Weight Bearing

I am not going to lie, I am not a very patient person.  So if there's one thing I've had to practice the past 6 weeks, it's being patient.  Patient for those who do things for me that I can't do for myself (thanks Stan!)  Patient with my children when I can't just pick them up and physically move them to time-out or another room.  Patient for my leg to heal.  

I feel like the Lord has really strengthened me during this time.  Don't get me wrong, I've had my cries and pity parties, especially when we all got the stomach virus. 

 I threw up for 24 hours straight and couldn't keep anything down.  34 weeks pregnant, sick as a dog with a broken leg.  It was my first "why me?" of this whole experience. 

Then we all had colds.  The kids couldn't go anywhere or have friends over for fear of sharing the sicknesses. 

Then it snowed and canceled everything in town for almost a week.

I was feeling a little crazy. 

But with the Lord's help, and the help and support of many friends and family, we made it through what has hopefully been the most difficult part of this whole experience.

I have been hopping on my good leg with a walker for the past 6 weeks.  So needless to say, I was very much looking forward to my follow-up x-ray appointment with my orthopedic doctor.  

I was ready to say goodbye to the walker.

The doc comes in and puts up the new x-ray and says "you're good to go, you can put weight on it now."  Stan and I both squint our eyes at the new x-ray and are thinking to ourselves, "are you sure, cause that still looks just as broken as before."  

See for yourself:

Well the good doc must know what he's doing, so we'll take his word for it.  He did say that putting weight on the leg would help stimulate new bone growth.

Another plus, I don't have to wear the air cast boot anymore.  Although I still might want to when going out and about in public for a little while.  

Unfortunately, I still need to hold on to things while "walking" so the walker is still going to be needed for a few more weeks.  

This week I start physical therapy.  It's amazing the flexibility and muscle tone that I have lost the past 6 weeks. 

I asked the doc how long before I was back to "normal."  He said I should be walking with a slight limp in about three months.  

It's going to be awhile before I can drive with my right leg.  I'm trying to talk Stan into letting me learn to drive with my left.

Deep breath.

This isn't over yet!

And the worst unexpected news of all this is how bad the swelling has become.  Even though I can get around a little better (although definitely not any faster), I have to put my foot up as much as possible or it doubles in size.  I can't even find a shoe or flip flop to fit over my foot at this point.  I think I'm going to be borrowing one of Stan's for awhile.  The doc said the swelling should go away after three months.  Oh boy!!

So there you have it.  Now we're on the long, slow road to recovery, but at least we're moving now!

37 weeks pregnant and hoping I can limp without assistance by the time this baby comes.