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Showing posts with the label ankle

Still Laid Up

A bit more time has passed so I thought I should write a bit.  I haven't been writing much lately simply because I am accomplishing nothing each day...  well...  weekly...  hmmm...  monthly...  okay, pretty much for the whole of 2021.  I actually long for 2020 again.   I'm still laid up with a sprained knee.  To refresh, I started 2021 with an ankle injury.  I couldn't even put the smallest amount of weight on my ankle for weeks.  Within about four months, I was back to trying to build up my muscles around the injury.  Unfortunately, all that time off my left leg and consequently hobbling around on my right leg caused some problems with my right leg and, more specifically, my right knee.  I am fairly certain I have sprained my right MCL. By June, I was able to get around again.  I was playing soccer with Lukey and Kenzie daily.  I still had some pain and I continued wearing a brace but I seemed to be recovering nicely.  It was a long recovery but it was looking like the wor

Another Overdue Ankle Update

T he few who actually follow this blog probably think that since I haven't mentioned my ankle injury lately that my ankle is back to normal.  That is not true.  No news isn't always good news. While it is true that the swelling is down and the pain has subsided quite a bit, I am still walking delicately on that ankle and my range of motion is still fairly limited.  When I do too much walking, it still swells a bit.  Then the ice packs come out and  I'm still resting with the ankle elevated too.   The pain, for the most part, isn't nearly as bad now.  I do get twinges of excruciating pain when I do something stupid like put too much weight on it or trip when working in the yard but, overall, the pain is just a dull ache most of the time.  I'm also getting weird tingling in my ankle like I have one of those useless, torturous TENS units attached to my ankle.  Sometimes it develops like pins and needles.  I assume these types of sensations and pain is a sign of my ankl

Some Notes About Recent Health

O ther than writing about my badly sprained ankle, I haven't written much about my health lately so I figured I should attempt to write some stuff down.   Overall, my typical mast cell disease stuff has been 'typical'.  That means occasional anaphylaxic symptoms, breathing difficulties, dizziness, lightheadedness, and a lot of joint and bone pain.  Plus, regular gastro-intestinal problems, nausea, and too much time spent in a bathroom.   What has been worse for the past year...  far worse...  is the brain fog.  This may have been compounded by fighting off COVID-19 a year ago.  I have had brain fog throughout all my mast cell disease but it has been far, far worse in recent months.  I become non-functional for anything other than simply surviving from day to day.   While fighting off the virus last year, I also had consistent problems with vision and hearing.  My eyes were swollen and it seemed like I had a torn retina but that was probably due to the swelling in my eyes. 

Ankle Inflammation and Swelling Continues

I t has been about nine weeks since my old ankle injury flared and I'm still limping around wherever I go.  It is slowly improving but, as expected in any recovery, I keep getting set back in recovery whenever I attempt to do anything that requires a bit of weight to be put on my left foot.   On the positive side, I'm now doing some light exercising in an attempt to get back some flexibility in my ankle.  Actually, my whole left leg needs daily physical therapy at this point.  My left leg is now noticeably thinner than my right leg due to lack of use over the past nine weeks.  I have been slowly and carefully getting back into some very light exercising (mostly stretching) to get back to "normal".  Unfortunately, this sets me back by causing a bit of pain, inflammation and swelling again.  I sort of cycle back and forth between feeling "okay" and limping around in pain which is normal during recovery.  We're now assuming that I had a severe case of sprai

Good Weather, Finally... but, Lousy Health

It has been warm the past two days and today is looking to be a beautiful, sunny, warm spring day too.  I had planned to utilize the good weather to start working on things outside where sawdust is not an issue.  This week is looking good for that and I have a bunch of small projects that need to be accomplished.  Actually, I've been waiting months to be able to pull out woodworking tools to accomplish a few things. Unfortunately, once again, my health is being a bit uncooperative.   My ankle is still healing.  Sheila and I wandered outside yesterday to take down wreaths and Christmas lights.  I stepped up on the first step of a stepladder and quickly realized my ankle was still in no condition for climbing a short stepladder.  I instantly fell off and onto unlevel snow on the ground.  This hurt both of my ankles again setting me back a couple of days.  I have no need for my cane now but getting around is still a bit painful and slow-going.  I'm taking small steps and taking th

Ankle Improving... Finally!

After a month of significant pain in my ankle, hobbling around and residing on the couch with very little relief, this morning was the first morning that I awoke feeling halfway decently.   My ankle can finally support a bit of weight and I am limping a bit less this morning and even without the use of my cane.  The pain has significantly subsided too.  There is still a bit of pain but I'm no longer in the 8-10 pain scale range! I'm going to continue taking it easy on my ankle for the next few days...  continue with some icing occasionally...  at least through the weekend.  At that point, I'll start a physical therapy period by slowly and carefully increasing my range of motion with no weight on my foot.  Then, over the course of days, I'll slowly add a bit of resistance and weight to the therapy and exercise.   Considering I've already had one significant set-back that set me back about a week, I'm only cautiously optimistic and I'm convinced I need to take

Completely Lost Track of Time

At this point, I've completely lost track of time.  This ankle injury is taking forever to heal and one day is blurring into the next and the next and the next. Something that has happened a lot is that I get up in the morning and my ankle is feeling "fair".  I'm still limping and there is still varying amount of pain but, first thing in the morning, it is feeling far closer to being normal than being injured.  Then I shower... I don't know if it is hobbling around the shower that causes my ankle to get worse.  Of, maybe getting in and out of the shower causes my ankle to get worse.  Or, maybe the hot water from the shower that causes my ankle to get worse.  Or, maybe it is a combination of all of the above.  Whatever the cause, I feel quite lousy after I shower.  My ankle and foot is always swollen again and hurting to the point that I need my cane again.   This happened again this morning.  I felt pretty good this morning and, as a result, had some plans to acco

A Step or Two Backwards

Working on the refrigerator for five hours yesterday clearly placed my ankle injury a step or two backwards in the recovery process. I had difficulty sleeping last night due to the pain in my ankle.  It is abundantly clear that I did far too much standing on it yesterday.  At rest, I am back into the area of three on the ten point pain scale.  While walking...  well, hobbling, really...  the pain is in the range of five to six and I am back to needing the use of my cane.  Today, I'll be residing on the couch again with my foot up.  The ice will have to come out of the freezer again and get wrapped around my ankle too.  It will be a day of sleep (hopefully) and movies. It's bad enough when you cause a step or two backward because you did something you enjoy.  I had no desire to work on the fridge yesterday...  I needed to work on the fridge and, honestly, I don't enjoy having to fix things.  Not at all.  I enjoy designing things and building things but it really annoys me to

Worn Out and Still Limping

It has been a rather lousy week so far, after a lousy few weeks, after a rather lousy year of lousy health.  Actually, I should go back a few weeks...  I spent the past three weeks trying to get a prescription refill for one of my most important drugs.  This drug has made the most positive impact on my health since procuring this insidious illness.  A few weeks ago, I got a call from the pharmacy looking to get approval to charge my card.  I thought that was a little odd so I asked why I was being asked this unusual question.  The customer service representative pulled up another screen and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my!"  She then explained that my copay would be $8700 for my 90 day refill.   I sort of chuckled and informed her that even if she tried to charge my card, she would get nothing with a bill so far beyond what I have in the bank so, approval from me or not, they wouldn't be getting any money.   I went back and forth between my doctor's office and the pharmacy

Two Weeks In

I've had this ankle issue for two weeks now.  I'm still doing very little on my feet and keeping my foot elevated most of the time.  I haven't used any ice in a couple of days.  At this point, two weeks in, my ankle feels like it did on that first day of limping exactly two weeks ago.   Each day this week, my ankle has felt a bit better than the previous day so that is good.  This morning when I got up out of bed, my ankle felt like I had a hot nail driven into it for about an hour but that has subsided to a dull ache at rest.  I'm still needing to limp and occasionally use my cane but at least I am able to put a little bit of weight on my foot now.  Showering has been difficult and dangerous.  Fortunately, I haven't slipped in the tub but I honestly don't know how I have managed that feat.  Try getting in and out of a wet tub without putting any weight whatsoever on one of your feet...  try cleaning yourself without putting any weight whatsoever on one of your

Still Hobbling Around the House

My ankle is slowly healing but I am still hobbling around the house with a cane.  Actually, most of my time is spent on the couch and I'm only on my feet when absolutely necessary.  I'm getting the impression that this is going to take some time. On the positive side, I slept in our bed for the first time in a week this past weekend.  It was nice to get back to the comfortable bed.  I still need to be careful about how I position my feet but I've been sleeping better since being back in bed at night. Showering is still a difficult and frustrating task.  Actually, it is a bit dangerous too.  Getting in and out of the tub/shower requires some creativity and a bit of acrobatics to keep from slipping and falling.  I've been managing to shower the past couple of days though so that is good. The pain, at rest, is around a three now.  The pain when hobbling around without my cane reaches a five or six.  I'm really looking forward to zero pain at rest!  Most of the time, I&

Still Residing on the Couch

I am still residing in the living room on the couch with my left leg elevated, icing it every few hours, and trying to keep the pain in check.  This is now the end of day five on the couch.  Fun times. Yesterday morning, I was finally feeling like my ankle was beginning to heal.  I was able to put a slight bit of weight on my foot again so I figured it was a good time to attempt to shower.  Getting in and out of the tub so I can shower has been an impossible task so I was ripe for a shower by yesterday morning.  I managed to shower and then headed to the kitchen to make something for breakfast. I hobbled into the kitchen and spent some time upright preparing breakfast for myself...  back and forth in the kitchen...  back and forth between the kitchen and the couch with food and water while still hobbling with my cane in one hand...  in all, I think I was upright for about an hour. After all that standing and hobbling around with my cane, the pain was beginning to return.  After breakfa

Slight Improvement to Inflamed Ankle

Today, I am feeling a slight improvement to the inflammation in my left ankle.  I can now put a tiny bit of weight on my left foot which makes it a bit easier to get around with a cane.  Yesterday and last night I would have been far better off with crutches since I could not put any weight on that foot at all without pain skyrocketing instantly to a solid 10.   I managed to take a brief shower this morning although it was quite painful.  Getting in and out of the shower was the most difficult thing.  Then, shuffling around on only my right foot in the shower was painful and dangerous but I managed to shower and I was ripe for one! Yesterday, I realized that I no longer have the energy and strength to lift my body weight from sitting to standing while using only my right leg.  I needed my cane to help lift myself to a standing position.  My muscles on the right side of my body are aching.   I slept on the couch last night so I could keep my foot propped up with pillows.  The pillows ne

Inflammation and Pain

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I've really been neglecting this blog in recent months.  Between lousy health for the past year and us staying inside our home every day for the past year, there really hasn't been much to write about during this period.   I last wrote about inflammation of my spine due to having to stop my anti-inflammatory medication.  (I was having some internal bleeding.)  The resulting inflammation in my spine and joints is now about as bad as it can get.  It is interrupting my sleep and making it difficult to just get around the house.   The other night, I sort of turned my left ankle.  I say 'sort of' because, as I was sitting at my desk, I was resting my right foot on top of my left foot while the top of my left foot was positioned so it can rest on the floor under the weight of my right foot.  About an hour into sitting this way, I realized that my left ankle would probably get inflamed so I stopped sitting that way.  In case you were wondering why someone would sit this way at

Cause of Latest Ankle Pain

For more than a week, I've had severe ankle pain which has left me unable to walk without aid for most of the week. I am now limping around but that pain is still constant. I've had my ankle elevated everyday and I am taking a maximum-allowed dose of an anti-inflammatory medication for the maximum-allowed time. The only side effect thus far is just a bit of drowsiness but that is hardly worth mentioning since I can't do much else anyway. So, what has caused this severe, disabling pain in my ankle?   I often struggle with terrible, debilitating bone and joint pain so this is more than likely contributing to my current problem with my ankle. Now that the pain in my ankle has waned slightly, there is no doubt that in addition to my ankle pain, I am also struggling with my usual debilitating bone and joint pain. The ankle pain was so severe in the beginning that it masked most other pain in other areas of my body. These regular bouts of bone and joint pain are very typica

Bone and Joint Pain

Those of us struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis, and all its variants, have to contend daily with a long list of symptoms. These symptoms are sometimes mild and sometimes debilitating. The symptoms can affect my legs one day and my brain the next. Sometimes symptoms are neurological in nature and sometimes they are affecting my organs. Sometimes symptoms affect my gastro-intestinal tract and sometimes symptoms affect my skin like a burning, hyper-sensitive rash. Sometimes the symptoms can be widespread throughout my body all at the same time. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to it. One common symptom which can be relatively mild or excruciatingly debilitating is bone and joint pain. Today has been excruciatingly debilitating with this far too typical bone and joint pain.  All my long bones hurt... this is a deep pain felt to the core of my body. All my joints feel like they are being stabbed particularly when using them. Even opening a previously opened jar is so painful