Sorry I haven't been here much lately

[Catherine]

The park sound beautiful. You will be able to take Suzy for a walk there when you are healed. Watching a sunset is so peaceful.

You have that to look forward to. All you have to do is heal. If you take it easy and rest your foot will heal.You must be a little bored with being at home with your foot in a cast. Good thing you at least have the internet to keep you busy.

How is is going with the walking cast. Are you having to sleep in it.

[Ruth]

I don't have to sleep in the cast. Doctor said I can take it off to bathe and sleep but I must put it right back on if I have to get up to go to the bathroom at night. I slept all day today with the cast on. I was feeling kind of down and am feeling better now. I must have needed the rest. My ankle is beginning to hurt. It hasn't hurt all this time but maybe the process involves pain. Thank you so much for your concern and encouragement Catherine. You are a gem.

[Catherine]

You are welcome. I think we need to be there for each other. You have been very kind about me losing Tarragon. It is mutual support. It is tough having a break and going through the pain and the long healing process. I am glad you can take the cast off to sleep and shower. It gives you some relief from the cast. Even if it works, a cast is still no fun.

You probably needed the sleep. The body needs to heal on so many levels after an injury. The break is the obvious thing, but there would also be bruising and general jarring of everything depending on how hard you fell. It takes time and rest to get back to normal.

I fell two Christmases ago. I tripped on a rough sidewalk. Nothing seemed to be really damaged. I hit my face so there was a small cut and inside my mouth was bruised. It all healed fine.
It was a month before it became clear that I had torn my shoulder. It didn't show up at first because I was resting up until the bruises were gone.
It took months to get my shoulder back so I can use it properly. Now the other shoulder is strained because I had to over use it for so long.

Give yourself rest. You need it and it will make things heal faster.

[Ruth]

Sounds like you had a bad fall, too. I know my head was even jarred because I had head pain for the first several days after falling. My leg is all bruised, too. I managed to go grocery shopping by myself yesterday or Thursday rather. There wasn't too much snow in the stores parking lot so I was able to walk in the boot. It was trying to get up the stairs with grocery bags and Suzy but I made it. I am no longer talking to Jeff who wasn't very nice to me the other day. I have given him money for helping me out but he only spends it all on alcohol and while his cat needs cat food. He was expecting me to support his alcohol problem by asking me about drinking every day. He was trying to get me to get alcohol for myself and him all the time. I'm not drinking much these days so I don't like to be bothered about it. Well, I got mad at him about something and told him about it with some annoyance in my voice but I certainly didn't scream at him. He told me I had blasted him and how I don't appreciate him. He exagerates because I in no way blasted him. I merely told him what bothered me what he did. I can't take any more of his nonsense especially how he treats Danny. So I have blocked his phone number on my phone so he can't call me any more. I can take care of myself. I can get down the steps if I go real slow. I've just had it with his selfishness and drinking problem.

[Catherine]

Sometimes people are not our friends after all. We are better off without them. I find I learn a lot about people by the way they treat animals. You can hide your true nature from people, but the truth always comes out when there is an animal involved. How your friend treated Danny says a lot about him. It says a lot of good things about you that you wouldn't let him do it.


If you take your time and do things carefully you should be okay. It is too bad Suzy can't carry the groceries up the stairs. I am sure she wishes she could help.
I am glad you can walk with the cast. Getting food is the most important thing. Cleaning and other fussy stuff can wait until you are much better.

Take it easy and take care. You will be well soon enough.

[Ruth]

Thanks Catherine. I think I am going to ask my brother to get me something at the store in this snowy weather. He told me he would help me before. I can't walk in the boot in the snow, the boot slides because it is plastic. Also I know some real nice ladies in this building who I know I can count on if I need them. One has a schnauzer named Hans and she has a phd-she is very intelligent and works in the field of genetics. The other neighbor used to have a beagle named Red but he was old and he passed away. She is always real sweet and loves Suzy. Either one of them would probably walk Suzy on the nice days if there are any. It's very cold now and snowy. I am counting down the days till I may be out of this cast. The doctor said at least 4 weeks when I saw him so soon it will at least be 3 weeks. My ankle is still swollen and I'm beginning to have some pain in it, I think it was numb from the trauma. I have pee pads down for Suzy to do her business on and she is using them so that's good. I will be so glad when I'm out of this cast.

[Catherine]

Suzy is a little treasure for using pee pads while you can't take her out. Maybe your neighbours would enjoy taking her out for a few walks. Can the one lady take Suzy when she takes her own dog? Maybe the other lady would love a chance to walk a dog again.
If your brother can shop and your neighbours can help you should be okay until either the snow or the cast go. Most of us are willing to help a neighbour in a situation like yours. I used to pick the neighbours children up from day care if the parents were late from work.(they charge parents a lot for a late pick-up) It didn't happen often, but if they called, it was just up the road a short way. Doing favours for someone in the same building would be easy.

Walking on snow is hard enough. I never thought about how slippery the cast would be. I will keep that in mind next time I see someone in a walking cast. Maybe they need help.

I hope the swelling in the ankle goes down soon. It will be less painful when it does.
Take care and gets lots of rest.

[Ruth]

I always have pee pads down for Suzy because if she has to go at night she can go on the pee pads. So now she is using them even more. She is such a nice dog, so sweet and gentle. I have been sleeping a lot the past few days. I'm going to try to go to the bank and the store today. If it's too icy I won't get out of my car and I'll go back home. I hate to bother anyone to help me right now. It is just hard for me to ask them even though I should. It is very very cold here now. Only about 11 degrees F. That is way below freezing. I wonder if I can put on my winter boots and walk in them. That may protect my foot and ankle. I'll just go really slow. Well probably less than 3 weeks left on this cast. Time is going fast. I have blocked Jeff from calling me so I don't know if he's been trying to reach me but I don't want to talk to him. There is a feature on my phone service where I can block anyone I don't want to talk to, I find that pretty handy! I took the cast off and massaged my foot and ankle and that felt good and I also scratched it as it was itching.

My sleeping and awake hours are really off but since I'm not working it really doesn't matter unless I have an appointment somewhere and I don't have any, thankfully.

[Catherine]

Suzy is great isn't she. She is the best companion to have when you are shut in like this.

You might be able to use your boot instead of the cast if you have to go out. It should give your ankle enough support if you walk carefully. You do have it cold. Is there any chance of it warming up soon? If not, the cast is off in a few weeks anyhow.

Call blocking and stuff like that make the phone service so much better. You don't need to be bothered by calls from someone you don't want to see. You need to rest and relax while you heal. It sounds like you are making good progress.  Most of us want to sleep in the winter anyhow. Your body has even more reason to want to rest.  I am sure you will go back to normal sleep times when you are finally healed.

Take care of yourself and get well soon.

[Ruth]

Thank you Catherine. I took my cast off and used my Winter boots to go out yesterday. My foot was hurting a bit in the regular boot so I tried not to put my weight on it. I managed to do my banking and grocery shopping. I got Suzy some treats and she is enjoying them. She is the best dog I could ever have. She sleeps on my stomach while I lay on the couch and then she wants to sleep next to me for awhile. It's so cute the way she snuggles up beside me. I really cherish her.