109 CHRISTMAS FREEZE

Just before Christmas, the cold weather moved in.  We had a brief spell of it in November, when it snowed on November 1, but not much until mid-December.  I still can’t find any boots to fit and so far, it’s cold and dry.  When it gets icy in fact, runners are probably the best kind of footwear for walking on icy sidewalks and roads.  I’ve never been nervous about walking on ice, I guess that comes from playing hockey most of my life.  I’ve never fallen on an icy sidewalk or road before either.  I have had a couple of close calls but always managed to catch myself.

Well, it finally happened.  I was out walking Toby and we did our usual route.  We got to the road we turn on and head up the sidewalk, on a slight uphill.  The sidewalk ends by a driveway to a house and you must step out onto the roadway at that point.  I looked carefully, and the road appeared top be dry and bare.  It was -4C and so I stepped carefully out onto the road and my feet slipped.  I almost managed to catch myself, but with the swollen and unfeeling feet, my balance isn’t the greatest and down I went.

Instinctively I didn’t do too much to break my fall, which in the long run probably saved me from injury.  I did land on my left hand, of course the one that doesn’t work so well, and it hurt, a lot.  My face was heading for a meeting with the asphalt, but as luck would have it I was carrying a big bag of Toby’s poop.  My face hit that, and it cushioned the blow, preventing me from smashing my face.

OK, I know what you’re thinking, gross, right?  There was no problem.  The bag was tied shut so there was no spread of the contents.  I laid there for a few minutes taking a mental inventory of what I might have injured.  Feet, seem ok.  Knees, no problems there.  Did I break a hip?  Nope, so far so good.  Shoulders and arms are fine.  Hands were protected by gloves and the pain in my left one has subsided.  All in all, I’m doing ok.

Now the problem comes in.  I’ve never been what you would call a flexible person, but I am way less flexible after my hospital adventure.  I avoid sitting or lying on the floor because I have a great deal of difficulty getting up.  Heck, I even have trouble getting out of a chair sometimes.  Anyway, I’m lying facedown in the middle of the road and it’s time to see if I can get myself up.

Here’s where a major problem kicks in.  I’m lying on a sheet of ice on a downhill slope and with minimal flexibility.  So, I make the effort to bring my legs up underneath me to get to a kneeling position.  There’s not a chance that this is happening.  Every time I try and push with my feet, they would slide back out from under me.  This went on for about 10 minutes and I was getting no where.

My body heat is rapidly being sucked out of me and I’m starting to shiver.  The body heat is melting the upper layer of the ice and the -4C temperatures are refreezing it and I am starting to stick to the road.  I keep moving to prevent my clothes from sticking and keep trying to get up.  I’m in a winter jacket so that will keep they hypothermia at bay…for awhile.  But, I am starting to get worried about it.

I’m lying on a frozen road and starting to stick to it.  It’s a side street and it’s still under construction, so there’s not a lot of traffic, if any.  I wiggled around enough so that I could get my cell phone out to call for help.  I’m not sure who to call though.  Renee doesn’t have a car and is at work.  Caitlin and Karl are both at work and a long way away.  So, I decided that it would have to be 9-1-1.

I don’t know how kindly they’re going to look on me considering I’m uninjured, I just can’t get up.  Plus, if they come I’m pretty sure they’re going to want me to go to hospital just to get checked out and I really don’t want to do that.  I finally made the decision to do so, when a fellow comes running up to me asking if I’m ok.  I explained what happened and he helps me to roll onto my side.  I try to scootch over to the curb but that doesn’t work.

He sees the problem, runs back to his truck on the busy road below and comes back with a mix of salt and kitty litter which he spreads out around my feet.  He’s trying to help me up, but we are not having much luck, especially since I’m still holding onto Toby’s leash and won’t let go.  Then another fellow arrives and backs his pickup truck up the hill within a few feet of me and opens the tailgate.

Grabbing it and with the assistance of both, we manage to get me back on my feet.  I thanked them profusely and wished them a Merry Christmas and they got back in their trucks and drove off before I could get their names.  Just an amazing couple of fellows that would stop to help a stranger lying on the road.  Thank you to them, whoever they were. 

108 CHRISTMAS SEASON CATCHUP

Well, I have taken you all along on my journey from the beginning of summer right into the Christmas season.  I’m still not completely “right” and there’s a few people that would suggest that I have never been completely “right”, but I have recovered enough that I can now function normally.  I still have issues to deal with, but they are coming along.  I’ll consider myself completely healed the first time I step back on the ice to play a game.

I am resigned to the possibility that may never happen, but I’m still fighting hard to make it a reality.  My foot is still too swollen to get a pair of boots or to put on my skate.  It still gets painful after a long day or a long walk, but I’m dealing with it.  Considering my foot was surgically rebuilt less than four full months ago, I think I’m doing well.  Yes, I am impatient as I want to be back on the ice, but, sometimes these things can take 6 months to a year to fully heal and I may miss the whole season.

I had prepared for that by notifying the organizers of both my teams in August that I was out for the season.  It was the one Doctor who said, “we’ll have you skating again by Christmas” that gave me hope and belief that it could be done.  Christmas has now passed and I’m not close to skating yet, but we’ll take it on a month to month basis and see what happens.

In the last couple of weeks in November Hershal warned me that he would be off on paternity leave for sure on December 18 and earlier if the baby arrived earlier.  Well, baby did decide to make his entrance a little early, so I missed a few days with Hershal and have now been bouncing back and forth between Gordon and Edwin.

I decided to take break on treatments to my foot and concentrate on trying to get my left hand fully functional.  I have gone from almost not being able to close my fingers in hospital, to a point where I have full mobility in my thumb, about ¾ mobility in my index and baby fingers but the middle fingers are still stubborn.  The actual middle finger is about 50% whereas the ring finger just barely bends.  We’ll see what happens in the new year.

After speaking with Edwin about the realistic chance of getting the foot back to normal, he said there is the possibility that it won’t happen, and I’ll be stuck with a somewhat bigger foot.  That was also what the surgeon told me, and we shall see.  I took some steps (pardon the pun) to see if there was another solution.

MY CURRENT, NON-FITTING SKATES

I phoned my skate guy, Jay, at Scoff’s Hockey Shop and explained the situation to him.  I asked if they had skates big enough to fit fat feet.  He told me that he had several very large sizes and he would see what he could do.  So, one day I made the trek into Burnaby to see about getting fitted for a bigger pair of skates.  Unfortunately, there is nothing big enough in the standard size skates.

He did offer me another, somewhat more expensive option.  There is a company in Winnipeg that he deals with, that makes custom fit hockey skates and if I was interested we could go that route.  The custom fit skates are more expensive than standard skates by about $200, but if I can get back on the ice it would be worth it.

So, we got started.  Jay scanned both my feet with a 3D scanner and it was kind of cool to see the images as it took in ever bump, and hollow on the feet.  He said he would send in the scans and then what they do is 3D print my feet and then custom build skates around them.  That way the skates literally fit your feet like a custom skin.  Several NHL players are using them now and these skates may be the way of the future.  I’ll be right in on the bottom floor of a “cutting edge” market.  Again, excuse the pun.

Jay warned that the one big stumbling block here will be the opening.  He says there is absolutely no trouble custom building the skate to fit my foot.  The stumbling block is where you put your feet into the skate.  It must be wide enough to accommodate the foot, but still be able to be laced up.  That may not be possible, but these guys have worked miracles before.  Here’s hoping.

107 FOOTY PHYSIO

Now that we have got confirmation of the surgical procedure, it’s time to go to work on the foot.  The biggest task ahead is to get the size of the foot down to a level that I can squeeze it into a skate.  If I can do that, I can resume playing hockey.  My stamina is pretty good and once I can get onto the ice doing more strenuous exercise than walking, the stamina should improve quickly.  We shall see what the next month of daily physio produces.

Hershal started to work on my foot with ultra sound and then hooked it up to a machine with large suction cups and electrical stimulation.  It’s sort of like a very large TENS machine.  He told me to let him know when the pulse was strong enough and still comfortable.  He kept cranking the power up, but I couldn’t feel a thing.  My foot was not flexing or anything.  In fact, he got it up to full power and I still could not feel a thing.

Three days into treatment, the office called and cancelled the rest of my appointments for a week.  It turns out that Hershal had broken his ankle doing Jiu Jitsu.  In fact, here I was with a bad right foot and he also broke his right ankle.  After only a week away, he resumed my therapy, walking around in the identical cast that I wore, except smaller.

We were quite a pair, but I guess it worked out.  It gave Hershal empathy for his patients.  Not that he didn’t have empathy anyway, but it gave him new appreciation for what his patients were going through.  Except in my case, I could not feel my foot and he was in a lot of pain with his, especially by the end of the week.  So much so that he had to cancel Friday’s appointment.  He apparently is also a subscriber to the theory of “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing”.

After missing only, the one day and after the weekend, he was ready to get back to work.  It was time to try a more aggressive treatment on my foot.  The office had just acquired a test machine called Shockwave Therapy.  It produces ultra-sonic pulses that are designed to trigger an inflammatory response which triggers the body’s healing abilities.

He started with that on my foot and while I couldn’t feel anything before, I could sure feel this.  It was very strong and was literally bordering on painful.  It was tolerable though and only lasted 5 minutes.  It produced quick results and my foot looked smaller.  Whether it was, or if I just wanted it to be, I don’t know.

BOOT SUCCESSFULLY ON

RIGHT BOOT STRAINED
LACES

When I got home Ii took my old boots out to try them on.  They are a 12W as compared to my 13EEEE runners.  With a bit of effort, I was able to get the boot on my foot and get the boot laced up.  That buoyed my spirits considerably.  So much so, I went downstairs and dug my skates out.  I sat and tried to put my skates on, but in a crushing disappointment, I could not even get my toes into the skate.

That isn’t too surprising though.  My shoe size prior to this whole series of incidents was a size 11 and my skates are a size 9.  Most hockey players wear skates that are one or two sizes smaller than their shoe size.  The reason being is that the skates feel like they are part of your feet and give you a much better feel for the ice.  So, I’m hoping that we can get my foot size down enough to squeeze my foot in.  We shall see what happens.

We continued with various treatments on my foot and there is an improvement, in that I am now feeling pain in the foot.  Hershal says this is a good thing, because it means the nerves are becoming uncompressed and starting to be able to feel again.  I hope it bears out.  The size has not reduced at all and in fact it seems slightly bigger again.  Enough so that I cannot get my foot back in the boot.  I have been shopping all over, but nobody makes boots big enough to fit my feet.  Certainly, long enough, but not anywhere near wide enough.  My thought is that boots would give me better support than the runners.  So, the saga continues.

106 DARTH VADER RISES

Having gotten the good word about removing the cast, I had to wear it home as I neglected to bring my other runner with me.  But, subscribing to the Mythbusters theory of “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing”, I proceeded to do just that.  On the way home, I did a couple of errands to be ready for Halloween.  As soon as I got home, I removed the cast, never to go back on.  I got dinner ready for when Renee arrived and then went to get my costume on.  It’s interesting how this all came about.

MY NOW EMPTY CAST

Since moving into my new place, I have gotten quite into decorating both for Halloween and Christmas.  I got hold of a 12-foot inflatable ghoul for less than half of its usual price.  I had seen them at Rona’s for $189 earlier in the month, but when I was in there about a week before Halloween, they were clearing out the last of them for $100 which was more palatable, but when it turned out to be just the floor model left, I asked if I got a further discount.  The manager knocked off another $30, so I bought him and brought him home and named him Norbert.

NORBERT THE 12' GHOUL

ME IN COSTUME
CHEAPO LIGHT SABRE

 It’s a little longer story for Darth Vader.  I had joked about my cast throughout the time that I wore it, that it was part of my Star Wars Storm Trooper armour.  From there the seeds of an idea started to grow.  Last year, I wore a camouflage “Ghillie” suit.  I have the suit for wildlife photography rather than hunting.  I didn’t feel like wearing it again, so I started to consider the idea of getting “real” stormtrooper armour.  Was I ever shocked as the “authentic” armour came in at a cost of $1800.  No way was I spending that much for a costume, especially since it was just to hand out candy outside.

I kept checking various websites over the next several weeks to see if maybe they went on sale for a more palatable price, but they never did.  Finally, a week before Halloween I found a website based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, called Halloween Costumes and they had an “authentic” Darth Vader costume, regular priced at $1200, still way out of what I was willing to spend.  Then suddenly, they had a one-day blowout sale and the costume was on for $200.  Still a lot for a costume, but I thought, why not I can have some fun with it.

I thought that the price was in US funds, but it was Canadian as they have a division in Canada which ships here.  It was also free shipping, so I laid down the $200 and hoped it would arrive before Halloween.  It arrived two days after I ordered it.  Was I ever impressed, however, the light sabre that came with it was a cheap plastic flashlight thing.

I called my son who has a cool Luke Skywalker light sabre and he told me they were available in a Darth Vader red and a Kylo Ren one as well.  So, onto Amazon I went and ordered a Darth Vader Black Series light sabre.  It cost almost as much as the costume, but was well worth it.  So that is how I came to have the costume and light sabre for Halloween.

I wanted to wear my old boots with the costume, now that I was out of the cast, but could not for the life of me squeeze my still swollen foot into them.  I even tried to buy new boots, but nobody makes them wide enough.  My runners are a 13 EEEE and are the only shoes that will fit.  So, I was forced to wear them, but better than doing it with the cast.

I got all dressed in the costume and went outside.  It was a big hit with neighbours and kids alike.  The light sabre which also has sound effects just set it off nicely.  Speaking of overdoing things, I walked up and down the road beside my place, directing kids where to get their treats.  I did that from about 5:30 PM until just before 9:00 PM.  I even wore out a set of batteries in the light sabre.  Renee was at the back gate, also in costume and handing out goodies.  I posed for pictures with neighbours and kids and I was amazed at how many wanted to take pictures.

ME IN COSTUME WITH
GOOD LIGHT SABRE

ONE OF SEVERAL NEIGHBOURS
POSING WITH ME

There were even a few kids who were too scared of Darth Vader to approach me and get photos or say hi.  There were one or two who had light sabres who even wanted to fight me.  All in all, it was a very successful Halloween and great fun.  Even though it was a chilly night, this costume is HOT!  I was sweating up a storm inside it.  The eyeholes fogged over within about 10 minutes and I walked around virtually blind the whole time.  I’ll be making some modifications for next year, such as adding a fan for cooling and defogging.

I also carried my iPhone with a series of Darth Vader voices and the Imperial March playing, but it wasn’t loud enough, so I have already added a Bluetooth speaker into the helmet.  That should help.  But I really paid a price after.  By the time I went in the house, my foot had really swollen up, to the point it was hard to get my shoe off and I was in agony.  So, it was well overdone.

105 FREE AT LAST

Physio continued all through October, attending every day except weekends.  All efforts were focused on my left shoulder and left hand.  We couldn’t do anything on the foot, because we could not find out what was done inside it.  I had heard a rumour from one of my nurses that the foot had to be rebuilt, but we didn’t know for certain.  The surgeon was not returning my calls and was not responding to faxes from the physio.

I’m tired of writing physio, so I’ll just start referring by name.  I got to the Maple Ridge Physiotherapy and Pain Clinic on Dewdney Trunk Road and my primary therapist is Hershal Shah.  He does a great job but was worried about using ultrasound, shockwave or other therapies on my foot until he found out if it was stable enough and if there were any metal pins, clips etc. inside.

Finally, we got a response.  The surgeon faxed over a series of reports.  The only problem was that all the reports were pre-surgery, so we still have no idea what went on inside my foot.  So, we were still at square one and continuing treatment on my shoulder and hand.  There was one day we did spinal decompression on my lower back because it was so far out of whack from walking off balance in the cast.

Suddenly a break through at the end of October.  I got a phone call from the surgeon’s office that I had to be at his office at 1:00 PM on October 31, Halloween.  I guess they got tired of all my calls and the faxes from Hershal.  Maybe there was some progress to be made.  Hershal gave me a list of questions that I should ask that he needed to know.

On Halloween I headed for my appointment on 223 Street.  Still new to Maple Ridge, I went down Lougheed and turned left on 223 rd.  Wrong way and I ended up almost in the middle of the Anita Place Protest Camp.  What a complete shit-pit.  It is absolutely disgusting.  Not to mention dangerous.  I got out of the truck wondering where the office was and was immediately “swarmed” by three of the residents of the camp.  They were demanding to know why I was there.

Now, I’m not normally intimidated by aggressive assholes, but, there were three of them and I’m in a cast and not fully recovered from my hospital stay.  So, I just kept calm and explained I was trying to find my Doctor’s office but must have taken a wrong turn.  At that point two of them lost interest and wandered away.  The third guy pointed up the street and then he left.

Finally, I found it.  I should have turned right off Lougheed.  I wandered inside and reported in.  I sat down and no more than 5 minutes later I was ushered in to a treatment room.  I sat there for another 5 minutes and I was expecting to see Doctor Buzzkill again but in walked “Baby” Baschu.  His bedside manner is supposed to be a lot better than his Dad.

He had me remove the cast and my sock.  He looked at my foot and proclaimed, “It looks like it is healing nicely”.  He answered the questions for Hershal and told me that they had cultured the liquid drained from my foot, but found no infection in it.  Which is interesting because the other Doctors cultured the drainage from my foot and said there was.  Who to believe?  In any case, he said that the swelling was so bad that all 5 of my toes had become dislocated and so had several other bones.

All had been put back in place but there were no clips or metal in my foot.  That was why I was on total bed rest for so long and in the cast for even longer.  But, he gave me the words I had been longing to hear. “You don’t need to wear the cast anymore”.  He also warned me that my right foot would never look just like my left foot again.  I assume that means it will remain somewhat bigger, but we shall see.  The whole appointment, from the time I arrived, to the time I walked out the door, was 15 minutes.

I didn’t mind the short appointment time, in fact I was happy about it as I had things to do with it being Halloween.  I just thought it was rather quick for such an extensive rebuild.  He never even touched my foot.  He just looked at the scar and the size of it, but, oh well, I’m “Free at Last”.

104 PHYSIO OR BUST

After enduring an entire month of not driving, three if you count hospital time, I had finally had enough.  I couldn’t get an answer from anyone as to how long I would be in the cast.  So, on October 1^st I decided enough was enough.  I had been practicing walking without the cast in the house and so with the cast on, I walked down to my truck.  Then just before getting into the driver’s seat, I took the cast off.

Finally, I was driving.  I was doing with just a sock on my foot.  Contrary to popular belief, it is not unlawful to drive in socks, bare feet, flip-flops or spike heels.  Not that I wear heels, but if you do it’s not against the law.  It’s not recommended and if you get into an accident and it can be proven that your footwear or lack of it contributed to the accident, then you can be charged.

Now, being a professional driver since the age of 19 and driving since I was 17, I have forgotten more about driving than a lot of people ever knew.  I have had a total of 7 advanced driving courses, including high Speed Pursuit driving and VIP Protection driving.  In fact, the last driving course I took was less than a month before I retired.  I didn’t ask to take it, but it was mandated that everyone in the department had to, and so who was I to turn down a chance to drive fast in a controlled environment.  But, I digress, suffice to say I was driving again.

It felt good to be behind the wheel and free again.  I could run errands, and most importantly start going to physio.  I booked my appointments and have been going to physio now every day since the beginning of October.  I’m off for a week over Christmas, but I will continue into the new year until I am back to normal.

The first treatment I got was on my neck.  I forgot to mention how I got this injury.  I was moved into the rehab ward with about two weeks left in my hospital stay.  The goal, to get me up walking and being able to function on my own.  I was in a 4-person ward with 3 elderly women.  What I didn’t know is that hospital beds have alarms on them.

One night I was fast asleep at 2:30 AM and for some strange reason, dreaming I was back at work.  Suddenly an alarm went off and jolted me awake from a deep sleep.  I guess training kicked in and I sat bolt upright and in the process, strained all the muscles in both sides of my neck.  It was very similar to a whiplash injury.  As if I didn’t already have enough wrong with me.

Several different things would have helped, such as heat, muscle relaxants and/or massage.  Well, the hospital will not allow heat, because some time in the distant past a patient got burned.  The closest I could get was a warm blanket.  That didn’t work.  They did not have muscle relaxants available and nurses are not allowed to massage patients.

It’s amazing.  Nurses can give you the most powerful narcotic injections, they can see you naked and touch you in the most intimate of places, but they are not allowed to give a massage.  It’s considered a healing procedure and that can only be done by a physio-therapist.  Since this happened on a Friday night, and physio does not work weekends, I was stuck with it until Monday.  I was in agony and had a choice between Tylenol 3 or heavy-duty stuff like Hydromorphone injections.  I opted for Tylenol-3 but it wasn’t that helpful.  I also resorted to ice packs.

When physio came in on Monday, she immediately found the trigger points in both shoulders and with some very painful manipulations was able to ease the pain, but my neck remained stiff long afterwards, to the point I had difficulty turning my head.

PREP FOR FIRST PHYSIO

THE NEW ME

As mentioned I got into my own physio when I started driving again and had spinal decompression on my neck.  I was also taking Robax Platinum, which made a huge difference.  I couldn’t get started on my foot, until I had authorization to take the cast off.  Several phone calls to the surgeon and I got no response.  My physio tried faxing him several times and got no response either.  He needed to know what was done inside my foot before starting to work on it.  I had no idea myself, other than it was drained.

103 CASTING CALL

Walking with the cast on has become very “natural” and I have slowly increased my distance all through September, but the most frustrating part of it is that I cannot drive.  The cast is on my right foot and is quite wide, so it will not fit well between the brake pedal and the console.  I can do it, but I can’t move my foot quickly from the gas to the brake.  Too much of a safety hazard, so I just won’t risk it.

I have resigned myself, that I won’t be driving for awhile, but the frustrating part is that I can’t get an answer from anyone as to how long I must wear the cast.  It’s now been on since the last week of July.  I’m allowed to take it off at night to sleep, but to walk to the bathroom, I must put it back on.  On those nights when I get up several times, I just leave it on.

Finally, I was able to start walking to the bathroom without the cast and then I slowly worked on it until I could walk from the recliner to the dining room without it.  This turns out to be an important step (pardon the pun) in what I have planned very soon.  More on that later.

Every couple of days walking, I would increase my distance by a block or two.  This was important for Toby who is doing his own recovery program as well.  One of the things holding me back though is all the other issues I have been battling.  I need to go to physio to get work done on these issues, but, Renee is only here to drive me on weekends and physio has closed them.  The faster I can get there, the faster my recovery will be, I hope.

The more I worked, the more muscle mass that was starting to return.  I left hospital at 240 pounds and very weak.  I put on 10 pounds, all muscle mass and I am much stronger, and my stamina is better.  I am being very diligent in my diet, to the point I don’t have to test my blood sugar any further.  In the hospital they went from poking my finger 4 times a day, to not testing it at all because my readings were so good.  I do test it about once per month just for curiosity.  I have not had a reading higher than 6.5 and anything under 9 is considered excellent.

I have a very set regimen when it comes to meals and what I eat.  I have breakfast every morning at 8:30 and have the same thing, 2 poached eggs, 2 pieces of raisin toast with Becel, a bowl of plain oatmeal flavoured with vanilla and cinnamon.  I drink a half liter of water and a cup of tea with Sweet & Low and a splash of milk.

Lunch is at 11:30 every morning.  Again, it is regimented.  I have a bowl of soup alternating daily between vegetable and chicken noodle.  6 Stoned Wheat Thin crackers, a can of pink salmon or tuna, alternating days.  Capped with a homemade salad, topped with calorie wise dressing (various).  The salad consists of romaine lettuce, spinach, croutons, half an avocado, half a tomato, stalk of celery, English cucumber and a carrot.  I also drink another half liter of water.

My afternoon snack consists of a red delicious apple and a cup of tea.  The snacks were the hardest thing for me to incorporate.  I have the afternoon snack at around 2:00 PM and evening snack at 8:00 PM which is usually an assortment of berries.  Sometimes some popcorn.

Dinner varies but it involves chicken or other meat and vegetables such as green beans or peas.  Sometimes I have another salad and lately I have been having those little potatoes.  So that’s pretty much it.  I have had one cheat in 4 months and that was when we met up with our old friends from the dog park.  I had a beef dip and the cheat was the fries.

The month of September has dragged out and other than the walks I have been pretty much house bound until the weekends when Renee is here to drive.  Handy Dart was mentioned for getting to appointments, but it does me no good because Toby can’t be left home alone.  He has gone everywhere with me since Day 1 and he’s not about to stop now.  So that limits me right off the bat.