It's Me Again...

deege39 · 10-21-2009, 09:32 PM

I started work yesterday...

It was pretty good... I fell in love with too many dogs to count! lol! Several of them were Pit-Bulls, they were the biggest sweethearts... I nicknamed one Eeyore because of the way he moped around all day, and if you refused to give him lovin', he'd go pout in a corner... Too cute.

However, my feet were killing me so bad... I was on my feet for six hours straight... I didn't sit down but twice, and both times were less then five minutes because we're not allowed to sit down with the dogs.

Anyway, I could barely drive home they were hurting so bad...

I'm used to being on my feet, too... It's the concrete floor, and the fact I couldn't take regular breaks... I got home and soaked in a scalding hot tub for about thirty minutes then took a relatively chilly shower to numb the pain. That gave me relief for a few minutes... I woke up today with little pain.

However, I was informed it takes a couple weeks of getting used too.

Say wha-??

I have great shoes, so like I said it's the floor and there's not much I can do about...

The thing that worries me, is if I work like this, I'm concerned it'll start disrupting my ankle.

In Feb. of 2007 at 9:30 in the morning I slipped, on wet grass, outside my home and shattered all the bones in my right ankle.

(It makes me want to gag, reliving this.)

I had to wait three days before I could have re-constructive surgery. I spent all of March, April, and May in bed; and basically had to learn how to walk again and retrain my brain... I don't have full mobility in my ankle... You would never know anything is wrong unless you see the morbid scars, ask me to jog, or ask me if I ever broke a bone.

I never broke a bone before in my life, (aside from a couple toes that are painful but heal quickly.)

When I do something, I just go all out!

I have a plate, and six screws. (All titanium) (I even have prints of the x-rays, proving all of this... I should scan them and show them to you all.) It grosses me out and makes my heart skip beats every time.

Anyway... I'm really concerned this floor is going to have a negative impact... I was supposed to undgo some light surgery, outpatient, and have everything removed, which they "claimed" would be an in-and-out thing, and I would be able walk out; I wouldn't have to be bedridden...

I haven't done that; Mainly because the first surgery was a few thousand dollars, I don't have insurance anymore, and I just can't afford it. I now live my life day by day terrified of another fall. Why? The specialist, the one that preformed the surgery did a fantastic job, and also informed me, If I even so much as twist my ankle, I'll break a bone... Not my ankle, it ain't going anywhere, but instead I could break the bones farther up my leg...

I am a very paranoid person by nature, and this has just completely changed my life... I haven't been able to express the fears I have to my family, because I don't want people to see how emotionally troubled I am because of this...

I am so absolutely terrified of slipping and falling, that living my life day by day leaves me in a constant state of paranoia. I literately spend more time watching my feet and the ground I walk on then anything... I avoid anything that appears "slick", I start shaking the minute it starts raining and I have to walk out my front door... It's not even the plates and screws that I'm scared of, it's the idea of breaking another bone, regardless of it's location or relation to my ankle.

How am I supposed to calm down? For over two years now I've had vivid dreams of breaking my ankle all over again, my subconscious is so overloaded with all of my fretting I do consciously that I'm left with terrible dreams...

And now this job... It involves walking on a slick concrete floor, all day long you're continuously cleaning up urine puddles with mop and water, then quite possibly you'll have to walk over that same spot.

That hard floor is going to inflict some serious pain, and I'm not sure if any preventative measures will even work...

Anyone have any thoughts or similar stories to share? I would appreciate the reading!

Leroy&Lucy'sMom · 10-21-2009, 10:00 PM

I'm glad you like the job, sorry about the darn floors!

I totally understand your fear of breaking your ankle/leg again after what you went through. Luckily, I've never broken my ankle but have always had weak ones and slip a lot.

Hope you stay healthy and get used to the floors soon. I'm glad you have very good shoes.

deege39 · 10-21-2009, 10:07 PM

Thank you very much for your support, L&L'sMom.

I appreciate it, and I'm somewhat eased to know that I'm not the only one with my paranoia...

I might look into some sort of ankle brace, or wrap... To at least cushion the impact of the floor on my ankle if nothing else...........

meghf · 10-21-2009, 10:19 PM

Oh gosh, bless your heart. I completely understand where you're coming from. I have had years and years of braces and orthodontic work and finally had jaw surgery four years ago. It sucked. I have vivid scenarios flash into my mind sometimes that I'll trip stepping up a curb onto a sidewalk and I'll land on my face and chin and shatter my jaw. I don't think anyone should live in fear but when you've suffered through the pain it's hard not to have those thoughts.

As a nurse I highly suggest you contact your ortho doc and get his/her opinion. They can probably recommend some good, supportive shoes (personally I recommend dansko clogs very supportive but I worry the clog might turn your ankle). Also, are your supervisors willing to work in breaks for you? I think it's a law that you should be able to take a break. It might not be the practice of the other workers but with your special circumstances I think you should make every effort to sit when you can. Finally, I think when you talk to your ortho doc bring up the surgery to remove the hardware in your ankle. I don't know much about ortho but I can't imagine it's a good thing to keep hardware in your body that wasn't put in with the intent to stay. It seems like an infection risk to me.

I'm glad you like your new job and I'm sure there are ways to make it safer for your ankle. Good luck!!

deege39 · 10-22-2009, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meghf

Oh gosh, bless your heart. I completely understand where you're coming from. I have had years and years of braces and orthodontic work and finally had jaw surgery four years ago. It sucked. I have vivid scenarios flash into my mind sometimes that I'll trip stepping up a curb onto a sidewalk and I'll land on my face and chin and shatter my jaw. I don't think anyone should live in fear but when you've suffered through the pain it's hard not to have those thoughts.

Your jaw?? My Dogness... That's by far the most unimaginable...

Quote:

As a nurse I highly suggest you contact your ortho doc and get his/her opinion. They can probably recommend some good, supportive shoes (personally I recommend dansko clogs very supportive but I worry the clog might turn your ankle). Also, are your supervisors willing to work in breaks for you? I think it's a law that you should be able to take a break. It might not be the practice of the other workers but with your special circumstances I think you should make every effort to sit when you can.

Well, I appreciate the suggestion, I'll look into those shoes anyway... I usually wear men's skater shoes... They're big and bulky, but they provide me with the best support... Most regular shoes, women tennis shoes, the curve of the shoe against my ankle pushes and pulls it and just generally creates a weird and semi-painful sensation...

The new shoes I bought are tennis-shoes, they're Danskin from Wal-Mart, and oddly enough the shoe is low enough that it doesn't rub against my ankle...

Quote:

Finally, I think when you talk to your ortho doc bring up the surgery to remove the hardware in your ankle. I don't know much about ortho but I can't imagine it's a good thing to keep hardware in your body that wasn't put in with the intent to stay. It seems like an infection risk to me.

Well, he said there's no risk of infection, he said he wanted the hardware out in a year because he said I'm too young to be restricted, he said if I was in 50's or 60's he'd recommend to leave it in...

At the time, before this happened I was training to become a firefighter... Well, as my luck has it I can't do that now...

Considering I'm not active and I'm not athlete, I just opted to leave it in, unless/until I'm at a point in my life that gives me the funds and the means to remove it.

Quote:

I'm glad you like your new job and I'm sure there are ways to make it safer for your ankle. Good luck!!

Thank you very much... I'll try to talk to someone today... But I remember there being a portion on my application that asked if I have some sort of medical problem that could prevent me from working normally, or something like that...

I just don't want them telling me they don't think I can do the work... I can do the work, it's just the floor and my ankle that can't do the work on that floor.

GroovyGroomer777 · 10-22-2009, 11:25 AM

I would reccomend that you look into getting the "no-slip" shoes for those who work in restaurants... they are specifically designed to make sure you DO NOT SLIP on wet surfaces!! If they work for people who are around dishwashers and drinks/food spills, surely they work for urine!

Also, try some Dr Scholls (?) in your soles... you know the commercials "Are you gellin"? That should help your footsies. As a groomer I work standing up 8-10 hours a day, and I feel your pain, I really do!!

Sometimes after work I put ice packs in my socks and lay down with my feet on a pillow.

deege39 · 10-23-2009, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GroovyGroomer777

I would reccomend that you look into getting the "no-slip" shoes for those who work in restaurants... they are specifically designed to make sure you DO NOT SLIP on wet surfaces!! If they work for people who are around dishwashers and drinks/food spills, surely they work for urine!

Also, try some Dr Scholls (?) in your soles... you know the commercials "Are you gellin"? That should help your footsies. As a groomer I work standing up 8-10 hours a day, and I feel your pain, I really do!!

Sometimes after work I put ice packs in my socks and lay down with my feet on a pillow.

Well these Danskin tennis shoes have really good soles on them, they don't advertise it, but they are non-slip... My "skater" shoes that I would prefer to wear basically have no tread... I'd slip in a heart-beat. lol.

I'll look into some good inserts, I've tried some in the past but they were always crappy in quality. Now that I'll have some good money I'll look into a better kind...

I do like your ice-pack trick very much!

I took five Ibuprofens last night, not all at once... Three when I started work, and then two more around 6:00PM. I only work four and a half hours last night but if I can keep this up I shouldn't have to rely on Ibuprofens too much longer...

Thanks for all the suggestions!

GroovyGroomer777 · 10-23-2009, 11:42 AM

I hate sounding like Mom, but please be sure you are eating when you take all that IBprof.

deege39 · 10-23-2009, 11:44 AM

I had a ham-sandwich about 10 minutes before the first dose, and then I came home about fifteen minutes later after the second dose and had a big plate of fries and some nasty fish-sticks. lol.

I try not to take anything like that on an empty stomach, but sometimes I can't have food readily available.......