session to work on things that may be weighing on me mentally. I was hit with something a week ago that a good run could have helped me a great deal, but thankfully I have good friends that were a healthy substitute for running. It may not have been exactly the same thing, but I'm still fortunate enough to have that, and I know it. So to my lovely friends, Jen, Krystle, Amanda and Natalie- Thank you for giving me your time when I needed it (even when you didn't realize how helpful you were). And to Ken, while I'm struggling with the inability to run, you have helped keep my spirits up by making me happy. I can't thank you enough for that. You're a wonderful person, and I am utterly thankful to have you in my life. :)

August is a week away, and the Crawfish Crawl is 3 weeks away. Given that I haven't gone on a run in 4 weeks, and it will be at least another week or two before I can even go for a moderately paced walk, I don't think I will be participating in this event. The next event on my schedule is in September, and I am hoping that I will be able to do that but if I were to be completely honest with myself, I don't think that is going to happen either. Ah! So what is a girl to do?! I think my main focus at this point is to get back into core training and upper body weight training this week, next week at the latest. And to keep with the therapy with my ankle so that it is back in working (running) condition. 

I think the most important thing I need to remember is to live, love, laugh...

on the mend

Good news! My ankle is getting better... yay! I still have some lateral swelling, slight pitted edema around the lateral malleolus, very little swelling in the medial side of my foot. Bruising is almost completely gone, and while wrapped and wearing shoes I can walk pretty normal now. Without wrap and barefoot I limp a little, I think it's partly my guarding it and that I have slight discomfort on the lateral bottom of my foot when I walk. Still not ready to go for a walk yet, but I'm hopeful! The downfall of all of this is that I have to be careful with what I eat, cut back, as my physical activity has plummeted! I've been doing so well with losing weight that I refuse to go backwards! So now it's time to veg out on more greens and no sugars. Now I just got to keep thinking positive thoughts, positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

oh the pain! oh the frustration!

So yesterday was my first day back to work since I hurt my ankle. I wrapped it, took some Ibuprofen, and wore supportive shoes. The first half of the day seem to go by just fine, very little limping was going on. At some point I took a moment to sit down and look at my ankle, an area of my heel wasn't wrapped and I noticed that it started to bruise. When lunch time came around I asked one of the chiropractors I work with if he could look at my ankle and give me his professional opinion. When I unwrapped it, I was shocked by how much bruising had occurred in the few hours I had worked! He palpated my ankle and foot, and we discovered that I had pitted edema (a form of swelling), and that my ROM has decreased quite a bit. The majority of the area doesn't hurt to the touch, but in certain areas I could gauge eyes out! He determined that the likeliness that anything is broken is slim, especially since I'm moving about just fine. But he's afraid that I may have a dislocation or two, not the ankle bone itself (the joint where the leg and foot connect) but among the little bones in my foot. He can't do any adjustments until the swelling goes down, and because he's afraid he may loose a limb or two- LOL. So in the meantime, he said that I need to ice it often, keep it elevated as often as I can (and when I sleep) and try not to be on it all that much. He proceeded to adjust my lower back (as that is a whole other mess) and I went home for lunch, iced my ankle, elevated it, and took some Ibuprofen. (I'm blessed with a 2 hour lunch break) After lunch, he had the other CA do therapy on my ankle, she electric/ultrasound therapy, it helps with swelling. This was the first time I had this done and it was quite interesting, the tingling feeling tickled at first but after a while it just numbed the area. My foot felt great for a few hours, but by the end of the day all I wanted to do was get off of my feet. By the end of the any day, my ankle/foot aches, throbs, and my hips are just flat out tired. This is how my foot looked this afternoon:

It's hard to see in the photo, but it's my right ankle, you can barely see the lateral malleolus (ankle bone that sticks out), and what's left of the bruising in the lower part of my foot. There is some swelling still in the medial (inside) part of my foot too but that has decreased quite a bit too. I can wiggle my toes with no problems now, and move my foot around (slowly) with barely any discomfort. Standing for a few minutes is fine, but prolonged weight on that foot is no good. Walking is possible, but with a limp and becomes quite tiresome. As of right now the throbbing has begun, I will need to ice it again before heading to bed. 

So what does all of this mean for my running? Well, I'm told that I should wait at least 2 weeks before attempting it. I think it's silly to even think I would even try at this moment. But once the swelling is gone, and we've adjusted (if need be) the joints that may be dislocated, I can begin walking/running. I will probably need to keep it wrapped for support for about 4 weeks, but afterwards I will need to not keep it wrapped to help strengthen the ligaments again. Thats about 6 to 8 weeks before I'll be back in the game, ugh, far too long for my liking, but I will do what I have to. I will keep you all posted on the progress of my healing. If anyone got any tips, feel free to throw them my way...

out of order

Went on my first camping trip with friends for my 32nd birthday. Wasn't sure exactly what to expect, I was full of excitement and was quite nervous. I knew that there was no way I would be sleeping out in the wilderness, intoxicated most of the time, without coming back unscathed. I just didn't imagine I'd come back with a severely swollen right ankle...

It happened the first day there, not sure exactly what I did, but I must've stepped down funny. One minute I'm walking, the next I'm on the ground laughing through the pain. That whole night I felt nothing, and was walking around just fine. Next morning, it was hurting pretty bad. Standing up from my tent was one of the hardest things I think I had to do in a long time. Thankfully my friend, Krystle, came prepared with a first aid kit and I was able to take some Ibuprofen! I iced and elevated my ankle a few times a day, but refused to just sit there and do nothing. I know nothing is broken, but the swelling in the above photo is at its worse. I'm walking funny, so now my right hip is sore. Today I stayed off of it for the majority of the day, kept it elevated, and took Ibuprofen. I go back to work tomorrow, so this will be interesting. As for running? Well that obviously is put on hold, which is very frustrating. There's a 5k I want to do in August, and I really need to get some miles in. Send me some healing vibes everyone, I could really use it...