Listening to Ella Fitzgerald

Resting with my legs elevated after PT and taking it easy, as for some reason my leg is super swollen today. I tried the bike today and started bleeding just a bit from my incision, so the surgery coordinator said to take it easy and dial back activity. At PT, Peter (my therapist) agreed, and he massaged that part of the quadriceps muscle that got pulled on Sunday, and it feels better. He also worked some vitamin E oil into the scar from the first surgery. I was surprisingly at 86° flexion given all the swelling. The extension had worsened to 1°, which wasn't surprising. I did have some spotting through my sleeve when I did my flexion test, so I bled just slightly. It was a good session with my therapist and two students following him on Wednesdays.

Afterwards, I dropped off the nerve block pump at the post office and returned some library books as well, thanks to Brenda, and came home, got some water, and elevated that leg on a wedge pillow for a couple of hours to see if it'll help. It did earlier.

Tiring day "off"

I'm tired. I had a one-hour telehealth appointment (my doctor was really happy about my joining the Y and only suggested trying to eat meals rather than small amounts throughout the day) this morning and then I went to the second doctor's appointment this afternoon, and while the good news is we don't think it's congestive heart failure causing the swelling, so no echocardiogram or anything like that, the simplest and most likely culprit is my diclofenac--an NSAID that is time-released once-a-day, and which has been really good for my arthritis. So I have to stop taking that out and try to flush it out of my system. I accidentally forgot to take my meds yesterday (I didn't realise till I went to take this morning's and it was actually the Sunday pill reminder that was still full. Sigh. Anyway, there's no good alternative for what else I can take. Arthritis Tylenol (acetaminophen) has too much for my liver and we have to watch the NSAIDs for my kidneys. I finally got some regular-strength acetaminophen to take judiciously, as recommended by my liver provider. Diclofenac has been so good at dealing with my arthritis pain, although I've noticed less efficacy lately. Oh, well, it was good while it lasted.

I also got my insulin and Jardiance from the pharmacy, and I've taken those. My blood sugar went up to 350 last night as I'd run out of it and had forgotten to call it in. Lastly, I picked up a book from the library, a Pulitzer winner by Wesley Lowery calledÁmerican Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress.

Now I'm pooped. I've got a load in the wash, but otherwise, I'm going to rest while my roommate's on Zoom and then work on the Sunday chores I never got finished (or even started) yesterday. I also need to take some things out of my room to the car in order to go to storage and a fan that has given up the ghost to be disposed of.

See what I mean?

Ouch, I say! And that's after more ice! Granted, it's not as bad as when I actually broke it, but you kind of expect it to settle down after six months. But, I've been told it's strong and that true healing can take at least a year. I think I'll focus on doing a few things here that I can sit down for.

PS: The dark spot on my toenail is from where the car ran over my foot. It was originally in the centre of the nail. Oddly enough, that toe did not break. Rather, I had breaks in the second and third metatarsals (which we allowed to heal naturally), and a fracture of the medial malleolus, which required an open reduction and internal fixation, in which two screws were placed in my ankle at the fracture to stabilise it. I think that latter happened as the car itself (which had my foot trapped under its wheel) hit into my leg. All in all, despite everything, I came out very lucky, for getting hit by a car.