A bunch of things that brought me joy or, at the very least, occupied me during my post-surgery convalescence
Or how my son's recent toenail infection led to me reading a lot of books and watching a lot of shows
If you have been around a while, then you might remember back in February when I had to be non-weight-bearing for a few weeks. That was what I was told to do after an orthopedist scheduled an MRI to rule out a stress fracture in my heel. My foot had begun to hurt in October 2024. At the time, I was running and exercising regularly, so I stopped running because I thought I had plantar fasciitis. After a few months with no improvement, I went to see my GP. This led to seeing a podiatrist, an orthopedist, a physical therapist, and then a different orthopedist. After the last appointment, I was incredibly frustrated because I felt like no one was getting to the bottom of what was causing my foot pain, and none of their treatments seemed to help.
Mid-summer my mom and my counselor both encouraged me to go to the doctor again. Initially, my plan had been to go back to my GP and see if he would order some other diagnostic tests. But then, our 14-year-old got a really nasty toenail infection, and we ended up at the office of a new podiatrist—not the same office I had been at earlier in the year. I was immediately impressed with the podiatrist as well as the office staff, and I felt the Lord prodding me to call and make an appointment there. As it turned out, the doctor I saw with our son didn’t take my insurance, but the other doctor in the office did. While I felt nervous not having met him, I risked it.
On July 22, I drove to the new podiatrist with the following in my pocket:
This was my personal chronology of what had happened since my foot started hurting. I was determined to tell this podiatrist about every doctor appointment, every diagnosis, everything I had tried to make my foot feel better. And if he told me I just had plantar fasciitis, I was going to walk out of the office (at least, that’s what I told myself I was going to do. I don’t know if I would have actually done that). First I saw the nurse, and I gave her the broad summary, during which I started crying. I am guessing she went and told the doctor to *WATCH HIS STEP* because his patient was not only emotional but also had a handwritten page of notes. In any case, the doctor came in and y’all, he was in the exam room with me for almost 40 minutes. He listened to every word I had written down.
Over the past many months, I had done a lot of Googling, trying to figure out what might be going on with my foot other than plantar fasciitis. By July, I had decided that the thing that matched my symptoms most closely was tarsal tunnel syndrome. I had promised myself that if the doctor didn’t bring it up, I would ask him why he thought it wasn’t tarsal tunnel syndrome.
So there I was, trying not to cry, holding my crumply paper, waiting for him to tell me what he thought was wrong with me. My expectations were zero.
“In your research, have you read anything about tarsal tunnel syndrome?” he said.
I almost fell off the exam table. I almost cried. I almost hugged him.
I held myself together and said yes, that I was curious if that could be the problem. He said it almost certainly was. He went on to explain the different treatment options, and his recommendation was that I should have surgery as soon as possible.
Although I was not having pain in the area labeled “area of pain” in this image, that spot is where the problem was. Compression of the nerve can cause pain below the nerve (in the heel) and other problems above that area (such as in the lower leg). It can also cause calf pain.
And so, on August 13, I had tarsal tunnel release surgery. Everything went really well, and while recovery has not involved being completely non-weight bearing, initially I could not drive or do much walking. As the days have gone on, I’ve been able to increase my activity depending on how my foot and ankle have felt. I am writing this post today from my favorite coffee shop, which is the first place I have driven in 10 days.
Above is the progression of my foot from almost immediately after surgery, when my foot had a billion layers of gauze and bandages on it. I wore a walking boot to walk around. At my follow-up appointment, they cleaned the incision site and put on a new dressing and gave me a simple Ace bandage and a post-op shoe. But after only a few days of wearing that, I have been able to walk around the house in my comfy flip-flops, only wearing the Ace bandage if I am worried about stability in my ankle.
My doctor expects the incision to be fully healed within the next 10 days, at which point I can slowly start moving back into exercising and increasing my activity levels.
However, I spent about 10 days doing almost nothing, and the rest of this post will be a chronicle of things that have kept me from losing my mind during this period of convalescence.
I knew it was going to be hard. I saw this poem the day before my surgery and sent it to my mom, who used to read books about Frances aloud to me as a child. Unlike Frances, I am not good at doing not-things.
The night before my surgery, I put all my necessary supplies in this basket so that someone in my family could move it to the bed for the first few days, as I knew I wouldn’t be very mobile and wasn’t supposed to lift things. It made me very happy to have all my favorite pens, highlighters, and markers nearby. I didn’t end up doing much of anything with them, but they served as my emotional support writing utensils during the first few days.
The Dopamine Den
I also cleaned up and organized the Dopamine Den, knowing I probably wouldn’t be there much the first few days, but that I’d enjoy a clean space once I felt like I could sit in my favorite chair.
I hung some recent cross-stitch finishes up to admire, reorganized a little bit, and framed and hung some postcards from my trip this summer.
Puzzles
I also bought two puzzles for when I didn’t have to have my foot elevated but also wasn’t supposed to be walking around much.
I didn’t end up getting to the Pumpkin Patch puzzle, but I did work on the other one.
This Disney Pixar puzzle looked intimidating, because I had never done a 2000-piece puzzle before, but I knew that I would be motivated to finish it, which would keep me sitting down and doing all the not-things I was not supposed to be doing.
As of today (August 22), here is my progress. I started working on it on August 16, and have had only a little help from a friend one night. I estimate I have about 100 pieces left, but all of them are shades of brown and gray and it is taking me forever to figure out where they belong. My husband and family have been very patient as this takes up half of the dining room table.
Books
I lost count of the number of people who texted or messaged me post-surgery saying they were sure I had a huge stack of books next to me. They were correct—I had a queue of audiobooks as well as some physical books I wanted to conquer. I ended up finishing four audiobooks and two physical books after surgery. I had hoped to read more physical books, but my brain was struggling, especially in the first few days. I’ll count 6 books in 8 days a success, especially since I think two of the books I completed in one day each.
Cross-stitch
While reading felt too hard to concentrate on, I found cross-stitching cathartic and stitched a lot while listening to the aforementioned audiobooks.
I finished one project that I started more than 18 months ago. The name of this piece is “Spring Alphabet” by the designer OwlForest Embroidery.
If this alphabet is confusing, that’s because it’s actually the Russian alphabet. I studied Russian in college and currently have a 1,241 day streak in Russian on Duolingo, because that is how I roll. What is amazing to me about this piece is that because some of the thread colors are variegated, there are actually only about 7 different threads used across the whole piece. I’m excited to have this one and frame it for display.
I also worked on another piece called “Pandemic” by the designer @sarcygurl. (If you are a cross-stitcher, this pattern is FREE on the designer’s Linktree.) This is my oldest WIP (work in progress); I started it in January 2023.
After all the work I’ve done over the past few days, I’m now about 80% complete and am planning to push through and try to finish!
Television Shows
I have watched a considerable amount of streaming television in my convalescence, some with my husband and some alone.
Dept. Q (Netflix)
Christian and I watched this together and loved it. It’s set in Scotland and is about murder and crime so watch at your own risk. I loved the main character; he was like a scruffy, less pleasant David Tennant.
Fallout (Amazon Prime)
If you know me, you know I love a good post-apocalyptic show, and this is one of the best I’ve seen. What surprised me the most was how funny it was, despite being about trying to survive after a nuclear bomb ruins most of the world. Forget that it’s based on a video game (which I have not played and knew nothing about going into the show).
Shiny Happy People—Season 2 (Amazon Prime)
The second season of this show turned out to be a lot more triggering than I expected. While I never went to Acquire the Fire or any related Teen Mania events, the churches we went to in my youth were definitely influenced by these kinds of things. Also, I was unprepared to see clips of the most traumatic Christian music video ever made. I remember seeing this as a child (how, I’m not sure—the Internet didn’t exist??).
Here it is, so I don’t have to bear the trauma alone:
Interestingly, Ray Boltz’s children are some of the main interviewees on this season.
King of the Hill—Season 14 (Disney+)
I have seen many of the old seasons of this show because it is one of my husband’s favorite show. While I have always kind of made fun it and acted like I was watching it begrudgingly, I do not hate it. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I told Christian we could watch the new season—which takes place 20 years after the most recent season. It is only 10 episodes and it was a complete delight. It was the perfect mood lifter.
Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser (Netflix)
Christian and I watched this together as well, and WOW. I watched The Biggest Loser in high school and college and was pretty sucked in, even though parts of it made me uncomfortable. Twenty years later, it is hard to believe a show like it was ever on the air (and hugely successful).
Music
Thank you to my husband for introducing me to the new album EA SPORTS College Football 26: Halftime. We are neck deep in high school marching band right now, and I’ve loved listening to these covers.
A morning devotional with my kids
I didn’t read this with them every morning, but my husband did on the days I was still in bed. I got this right before school started and we’ve done pretty well with reading it every morning while the kids eat breakfast.
Psalms for the Day: A Child’s Praise Devotional
Walmart+ delivery
I use Walmart pickup pretty often, and I placed an order to go get the day before my surgery. When I went to check out, though, Walmart offered me a month of Walmart+, including free delivery, for $1. The last time I got the offer it turned out they didn’t deliver to our house (we live in the COUNTRY), but now they do! I signed up and we have enjoyed at least 3 different grocery deliveries right to our front door. I don’t know that I’ll keep paying for it when the month is up, but this has been a true blessing because I haven’t been able to drive and I haven’t had to arrange for someone else to get the groceries.
Calzones
Two different times in the past 10 days, we have gotten calzones delivered to our house for me and Christian.
It was as delicious as it looked.
Community
The final thing that has made my recovery so much less stressful has been the amazing support we’ve gotten from family and friends. Our church has always been a source of help, but I have been overwhelmed with our network of friends who have tried to make this season easier for me and our family. We got multiple DoorDash gift cards, including from a group of fellow ministry wives who I have been meeting with every month on Zoom for almost three years.
My friend Anna set up a meal train for us, and she commented on how she was surprised at how many people who signed up she didn’t even know, because they don’t go to our church. She was right—we have gotten meals from people at church, but at least three other friends have brought dinner so I could stay off my foot. The Lord has been so kind to us.
In addition to meals, friends have run errands, driven our kids places, engaged in long conversations when I was in need of human contact, given me rides, and continued to check in on me. I know that not everyone has this kind of community, and I continue to thank the Lord for the gifts he’s given us in the people we know.
You’ll note that writing posts for this very Substack was not on the list of things I have done. Until I decided to write this post, I was struggling to have the motivation to write anything. I don’t know where this mental block has come from, but I’m hoping it will lift once life feels a little more normal. In the meantime, you can always read through my Book Roundups or peruse 39 of my favorite things.