Early Recovery

A lolcat meme: a small grey-and-white kitten sits with its right front leg wrapped in a white bandage. White text reads 'My plan to dominate the world has been put on hold for *now*.'

Day 1Early Recovery

I Wanna Be Sedated

Post-op update time. First, the bad news: I did not get the continuous no-no-nerve juice machine I'd campaigned so hard for. Boooo. Instead they sent me home…

Pain 4/10 NWB early-recovery · post-op · medications

The Most Interesting Man in the World meme: a distinguished bearded man in a suit sits at a table. Top text reads 'I don't always roll a joint,' bottom text reads 'but when I do, it's my ankle.'

Day 2Early Recovery

Feeling Good

Just a quick check-in. I'm closing in on 48 hours post-op and I have virtually no pain. I honestly can't tell whether I'm happy or really nervous, wondering if…

Pain 3/10 NWB early-recovery · post-op · peptides

A Finding Nemo meme: Dory, the wide-eyed blue tang fish, grins against a blue underwater background. Bold white text reads 'SLEEP. SLEEP.' across the top and 'MUST GET SLEEP.' across the bottom.

Day 3Early Recovery

Mr. Sandman

Check-in time: we're right about at the 72-hour mark, and honestly? What a chill three days it's been. Mostly. For starters, the extended-release OxyContin has…

Pain 3/10 NWB early-recovery · post-op · medications

A red, white, and blue flyer for the Palisades 60th Anniversary 4th of July Parade, with fireworks, an American flag, and silhouettes of families holding hands and waving flags. Text reads 'Celebrating America. Honoring Our Community. 250 Years.'

Day 4Early Recovery

Saturday in the Park

It's the Fourth of July, which in my corner of DC means one thing: the Palisades parade, my favorite DC event of the year. For one glorious hour, anyone who…

Pain 3/10 NWB early-recovery · post-op · mental-health

A meme with white text on a black background reading: Doctor: 'Are you feeling any pain?' Me: 'Only the normal amount.' Doctor: 'The normal amount is zero.' Me: — followed by a wide-eyed penguin from Madagascar staring in baffled silence.

Day 5Early Recovery

Easy

Day 5. Time for a check-in. But first, a reminder of why this journal exists at all. Yes, it's an outlet for me to process everything I'm going through. But…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · post-op · pain-management

Day 6Early Recovery

Patience

Day 6, and I've entered the in-between. The acute pain is gone. Not "managed," not "tolerable": gone. What's left is soreness, plus the occasional sharp little…

Pain 1/10 NWB early-recovery · mindset · patience

A meme of a French bulldog lying completely flat on its side on a teal wooden deck, eyes closed, with white text reading: 'TIRED. JUST TIRED.'

Day 7Early Recovery

I'm So Tired

Today's entry is going to be short, because I'm about to pass out. I am TIRED. Tired. Day 7 was my return to work, and I came back to a wall of meetings and…

Pain 3/10 NWB early-recovery · return-to-work · sleep

Miksa, a rust-colored Vizsla in a donut-print bandana, stands on the wood floor giving the camera a puzzled look next to my bandaged leg propped up on a wedge pillow.

Day 8Early Recovery

The Pups Are Back in Town

Today is special: my pups came home from summer camp! Okay, fine, they returned from their stay at the boarder, where they've been since the day before my…

Pain 3/10 NWB early-recovery · dogs · motivation

A black-and-white photo from a 1984 fitness book: a young John Travolta in a black sleeveless unitard and white headband sits on the floor with his legs extended straight in front of him, arms reaching forward over his legs mid-stretch.

Day 9Early Recovery

Physical

Today's entry is about stretching, and how it has officially become a non-negotiable around here. Since this is my 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6... 7... EIGHTH foot and…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · stretching · exercise

A meme of Freddie Mercury mid-performance in a white tank top and studded belt, singing into a microphone, overlaid with a tweet by Alison Burke (@TiredActor) reading: *at a job interview* 'Can you perform under pressure?' Me: 'I'm not sure I know all the lyrics but here goes nothing.'

Day 10Early Recovery

Under Pressure

This morning I woke up oddly curious about what will actually happen with this hammertoe. I mean, I know what will HAPPEN happen: it should be fixed and no…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · hammertoe · anatomy

A meme of a chunky orange-and-white cat leaning back against a couch like a person, round belly on display, with black caption bars reading: 'Me after eating: Mmm I need something sweet. *Eats 4 cookies & half a cake* Now I need something salty.'

Day 12Early Recovery

Milkshake

Today's deep thoughts are on the big D. Not that one. Diet. Or "recovery diet," which is the more honest framing. Here's the thing. When I'm logging 70–80…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · nutrition · diet

Gloved hands working a pair of surgical scissors through layers of tan elastic bandage and fluffy white cotton padding wrapped around my right foot and ankle, one toe just peeking out of the top, with my left foot in a white-and-orange HOKA off to the side.

Day 13Early Recovery

I Can See Clearly Now

Today was a BIG DAY! It was the "unveiling of the foot!" Aka, the day all the surgical dressing came off and I finally got to lay eyes on the masterpiece that…

Pain 1/10 NWB early-recovery · milestone · unveiling

Office Space meme: Bill Lumbergh with his coffee mug saying, 'Yeah, if you could go ahead and not be in pain... that would be great.'

Day 14Early Recovery

Hurts So Good

Ohhh the pain train pulled into the station overnight, woke me up damn early (2:45 anyone?!) and I'm running on fumes today. The reason? This heavy metal…

Pain 5/10 NWB early-recovery · boot · pain

A surreal, photoshopped gag: a pair of bare feet on a dark mat, where the ankles and shins are laced and cuffed in worn tan leather exactly like a pair of lace-up work boots, so you can't tell where foot ends and boot begins.

Day 15Early Recovery

These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

So one of the fun things about Amazon is that you can find annnnnnnnny old thing on it, and I decided to go find myself a new boot. One that presumably fit…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · boot · peptides

Meme of The Thing from Fantastic Four staring warily into the distance, captioned 'Your heel watching you buy more face skin care products.'

Day 16Early Recovery

Itchycoo Park

One of the advantages of having a new comfy boot is that it makes my leg generally feel so much better. I even made it through the night, sleeping fairly…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · itching · hydroxyzine

Bare feet resting still, a limb waiting to move again.

Day 17Early Recovery

Fists With My Toes

My foot hurts. I know, I KNOW, why is this news? It should hurt because it's been through so much but no, it's not that kind of pain. It's the kind that comes…

Pain 4/10 NWB early-recovery · immobility · foot-pain

A Maury Povich meme. Top text: 'You said you would take a break from Amazon.' Bottom text: 'The boxes on the porch determined that was a lie.'

Day 18Early Recovery

Material Girl

We went out today for breakfast and groceries, my second time doing this since my surgery almost three weeks ago. One thing that tends to happen when I do the…

Pain 3/10 NWB early-recovery · mobility-aids · crutches

A meme of Tiger Woods and John Daly chatting at a golf tournament. Tiger, trim in a black vest, is labeled 'Marathon runners.' Daly, in a blue polo and floral pants with a cigarette, is labeled 'Ultra runners.'

Day 19Early Recovery

Born to Run

Right before my surgery, I was scrolling Instagram, as one does to pass the hours when sidelined with injury. By that point my feed was full of foot and ankle…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · genetics · training