Eleven Weeks and Counting....

Time for another update.....and wow, what an eventful week...I feel like I'm back in the land of the living. My first accomplishment was getting behind the wheel and "On The Road Again". I'm sure Dr. Behm's reasoning for my not driving for ten weeks was to keep me from doing so much running around and to keep me off my feet. Well, I guess I'm making up for lost time.....seems like I'm on the go every other minute.
I've been doing therapy three days a week, and really feeling it. My therapist is a sweet, young Butte Irish girl, Tera Mahoney. She's a bundle of energy and encouragment and has me going strong. Apparently, the idea is to not have any pain with rehab, but until now, I've believed in the "No pain, no gain" theory. Well, I need to change that way of thinking, as I'm apparently working things too much and having a lot of pain. My achilles tendon is screaming!!! I'm guessing that ten weeks of non-movement isn't going to be turned into movement too quickly. I do two days of aquatherapy and one day of land therapy. The aquatherapy is wonderful. It's the only time I can put any weight on my leg without my "boot". I'm able to walk on the underwater treadmill, do leglifts, squats, and other stretches in the water. It's awesome. The land therapy consists of stationary bike peddling, range of motion exercises and more stretching. She also does some deep massage and ultrasound treatments and oh, they hurt so good. Once again, my patience is being tested, as I want to do it all right now. I'm back to icing and elevating.......working to keep in the comfort zone. Hopefully, I'll find the right balance of exercise soon. Now I know why Dr. Behm asked if I still had pain pills.......I thought (or hoped) I was beyond needing them. As for getting around, I'm down to one crutch, but can't be without my boot. Walking with the boot is fairly easy, though. Even though you walk on that leg, the boot offloads the pressure on the ankle, so it absorbs the weight. At this point I'm dreading being without the boot.....like I've said before, we've become best buddies and don't go anywhere without each other. My security.
Another highlight of my week was being able to go back to work. At first, I will be spreading appointments out each day until I can work up to a full schedule. I've found that I need to sit with my leg up in between customers, as swelling is still a problem. I also have a stool on hand which works great to sit on while wrapping perms or blow drying. I have such an awesome clientle.....thank you to them for being so understanding and patient with me.
What a great weekend I had. I had a double bonus with it being Mother's Day and my Birthday. Saturday, Bret's mom treated Erika and I to a tea at the Marcus Daly Mansion. What fun it was. The mansion volunteers set beautiful tables with a light lunch and beautiful desserts along with tea and lemonade. Following, we were able to go on a self-guided tour. Even though we'd been through it before, they're always changing things. It's such a beautiful landmark. Thank heavens for the elevator. Saturday evening, Dad treated the Mom's and families to dinner at the Steakhouse. Good times!! Sunday...church and breakfast and a relaxing day at home.