Day 105

1:24 p.m.

Well, I am sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast and thinking about the triathlon I am doing later. It's going to start with a 25 minute swim at the middle school, followed by a 20 mile bike ride, and finished with a 2.5 mile run. This may sound aggressive, but I have been working like this for 2 weeks now. It feels great to be able to work hard again, and the soreness in my body at the moment is very much welcomed.

Well, I will hopefully post about my time for that triathlon later. I'm not going to go all out, but hopefully sub 2 hours 30 minutes.

Day 94

Wow, the form need a lot of work.

5:40 p.m.

Well. I made it. I'm not out in the clear yet, but I did it. I got to run! On Friday, June 11th, 2010, I ran after approximately 100 days of not being able to. I only got to run a half mile though. Still, I'm coming back. I'll be ready to run by the fall, I hope.

I'm going to be doing a lot of biking yet to get in great shape for this fall. I need to stop (or heavily reduce) the amount of sweets I have been eating.

Day 81

11:02 p.m.

Wow. I have been so busy in the past two weeks. I'm sorry about the lack of updates. I also realize that I need a few new pictures. This hasn't been as informative as I wanted it to be.

I have been falling behind with the therapy. On a good note, however, I feel like my feet are ready to run. I have to wait until June 11th for my next appointment.

The Curwood Festival 5K is on June 5th. I think I am going as a "coach". I have at least 3 runners right now. I'm going to try to carpool over there that morning, and I hope to get some pictures.

I probably won't blog until this weekend or next. That's because I have a lot of homework coming due, and exams are next week! School is almost over!

On a sad note, I can't believe that I'm almost halfway done with high school. I watched my brother and a lot of close friends leave this past Thursday. I cried during the Senior Tunnel. There, I said it. :-(

Well, Goodnight! 8 days of school left, and then I'm a junior!

Day 70

9:58 p.m.

Well, I can't believe it has already been 70 days. 10 weeks of an incredible journey, and I believe I am seeing the end. I may be able to run on June 11. I was told 2 days ago at my last appointment that if things look good in about 3 weeks (June 11) I may get to run! I'm so excited!

School is almost over too, finally. With the end of school though comes the graduation of my older brother, Josh. It has been a wonderful 16.5 years of looking up to him and respecting him. In a few months, he will be down on U of M's Ann Arbor campus, and I'll have to man up a bit.

Hopefully my x-rays will scan so I can put them on here. Fingers crossed!

Well, that didn't work.

The only complaint I have at this point is that my left big toe hurts and the ball of my foot is sore. I think this is because I walke on my other 4 toes for a while after losing the surgical shoes.

Well, track regionals are tomorrow. I'm going....to watch. Hopefully next year I will be competing.

Goodnight

Day 61

12:54 a.m.

Holy cow. I am glad I took a 2 hour nap earlier, or I would die during school today. I went on my first bike ride today. IT WAS AMAZING! I went for 7.8 miles. Afterwords, I did some sit-ups and pushups (my toes are not bending quite tha far yet, so at least it was a good stretch for them). I'm going in for my next appointment on May 18, 2010.

I can't wait for the next 3 weeks to be over. I have had so much homework, and it is all due around the end of May. On the other side, Josh will be out of high school in less than 3 weeks. Hmm, I guess it is probably best to not wish these last few weeks away.

Well, I still have to stretch my toes, and then try to get some sort of sleep. Hopefully I only have a week left in these splints! That would be amazing! They are curling up and the velcro is starting to go bad.

Well, goodnight.

Day 56

1:09 a.m.

I can officially say that I am 8 weeks post-op. It seems like it has not already been 56 full days since I had surgery. My feet are, I'm happy to say, responding quite well to the constant wiggling and bending that I have been doing for about 10 days or so now. I have lots of motion back, but also a lot of pain when I try to go farther. Moving my toes without my hands, they don't do nearly as well, but at least they move.

I wish I could have started this post of with something like, "It's 1:09 a.m., and I just woke up in the middle of a dream..." The reality of this post is more like this: It's 1:09 a.m., and I am, in a living nightmare. I have been awake for 19 hours now. Welcome to the end of sophomore year.

I have my ten week appointment coming up on May 20th. I'm getting x-rays that day, and the Dr. is going to decide if I need these splints or not. I am really hoping I don't need them, or at least not during the day. That would be so awesome.

I also get to start biking (inside) today, but that probably won't happen due to a lot of homework and lack of sleep. I have a feeling that a large portion of the time I planned on using for homework tonight will be spent in a semi-comatose state on my bedroom floor. I'm so tired.

Well, I should pry try and scrounge up any sleep I can. Got to be kicking at 6:30 a.m.

Goodnight, All.

Day 52

5:49 p.m.

Wow. I can't believe it's been 52 days since surgery. It seems like yesterday that I was struggling to stand without crutches, and now I am standing for hours at track meets. I know I'm not perfect yet, but I feel pretty good. The only pain I have now is when I bend my toes.

I got sick last night. I don't know what it is, but my throat is sore, my nose is drippy, and my head hurts. Can't tell if it is allergies or something else. I just want to sleep, but I have a lot of homework.

At least we are having hamburgers tonight.

Day 49

(Oh so swollen and painful....)

9:58 p.m.

I took these pictures the other night, just to put them on here. My feet have been hurting constantly these past few days, just from standing and bending my toes. I am ready to get back to running.

Speaking of running, I did do 30 minutes of pool running tonight. It was an interesting experience. My legs hurt a little bit from it. Not much else to say here.

Off to finish my homework.

Goodnight

Day 45

9:31 p.m.

Well, this weekend was fun. I went to Cooper Reeves' birthday party with Ryan Schnroeder and Brandon Beckman Friday. We played some sweet table hockey game at Corunna's Little Caesers followed by 2 hours of bowling. Yeah, my feet were pretty sore afterwards, but I won the first game with a 103. Brandon ended up winning overall (4 games). He bowled a 140 or something crazy in his second game.

Saturday, after coming home, I did some homework, and then went to Church at 4. First Communion masses take freaking forever. Oh well, I was there once, and at the time, it was very special. After Church, Jessy and I went out to Mancinos in Owosso. Then we went to visit with Uncle Doug. Afterwards, we hung out at her house from 9:30 to 11, of which 15 minutes were spent listening to the radio in my car because she forgot her house keys and her parents were on their way home from her sister's.

Today, I woke up at 9:30 and immediately started doing homework. I had to read 200 pages in a book and do 2 math assignments. I finished at 4, and then spent some time with Jessy working on her grandma's memorial garden. I'm now here typing.

My toes are coming along well. In just 3 days, I can bend both of them about twice as far as Thursday at my doctor's appointment. I'm excited about all of this. But, to see how far I have to get my toes to bend, I had Jessy bend hers up and down once, and the only thought I had was "Holy Crap."

In other news, I really need to get a picture on here of my feet. They are looking so much better now than even a week ago.

Well, I'm going to bed. Goodnight All.

Day 43

12:45 a.m

Bored and I can't sleep. Feet are very sore, as I was cleared to wear regular shoes today, as well as starting to bend my toes. I really need to get some pictures up. I wish I could show you what my feet look like now. They are so much better than even two weeks ago.

I guess I ended up with 2 screws in each foot. I have 1 in my first metatarsal and 1 in the first part of my toe in each foot. It was kind of cool seeing all that on the x-rays.

These next 3 months are going to be tough. I get to start biking in 2 weeks, and then hopefully running in July. It's getting closer! I just have to rehab right. I know it's going to be tough, and it's going to be painful, but in the end, I hope it's all worth it. I pray that I haven't thrown away a good 4 months of my life.

I had a vision today, or rather, a very emotional thought (for me). I ran my last track race last spring, at the 2nd meet of the year. When I return to track, it will have been almost 2 years since I raced on a track. I know that cross country will likely bring a state championship this year (fingers crossed), but I don't know if I will cry before my first race on a track, or after. Decisions, decisions!

Well, as it is only Friday morning, I still have school in the morning, so I am going to go to sleep. Goodnight all, or rather, good morning!

Day 37

11:50 p.m.

These past two weeks have gone by so fast. My pain has been very light, or non-existent, with my left foot hurting slightly more than my right.

The cruise two weeks ago was AWESOME. Thank you mom and dad for that wonderful experience. I still wish was in the Carribean. (I'll get pictures on here from the cruise as soon as I can, but I am on the wrong compter right now).

This past week, Uncle Doug flew in, and he and his family are coming back to Michigan! Hopefully the economy will get better so everyone else can too. I miss all of them....the Alaskan half of my family. I'm excited that just one family is coming back, but I am nervous about seeing them all again. The last time I saw my cousins, they were about 6 and 7 years old or so. How much have they changed? :-/

Last night, I got to watch the Chesaning boys distance team (track) kick some major @$$ in the 4 x 1 mile relay. We won by a landslide, and it would have been a lot more if I could have ran. I miss running so much. I just feel incomplete without it. I don't feel entirely useless, however, on the days that I lift weights. That's how I am staying sane. I can't wait to get clearance to start cycling, so I can build up my cardio again. With all my commitments, I will probably have to do morning workouts!

Tonite, I got permission from my parents to drive. My dad let me drive to the car wash with my surgical shoes on, and then home. After he decided it was o.k., I drove with Sam to Owosso. Now I don't have to wait until 7:30 to get to school every morning.

My recovery has gone very well. My left big toe is healing slightly closer to the other toes than the right one is, but there is still a Space between my toes. It's going to be weird. I'm used to the skin of my big toe getting pinched underneath my other toes when I run. No more. When the inside of my second toes itched, I could move my big toes, and the itch was gone. And flip flops used to never fall off my feet. Now they will. I won't miss anything abut the bunions though. They were painful.

I have a appointment with Dr. Duncan on Thursday to get my feet x-rayed and see if I am ready to start biking. hopefully I will be able to wear wider, regular shoes. That's what I am hearing, anyway, but I will have to wear splints on my feet too. So, hopefully, just 5 days left of bandages. I'm excited!

Well, goodnight. I have to get up for an 8:30 a.m. mass, followed by Mcdonalds, followed by homework and maybe hanging out with the girlfriend. Only 40 days of school left!

Day 31

8:07 p.m.

Just got back from the cruise. Haven't had internet all week, so I haven't posted all week. The trip itself was very exciting. Now I am typing a paper that is due tomorrow. I will post pictures from the trip later this week maybe, but for now, I will say that my pain last weekend was up at a 6 for a few nights, and today it was a 3 a couple of times. I have to finish this paper, so goodnight all.

Day 23

9:56 p.m

Another long, boring day today. We were in the cars from 10 to 9:30 today, driving from Mcdonough, Georgia, to Boca Raton, Florida. My feet felt much better today, but I am still trying to figure these splints out so that they will do their job without causing too much pain.

This is going to be a long week. I have a feeling that I am going to be a "spectator" as everyone else swims, swims, and swims. All I can do is dangle my poor feet in the water. Oh well. I can't complain, I wanted this done. This is just going to be a tough week for me. (Stubbed my left toe twice...that hurts)

Well, going to go for now. Feet are tingling (I am using a stand up computer in the hotel). I'll post later.

Day 22

11:33 p.m.

Haven't posted in a few days. I have been busy. We are in Mcdonough, Georgia for tonight. Let me bring you up to speed.

I went in on Wednesday to get my feet checked out, and instead of getting them re-wrapped, I recieved two removable splints and four gel toe spacers. I have to wear the splints inside of my surgical shoes, of which I now have two pairs (blue and black). When I bathe, I have to use the toe spacers to keep my toes apart, but at least I can wash my feet now.

The past two days since have been miserable. I can't sleep much, and these splints HURT. They will be ok for a while, at which point I will fall asleep, and then I will wake up to shooting pains running along my toe underneath my incisions. I'm having a blast. :-/

The drive to Georgia was pretty exciting. We stopped and ate in Clio around 9 p.m., and we drove, and drove, and drove. We crossed into Ohio around midnight, and then into Kentucky around 3 a.m. Cincinatti was very pretty. I wish I had some pictures.

Around 5 a.m., we pulled into a visitor center in Kentucky. My parents took a nap for a few hours, and then we were back on the road by 8. We stopped at a Shoney's Restuarant in Knoxville, Tennessee, and had an amazing breakfast. After leaving around 10:30 or so, we drove through Atlanta, and then we encountered a TRAFFIC JAM. A 3.5 hour ride became a 5 hour ride, but by 3, we were checked into the hotel.

Since then, I took a 5 hour nap, and then hopped on my crutches to a nearby gas station to buy some food. My feet hurt right now, and I will probably not sleep well tonight. It's worth a try though, I guess.

Goodnight.

Day 19

(^Air Them Out!^)

12:05 a.m.

Mood: Lost, Tired, Frustrated

I'm up late again. I have been doing homework since 6:00 p.m. yesterday. O.k., minus one hour for eating, bathroom breaks, and whatever, but my life has been all about homeowrk for the past few days. I am so ready for spring break. I need a good long time away from school (if that's what you call it these days) and some quality R & R.

Today, my pain was highest at a 2. This was when I was lifting. I was doing hamstring curls (50lbs., 3 sets of 20, and towards the end of each set, I flexed my toes a bit to help lift my legs...That was kind of dumb. It didn't hurt for too long though. I managed to lift weights and do an ab workout for almost 90 minutes today. I actually exercised. That's one success that I had today.

I'm ready for the cruise. This week won't go fast enough, especially with this staying up until 12 or later doing homework crap. At least after tomorrow I will be all caught up from my surgery.

Well, I am going to go study for my history test tomorrow. I'll hopefully be in bed by 12:40, only to wake up in less than 6 hours. Sigh....Life was better when I could run.

9:58 p.m.

I am finally all caught up with my homework. Ahh, I can finally relax a little bit. I am going to pack my stuff for school tomorrow, clean my filthy shoes, and then go to bed. I am so glad and relieved.

I can't believe I am already almost 3 weeks out of surgery. This has been fantastic so far. Looking back, it seems that just yesterday I was laying down in the den, drugged up, staying home from school, and sleeping through the day. I wouldn't walk at all, and only left the den to use the bathroom. Now, I can walk (slowly - wooden shoes) and I hate being so limited. I haven't taken any prescription painkillers in 6 days, and am only on Tylenol if things get bad.

I'm ready for the cruise, and the drive down. I'm not so sure about the drive home though. I just got to make it through the next two days, and then the fun will begin.

Goodnight.

Day 17

9:35 p.m.

Getting ready for bed. I am really tired, and really fat. I need to exercise. I am going to find a lot of upper body exercises that I can start to do. I know that I can always do Ab workouts, but I need to do some sort of all-around lifting.

Today was a long day. I have 2.5 out of 9 sections of History to go yet. That's better than the 7.5 out of 9 that I had left last night.

Pain was a 1 today. I had a few flare ups, and this constant dull ache between my first and second metatarsal on my left foot, but other than that, my feet are just sore all over. I can't wait to run again.

Well, off to find some weight lifting exercises, then I'm gonna go to bed.

Day 16

11:37 p.m.

Today has been a long day. I have two chapters of history to do this weekend (9 sections) before I am all caught up with my homework. All I have to do yet is take notes on each section. I could do all this tonight (3 hours) or some tonight and some tomorrow (1 hour + 2 hours = 3 hours). I don't know what I will do. The good news is that I am not tired, so I could do 3 hours straight of notetaking if I wanted to (sounds fun, don't it?).

My feet are feeling pretty good right now. There is just some mild pain from the cotton ho,lding my toes apart. Other than that, I haven't been better.

Well, homework can't do itself (although I wish it could), so I'm off to finish my history.
Goodnight!

Day 14

12:57 a.m.

I think I'm gonna give up on homework. It's so depressing, it makes me want to cry. I can't sleep well, my feet hurt all the time, and I still have a crapload of homework to do and only 2 days to do it, because the freaking marking period ends tomorrow! Screw it! I'm going to go get a mountain dew or something and get everything done tonight. I won't sleep AT ALL. Maybe something good will come out of staying up until God knows when.

I'm off to start the impossible!

Day 13

12:38 a.m.

Yep. What am I still doing awake at this hour of the night? I am working on finishing homework from school that I recieved after I came back. I am still going to do an English assignment, and then maybe some history notes or chemistry. Oh, so much to do, and the marking period ends friday!

On the note of my feet, I got my stitches taken out today. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures or not. My feet have just been generally sore from too much walking/crutching around. I haven't taken a prescription pain killer in two days though. To me, that's a milestone on the way to a full recovery!

Well, I'm off to finish the homework. Good night (in an hour or so)

Day 11

9:42 p.m.

Holy Cow! I can't believe I used to be able go through an entire day of school. That was a rough one on me. I spent the afternoon camped out in the den. I am still making up tests, and now I have to reschedule two of them. It's just wonderful.

Today, I was victim to a new kind of pain. I felt shooting pains that rain between my first and second metatarsals on both feet feet. They would intensify for 10 seconds, and they fade away, leaving a dull ache. I still haven't went an entire day yet without popping a painkiller. :-(

Well, I go back Wednesday to get my stitches taken out. I'm so excited! I finally (God-willing and Doctor allowing) will get to wash my feet. I'm so happy about that! No more odor!

Well, I am off to bed (I think). I thank all of you that have sent cards and get well wishes to me. I enjoy reading them.

Good night.