No Staples!!!!

The staples came out, and that was ouch and more ouch, think 1 out of 10 didn't hurt when removed. The new x-rays look good, Dr. Mulshine was able to remove ove 1/2 inch of bone edge and smooth it, this should help the tendon in that area and the nerves which apparently were running across that broken edge of bone.
There is a lot of swelling that will slowly go down, I am not back into shoes yet but once I am I can start back to walking at the gym at local Y and also stationary bike when I feel ready. I think this, once I am healed up, will increase my odds of returning to my job at Cargill. And I am all for doing that.
The foot will always be deformed some, but I think it will be more tolerant to being used as a foot, I know I have a ways to go yet but at least I am making some progress once again.
And we got rain again, and the roof leaked, both in the night and then in the rain that started before Julie and I got back to Beardstown.
So, this ended up being a very great birthday...and Ben and Tamara took me out to pizza then we girls gave in and watched Zombieland or some such thing with Ben...now the movie can be returned to Kim.
And I am thinking a geo-dome would be the great house to live in on that land I don't own but hope to some day..few acres and a little market garden, a job I love, a home in the country I love, place for my sewing and books and dolls...ya, I could really think my life was going well again...
Foot hurts right now but I am winding down and will soon be tucked in and sleeping. Had a long and busy day but it was a really good day.
Tomorrow I need to call American Family on my supplimental income insurance claim and see where the paperwork on that is..chase it down...
Got the 'have to pay' bills written down for Friday so will have that organized and should be up to driving myself, oh, that sounds great!!!
Maybe the weeds and grass in the garden will get worked on again, that sounds good, along with getting plums picked and I can mow my own lawn again.
Have patterns and fabrics for doll shirts/tops and the blue thread I needed to sew some of the stuff I have cut out...progress, progress...
Back to the doctor 8/5 and hopefully by then I should have most of the insurance battles and bugs worked out for a while...

Foot hates Staples

The foot is miserable, the staples come out tomorrow..the foot is recovering from the surgery, no new problems, it is just staples and the surgery ouches..
The plums are getting picked, as I can find people to come pick them and take them away. I am working on some knitting projects and on some doll clothes projects. Ben is up in Rushville and I really like having my place to myself, just wish his stuff was elsewhere, and stored under the house in the utility area Does count as 'elsewhere'.
The kid north, Nick, had his vehicle side-swiped last last night, the kid that did it was parked a couple blocks up the street at his mother's place. Crime quickly solved by Beardstown police..I really do have good neighbors whose house was broken into and robbed while they were out of town on vacation, thieves were rapidly caught, most of the goods were returned..
Heat index is high today and the garden is turning into a weedpatch once again. I need to be battling that and will as foot allows--which is not nearly enough right now to keep up with the growth...
Budget is going to be snug for a while but have property taxes and house insurance to make and know I will rest better once both are paid. I will keep battling Standard Insurance for the rest of my disability pay, and I will call American Family about the supplimental income and see if they have all the paperwork they need to get that claim started and the first check to me..
It's going to be ok, I will make life work for me..but the reality is that I will be making it work for me and there is no one for me to fall back on. I have great friends, my sons are not bad guys but they have lives of their own to work on.
So, I am ok with the independent and on my own stuff. Had a lot of practice and have learned the hard way to not count on, not depend on and not put much trust in any man to be there. Not saying men are bad, just that my life works far better with far less problems IF I do not depend on a man to 'come through'. Words are great, but are meaningless without the actions that back up those words..and once said, yes, I do watch and see if the actions are there to accomplish what was said.
I know I have personal issues of my own, and financial issues that also are my own making and my own responsibility. But I have for years been taking care of that and will continue to do so. It will take me some time to get the balance back after this accident and the financial damage it has done to me, but it will happen and I will get out of the red and in the meantime, I rarely am getting deeper in the red and each month actually climb some out, not much but any step ahead is better than a step behind, even staying in the same place is better than sliding back a bit.
So, do what I need to do here, have laundry basket with clean things that need put away, have plenty of dirty stuff to wash, have letters to write, a package to send off to Jake, doll tops to create...and most of the time I really like the life I have. Not the accident, but I am dealing with that, and will continue to deal with that.

Miserable foot..

I know I am whining, but this blasted foot does not want to quit hurting, and I know getting the staples out will help and that happens 7/6. Today is 7/1 so that is closer than I was 3 days ago. I know this surgery will help some and that the pain will lessen once the staples are out..after the foot gets over that 'project'.
Jake called from Darwin Australia the other night, just had a minute or 2 but he's fine, happy and has t-shirt and coffee cup for mom, Mom asked for post card mailed from there that she can rub in his older brothers faces. He's going places they only dream of seeing, he has steady paycheck and the other 2 don't even do much job hunting as far as Mom can see...that might explain why I keep knitting socks and sending boxes to that son and don't do much for the other 2...got to earn those 'mom perks' once you get old enough to work...
I do have some doll things cut out today and will work on them in a bit, doing some of that 'down with foot up' stuff that does help lessen the pain and the swelling.
Later I need to go talk with the union chief about a few things, go to Wal-Mart and get more wrap so I can re-dress the foot..and I need a shower so that means bagging the foot so it stays dry.
But I am able to shower far easier than with the cast and the cast was on 5 or 6 weeks, and I survived that pain and the walker and know I am walking, not even using the cane most of the time, I am running my sewing machine, working in my garden some so I have made progress.
It's been a long, long recovery but I have gained some each week.
I know that I won't ever be back to where I was before this accident. That fact took me a long time to accept but I have walked through that rough patch and have it behind me. And I am looking at what I can do, what I can build for my life 'post accident' and know I can make a good and content life and I can do it 'on my own'.
But I also know that beyond doubt, all the best 'cards' are in my hand when it comes to car accidents, no medically documented prior medical issues to complicate what is prior problems/damage and what is NOW, no weather issues to be partially to blame, and the clearly at fault driver had very good insurance, as did I. And we both had valid license, I was slowing down to try and avoid/lessen the accident.
So, money-wise, I will have a large settlement and I am already working on investment ideas/plans and I am going to be mean, nasty and hard about this settlement. It has to provide for my life, and for a long life and for any up-coming medical issues that show up down the line.
And I know that before this surgery I didn't have very many days in a row that were this painful. Well, I did but had moved beyond that place, so it stinks to go back to spending so much time down with my foot up.
I know most of me is ready to go and do things, the right foot might never be ready for that, and there are things the right foot will Never be able to do..but I am very fortunate and count my blessings every day..just whining about the hurting that gets really vicious and mean the past few days.

I am walking!!!

Have graduated to a cane and parked the walker..so that is progress. And in therapy, and have worked my head around the fact that my right foot will always be far wider than the left one. The heel bone pieces were seperated by a lot of fluid and since the bone pieces did not die, but lived and grew---they grew as the fluid and brusing left--and it was not possible to put all those little pieces back where they belonged. It works great with jig saw puzzles but not always possible with badly fractured bones. . . so the heel bone is far bigger now and odd shaped.
So, got a lot of shoes I will never be able to wear, or at least the right shoe will never fit again. But I am walking, and I am gaining on that ability to walk, balance myself, do normal living things.
I will probably never see a pain free day again, but I did order a pair of very wide steel toed work boots and when they come in, the shop will help me try to fit them to both feet, the normal one and the damaged one. If they can't fit, they ship them back and we see if we can come up with another style/size/brand that will work.
And the water meter is in, the landscaping is done, except for some mulch on the city strip I am working, and some sedum on the flowerbed where I had to lift plants and then re-set them.
It was a rough week or two as I emotionally dealt with the fact that I would never be able to fit into my shoes I already owned, that buying 'normal' shoes would never happen again, that I would be dealing with this accident and what it's done to me every time I needed new shoes, every time I wear something that shows my ankles and feet..like dresses and sandels..I don't know if I will ever feel 'ok' about it. But I cannot change it and I will not let it mess up my head very long.
I will plant my garden, and I will work my flower beds and I will get work boots that I can tolerate wearing and I will get back to work and do my job once again.
Popeye came and did the mowing for me Thursday/yesterday and this morning I raked stuff out of the pampas grass along the alley before I went to my therapy appointment.
Then when I got home I put on my orthapedically fitted very expensive sneakers and lifted another 4+ feet of turf and weeds from the city strip and planted it with those plants I got yesterday. Seems that Home Depot has perennials on sale and ad on the radio so I ran to Jacksonville and got $40 worth of plants to add to the ones I already had put in where the crew tore up installing the water meter and valve.
There's a lot of feet between the south end I did when the city replaced the fire hydrant and what I just put in but I have gained a few feet. It will take a few weeks for it to start looking good and some is annuals to help fill in for now but in a year or so I will start seeing what I want, a border strip that does not require mowning and won't need much watering by the time we are paying for that water by the gallon.

Bad cast lining..

Lost track--didn't get this posted..but cast and foot were seen, new cast and liner done a bit different, told to do more down time and try to be up less..
And most of the medical billing has been dealt with. State Farm agent was out of office a few days but said the check was mailed so expect it Friday or Saturday.
I need to go see the financial office at Memorial hospital and my bone dr. anyway and make sure they have the correct insurance billing information. My Blue Cross from work will be paying on the bills and has set up an account or something, they will then bill State Farm for the costs and by paying a % of the bills that will help avoid me being turned over to a collection agency..
With the long length of time I will be under medical care I am glad to know that medical insurance from work will be looking out for my best interests better than either my car insurance company or the insurance company of the man who caused the accident.
Mike is doing better but I think it will take a few weeks for his body and the maint meds for his high blood pressure and thryoid to get in balance. I am so glad he is working to take care of himself, he's so very important to me.
I was able to go join the knitting group at Sticks and Strings, the yarn shop in Jacksonville Saturday for a few hours, nice to be around other knitters and nice to be out of the house for a bit to 'play'.
Jake called while I was there, and he told me how wonderful I am because I knit him socks..boy knows how to keep Mom knitting him socks. I have a pair done and plan to ship them to him Monday.
State Farm says I am approved for lost wages to be paid while I am off work, the first check will be mailed Monday, I have some form to sign and I also will be getting my disability pay, did let the State Farm agent know that had been cleared up and would be paid also. He said that did not affect my lost wages but appreciated that I let him know.
I don't think State Farm will 'catch up' the past weeks but I will keep track of what they pay and all the lost wages will be caught up with the settlement--and I will remember that I am OWED those wages, it's not part of the 'pain and suffering' and neither is the medical costs, they too are the responsibility of the driver at fault or his insurance...
There will be lots of paperwork and numbers to look at and keep track of..and I need to remember that man's insurance is NOT doing me a favor by paying what they are obligated to pay--
No amount of money will give me back the lost time, or erase the pain I have already had to go through. No money will fix the problems I will now have the rest of my life with my right foot and leg. That metal plate will cause me pain when it gets cold for the rest of my life..that's just something I will have to live with, it's not going to go away.
I did go to the union hall and Do get disability and that is in process and I need to check on it Monday also. And they will pay me 18 weeks total and catch up the back weeks from the time of the accident..so that will help me get thing caught up and some $ put back into savings to replace what I pulled out, my auto insurance paid so I don't worry about that, Ben's contacts paid for, my new glasses paid for--which State Farm will have to re-imburse me for...
Did finally get forms to fax back on disability from Cargill. This is something that we actually 'buy' with our co-pay for our insurance--so woman in HRD that said i did not qualify was wrong...and they will catch up the back weeks so I can expect a good sized check when they get to that point..at least I know it's in process, finally.
Got another pair of socks done, and am knitting on a doll dress for the Kish 14 inch dolls, have 1 so she can try it on..and knowing me, once it's done I will photo and set a price--quite willing to sell the clothes off the backs of my dolls..