It's All About Taking a Good Look in the Mirror

Yesterday I got the stitches out of my foot and a hard cast put on. Everything looked good at the incision site, healing is in motion, and I was assured I'll eventually be able to wear cute shoes again! But after the doctor finished with the cast, she said she'll see me back in 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS! No appointments in between to check progress, just a script to get an X-ray a few days before the appointment.

At first I didn't like it at all, as 5 weeks seemed more like 5 years. I've been using a printable calendar to fill in appointments and other notes regarding the progress of my foot, but now I'll have so many weeks of open space and nothing to break it up. I'll be stuck in the house on weekdays, with the exception of the week my dad visits to help me out. And my doctor told me not to do floor Pilates, which I had planned on doing once the cast was on, so now I'm unsure of what lower-body exercises are safe to do.

In the mean time, there's so much fun to be had this time of year, which is also my favorite time of year, and I'm having to miss out on a lot of it. I'm unable to drive anywhere to pass the time during the week and haven't yet been able to get back to watching the kids at their sporting activities since there's no good place to elevate my foot. And I feel so bad that I can't help my husband with much of anything!

But as quickly as I felt discouraged about how long this is taking, I just as quickly turned my thoughts around to think about what I have to look forward to. After five weeks, it'll be the beginning of November. Then, if all goes well, I'll go into a walking boot for two weeks, then hopefully a shoe if I'm strong enough. That means I could be walking in a shoe by Thanksgiving!! Between now and then, I'll continue to heal and be able to be up and around for longer periods. I may not be able to drive, but I'll at least be able to go to some of the fall festivities and the kids' activities. I'll be more mobile on the knee scooter and able to even go for a walk with it around the neighborhood. And little by little, I'll be able to get more exercise into my daily routine.

Life is a mirror. I could choose to look at these next 5 weeks with a frown and have nothing but frustration looking back at me. But instead, I'm choosing to smile and find ways to look forward to doing a little more each day. I'd much rather see life smiling back at me and reminding me that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Five weeks...that's just next month! In the grand scheme of things, it's such a short amount of time. Before I know it, I'll be looking back on this whole ordeal and see it as just an injury that I recovered from. And I will try my best to keep smiling for every obstacle I face so that life will continue to return the greeting.