Things the average able-bodied person takes for granted
Let me preface this by saying that I sprained my ankles at several different times and severities in my life as young as about 9 or 10 (whenever 4th grade is) and have started suffering from joint pain due to arthritis. That being said, I am still an able person and relatively average. I recently opted to take care of a painful bunion that was also causing some other issues with foot surgery. I have never experienced pain like this in my life! It was so bad, I started crying. I've never hurt that bad. But I realized in these last few days that a few things are usually givens with me as an average able-bodied human. Despite my pain due to my arthritis and weak ankles, I mostly have pain-free days. I know what a day without an ache feels like. I know that my pain won't last long and I can usually manage it pretty easily with an OTC pain reliever. Since my surgery five days ago, I have had constant pain. If not from my healing foot, then from all the other parts of my body that have to pull extra weight while I'm healing. And that's another thing. And it's two-fold. I'm currently in a boot that I will have to wear for a few more weeks that is a very significant height difference from the ground. I don't like shoes. So it's hot. It's stuffy. It's just plain annoying. And my un-surgered foot has been bare most of this time, making my hips and back scream for me to sit down. (Thankfully, my mother has a pair of shoes with a similar height, so it's not going to be a huge problem much longer). I can't shower. I know that it sounds gross, but believe me, living it is even grosser. I do clean off as well as I can, but I still don't feel as clean as standing under the spray of a shower head and lathering my whole body in soap and then watching all those suds go down the drain (or as much as I can see without my glasses). I'm also not able to drive right now. The foot I had operated on is my right foot, so I can't push the pedals to get the thing to stop or go, even if my car was running (that's a whole other issue). So I have to rely on other people to shop for me or bring me places. It sucks. The upside of this is that all of this will be over soon and I will have a foot that will (hopefully) not hurt as much. I am going to have the same procedure done on my other foot, so I know what to expect going into that. I do know, that when all this is said and done, I'm definitely going to cherish all the things I currently can't do even more. Before they all become commonplace again and I take them for granted once more.