What about Joan?
If this is your first time reading my blog, you may be wondering who Joan is. In short, Joan is the name that has been given to my right broken foot (more specifically lisfranc fracture) and this is where I rant and rave about her. If you want more details about what happened, the injury itself, and why I’ve decided to write this blog, check out: Welcome, How Joan Came To Be, and About Joan. If you choose to skip these sections and then ask me for said details, I will redirect you back to these links because Joan sucks and I don’t want to tell the same stories over and over again. Enjoy 
2010 in review
Thanks to everyone who read through my journey. I have appreciated all the comments and well wishes I have received from friends, family, and even strangers around the world. I still get comments today from people who have the same or similar injury and I’m so glad they have found, if nothing else, a little humor in a really bad situation.
Some good news: I wore high heels on New Year’s Eve! I really thought that I would never be able to wear heels again because previous attempts were too painful. I decided to give it a try for the celebration of 2011, a final attempt to rid of Joan forever. I figured if the pain was too much I had the option to sit down, or take them off. It was definitely a challenge, and I don’t see myself wearing heels every day on a regular basis, but I survived…and even danced! I was the most nervous about the effects from the following days, thinking that maybe all the stress from standing, walking, and dancing in really inappropriate footwear for someone who should wear orthotics would cause my muscles to rebel. But they didn’t! During my recovery I would complain, even to my physical therapists, that the one thing I really wanted was to wear high heels again. Everyone usually looked at me like I was crazy, as most people have simpler, more practical goals, like be able to jog again. Friends told me I should feel lucky to have an excuse to not wear heels, but the truth is I’ve always loved them and I really missed being able to spruce up a weekend outfit with a pair of simple black pumps. So although it seems like a small accomplishment, this is actually a huge milestone for me!
Thanks again to all my readers. I was really impressed with these statistics! And these are only statistics for 2010, overall I have a total of 4,377 views! If you want to continue reading another kind of journey I’m on now, check out my other blog: here.
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 2 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 13 posts.
The busiest day of the year was January 29th with 381 views. The most popular post that day was Joan lives on….
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were fractralfoot.wordpress.com, anonym.to, facebook.com, lisfranc.wordpress.com, and en.wordpress.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for joan sucks, her foot fracture, broken ankle cast, fracture cast, and broke my ankle.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Joan lives on… January 2010
8 comments
About Joan July 2009
10 comments
The downside of crutches July 2009
4 comments
Joan’s Make Over July 2009
2 comments
How Joan Came To Be July 2009
6 comments
The Last Post…
A year has passed since Joan came to be. In fact, while the news was recounting Michael Jackson’s death I was recounting the day before my life changed. “This time a year ago, I was taking a train home from my internship in Boston.” “This time a year ago, I was going over to Kerry’s to meet up with friends” “This time a year ago, we left for the bar”… And so on. Thankfully around the time I broke my foot last year, this year I was safe in my bed sleeping because I avoided Fiesta like the plague. Joan was also well aware that it was her birthday as she wreaked havoc all day….that was fun (and strange since she hadn’t hurt that much in a long while)
A year ago today, I was waiting to find out when I could get surgery, and doped up on painkillers. More than any other time during this recovery process, I appreciate the present (and am more cautious than ever). As excited as I am to go to Plymouth for July 3rd, I fully understand that within the next few days something could happen to make it so I couldn’t go anymore, even though I REALLY HOPE NOTHING HAPPENS. So I appreciate that I can walk and drive, while simultaneously always being on the look out for large drunk men and avoiding them.
Doctors said it would be a six month to year recovery time. The bones have healed, but in the process of regaining strength I have ran into multiple muscle and joint issues from overcompensating. So although I’m still not 100%, I think I may be as close as I’ve ever going to get. I still go to physical therapy but I’m considering ending that too since their guess is as good as mine on how to solve whatever continues to irritate me. Tip if you have this injury: Seek out a physical therapist as soon as possible! I had a three week period between my second surgery and getting into the pt office. Although doctors said I could start walking on my own (tip #2, listen to your instincts because that was b.s.) I have a feeling some of my current problems came from trying to walk/regain strength on my own.
Since my last update, besides going to physical therapy, life kept happening and I graduated from college and spoke at my graduation. I left Joan out of the speech, even though I highly considered making the whole speech about her. Sorry, Joan, no one likes you. I was also invited to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines! Thankfully I have recovered enough to go in August to be a Teacher of English Language Fluency in the Philippines, and I couldn’t be more excited. Having a dream to look forward to definitely helped during my recovery process. Getting better in time for my suggested departure date became a hard goal that I was determined to reach.
It’s been a longggg road, but I am so happy I started this blog. Thanks to everyone who read it and left encouraging comments. I had no idea that my writing would reach so many people. Several people with the same injury, or other tragic injuries often commented here saying that my blog helped them, or at least amused them. Getting those e-mails from strangers was inspiring and moving. Even though I haven’t updated since January, I still get e-mails today and it reminds me that somehow I was able to make a little bit of good out of a crappy situation.
So let’s recap what I’ve learned here, shall we?
- Name your injuries… it automatically makes talking about it more entertaining
- Invest in Crutch Buddies if you ever need crutches, seriously they’re so awesome.
- Avoid large drunk men, always.
- Laying in bed is not as fun when you have no choice but to stay there
- DO YOUR EXERCISES
- Don’t give up or get too discouraged, it could always be worse
- Live in the moment, count your blessings, and be kind
PEACE OUT, JOAN!
Though I’ll be discontinuing this blog, you can follow my adventures on my other blog
Joan lives on…
My last post was in September, just as I was learning to let my crutches go and walk with a boot (walking-cast). I used the crutches for a while still, because I was supposed to gradually increase pressure. It was good timing since classes for my senior year were starting. I still needed to use UMass Disability Services and get a ride to class in a special van. I imagined this experience would introduce me to others with disabilities whether they were permanent or temporary like mine, but I was wrong. The bus was only occupied by the driver and me, since it was unlikely another person with a disability would be going to the same place as me at the same time. Sometimes it was enjoyable when the drivers would make conversation with me, other times we just sat in silence, which made me feel alone and awkward since I was always used to interacting with people in between classes. However, despite it not being the most fun experience, it is a great service to have around.
I discovered that people aren’t always as nice as you’d like them to be. Many people never thought to look behind them to see if they should hold the door. Some people got annoyed because they were stuck behind me going as quickly as I could on crutches. I also discovered many areas of this campus are not handicap friendly. Thankfully since I could start putting my foot down, I was able to maneuver some stairs, or open a door more easily than when I couldn’t put pressure on it. Now that it is January, I see people on crutches in the snow and I honestly just want to cry for them.
I had my second surgery in the beginning of October to get the hardware (pins) removed out of “Joan” (it’s been hard referring to my foot as Joan anymore, just because it’s kind of getting old.) The surgery was quick and definitely not as painful as the first. The nurses told me I could walk right away, but I knew they had no idea what I’ve been through. Really? You think I can magically walk after not being able to for three months? I don’t think so. I had to wear this old lady looking blue sandal with velcro straps until my post-op appointment which was about a week later… during this week I still used crutches. At my post-op appointment, they told me I could actually wear a sneaker and DRIVE. Driving back to school was the most liberating feeling after not being able to for so long.
Since then, I started physical therapy the beginning of November. The people who work there are amazing and are doing the best they can to help me but I’m still in it and I have issues I never imagined having. Due to the amount of limping that occurred while I was learning to properly walk again created plantar fasciitis aka strained muscles in the bottom of my foot and lots of pain while walking. They recommended stretches and massaging it by rolling a tennis ball on my foot. When I’m at PT they massage it for me and it kills but I know they’re helping me. Then while trying to correct this problem, by really focusing on my walking (seriously every time I take a step, I think “heel-toe, heel-toe”) I must have done something else wrong because now I have tendonitis, creating severe pain in my ankle. They had to give me medicine through an electric current, the process is called iontophoresis. It didn’t hurt but the idea freaked me out.
This has also caused a lot of emotional pain. When you have to think about the simplest tasks like walking, something I do a lot of at this campus, it wears on you. Constant physical pain doesn’t help either. I know this blog generally has a funnier tone, but I really just wanted to get this information out there. It’s been seven months since I was injured. I try to stay positive but recently it’s been tough. I have improved on so many levels, such as range of motion, and strength in my leg and foot, and I am grateful that I indeed can walk again without crutches, but I still have a long, long road ahead of me for a full recovery.
So, I suppose the moral of this article is, unless you really know someone you don’t know the battles they’re facing. Try not to get annoyed with the person walking slowly in front of you, they could be facing a battle like mine. Try to understand if someone seems frustrated over something small, chances are there’s a bigger problem going on. I’m the first person to forget such an idea, unless I find myself being the one in tough spot, so I understand it’s not the easiest concept to grasp, but at least try.
