I was really looking forward to SxSW this year. I’m moderating a panel I’m really excited about. I get to see all of my south-by pals, go to amazing panels and eat good food. It was a good plan, until I went to pick up the rental car and rolled my ankle turning to talk to someone. I don’t know if it’s bad or not. I don’t know if it’s just a mild sprain (which is what I thought it was the first time), something serious, or nothing at all. It’s the first time I’ve tweaked it since surgery, and I’m freaked out. It’s swelling more than usual, which may be normal because I’m doing more walking. It hurts, which also may be normal with all the walking.\
What do it all mean? It means I’m not doing a bunch of stuff at night, and I’ve already skipped one keynote so I can ice and shock it (yes, the home electrocution kit made the journey). It means I’m missing out on a bunch of stuff, and that makes me sad. I had to skip out after dinner last night to ice myself into oblivion. Have you ever had ice directly on your skin to the point that it burns, till your skin turns red?\
Yes, I’m just feeling sorry for myself. I’m still having a good time. I’m still extremely excited about my panel. I’m still ecstatic to hang out with my pals and meet new people. I’m excited about other peoples’ panels. My favorites so far have been Creating Passionate Users (see the blog) and How To Be A Web Design Superhero from Andy Clarke and Andy Budd. Both were very well done, and I got a lot out of them (now, I totally need to redo I Am Alpha). I am in complete envy of the Andies slides. They were the best slides I’ve ever seen, and I don’t normally like slides. If you were there, you know what I mean. If you weren’t, imagine a comic book as a presentation and then throw in some complimentary motion, and that it fits perfectly with the tone and timing of the panel. Yep, they were that good. It makes my poor little s5 slides look a little anemic. But, I’m not a designer, and I think the content is good, so we’ll go with them and see what happens. You can even get the slides yourself!\
If you see me hobbling around, please say hi. I would love to meet you. Also, please come to our panel Tuesday morning at 10!! We’re in the “big room” according to the mini-schedule, and it would be kind of embarrassing if no one showed up.
Category: Kevin
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The Crippled Conference
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Two Whole Days And Long Pants
Enough about I Am Alpha (for now, anyway), this is about my foot, and I know you can’t read enough about my stupid foot. I spent Wednesday and Thursday walking around in normal shoes and doing OK. I even wore long pants on Thursday for the first time in seven months! There were some pangs and general discomfort, but no outright pain. This morning, though, my foot was a rock: stiff, kinda purple, painful and pretty much not hearing any requests for shoe wearing other than driving to and from physical therapy. So, I’m back in the boot today, snug in its warm fleece embrace and remembering why I hate it so much.\
Tomorrow? I’m going back to shoes, and we’ll see how it goes. -
This just in!
Lawver family breaking news: Kevin wore pants yesterday for the first time in 8 months.\
Why is this exciting news? It means Kevin is out of the boot. YAY! Sadly, he is still sore and gimpy and can’t help out around the house or go on walks yet. -
Progressive Progress
A couple updates from the weekend (and the end of last week) before I get back to work:\
I am now a member of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee. I joined officially last week. I’m still not sure what all that means other than attending committee meetings and brushing up on Robert’s Rules Of Order, but it feels good to be more involved in the process.\
In ankle news, I wore a “regular” shoe all morning after physical therapy. I broke down around 1 and put the Velcro Nightmare back on, but I was walking around in a matching pair of hiking boots for a good three or four hours there. Progress, baby, progress.\
Yes, now, back to writing javascript and longing for CSS.\
update: Wearing a regular shoe for the first half of the day was a really bad idea. -
Little Steps On A Little Leg
I went to see Dr. Ankle yesterday, and he says to me after playing with my foot, “Yep, everything’s still intact, that’s good.” Yeah, I made a face.\
I’m allowed to wear normal shoes for a grand total of 15-30 minutes a day and have four more weeks of physical therapy. I see Dr. Ankle in six weeks and he says by then, I should be walking full-time in regular shoes, but should keep the Velcro Terror around “just in case”.\
I had to walk out of there and try to find the silver lining. I’d built yesterday up to be the day I went back to being “normal”. Yes, it was unrealistic because my right calf is still about the size of my forearm, but it was there. I thought that was the end of having to wear shorts even though it’s 30 degrees outside (jeans and other long pants rip the velcro straps right off), the end of wearing it all day every day no matter what I’m doing or where I’m walking. -
Some Days
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Some days, it feels like I’m going through life under water.\
But in other news, I go to the doctor bright and early Monday morning and find out if I can finally wear a normal shoe on my right foot. It will have been over six months since I started wearing either the Velcro Nightmare, a cast, a post-op splint/wrap/ace combo, an ace bandage or the Strappy Terror.\
My physical therapist did my “report card” that I have to take to Dr. Wilson on Monday, and my range of motion is greatly improved, and I took my first real steps on Friday morning outside of the boot. Not much pain, just a little tightness, and some swelling.\
Oh, and I am now the proud owner of the home version of the electrocution machine they hook me up to after every visit. I think I’m going to see if I can make Max smile… -
Gender differences
Look at what Kevin posted about <——– and then look at what I posted about below.
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Physical Therapy Works
Yes, physical therapy works, but boy does it suck! Three days a week, I go in to get beat up by tiny friendly women with the souls of medieval torturers. It takes about two hours each time as I go from heat and prodding to never-ending exercises to freezing and electrocution. But, I can see progress. I now have a hint of a calf muscle, and I got rid of the crutch on Saturday!!\
Believe it, I am now crutch free. I can drive. I am almost back to where I was in September with the boot and walking. Unfortunately, I have a pronounced limp and by the end of the day, my ankle throbs and my knee is on fire.\
This all has a purpose. In January, Jen and I are going to Austin, and then comes a trip to Northern California, NYC, the big W3C shindig in France, and then back to Austin for SxSW. I need to be walking without the boot for those, and able to walk without a lot of pain. In order to be out of the boot by January, I figure I need to be able to walk in the boot without crutches about now, even though it’s pretty uncomfortable.\
It’s good to have goals, and it’s good to be able to see an end to all of this, even if it’s still a little ways off. -
Me
Yesterday morning, I scraped off all of the ice from Kevin’s car and warmed it up for him, without being asked.\
Just now I shoveled over an inch of snow/ice/slush mixture while it was precipitating on my head, so that broken-footed Kev wouldn’t slip when he comes home later. And I have fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies waiting for him.\
I am so the wife of the year! -
One short ride for man…
Kevin drove today. Hallelujah!