Day 21

[truepenny]

Dear Diary,

Today I got to go outside! I hobbled all the way to the corner and all the way back, and mirrorthaw didn't have to carry me up the stairs or anything!

Best Day Ever!

Love and kisses,
Mole

---

So Wednesday I got my new (black) cast. Friday I went and talked to my GP about the restless legs syndrome that has gone, what with the enforced immobility, from minor nuisance to excruciating torture. (Ironically, it's only started plaguing me as the actual broken ankle mends and I cut back on the oxycodone, since one of the things that can help with RLS is, wait for it, narcotics.) He's started me on clonazepam, with the intention to upgrade to Requip when I'm mobile again. More reasons that, when I can start doing PT, I will be doing PT with all my heart.

For those of you playing along at home, I'm in the cast, and forbidden to put any weight on my right foot, for a month. September 15, they take the cast off, do X-rays, and if everything looks okay, I graduate to a walking cast. Between the boredom and the chronic health problems--on the one hand there's the RLS and on the other hand, there's my digestive system, which is full of hate and nausea--it's going to be a very long month.

I am deeply, deeply grateful for all the sympathy and offers of help. On the practical side of things, we're doing okay (my husband continues to be a Hero of the Revolution); the worst problem I'm facing is that I'm bored and restless and frustrated. I am hoping that as I go off the oxycodone and (please, merciful powers) get the RLS under control so that I can SLEEP, I will get my concentration back and be able to work. But in the meantime, pointing me to funny/cute/entertaining things around the internet will be considered a great kindness.

Don't break your ankle, people. It's even less fun than you'd think.

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Somebody pointed me to Sushi Cat (http://armorgames.com/play/5379/sushi-cat) when I was getting over swine flu. It's ridiculously cute, and like all Flash games it requires one click and then a lot of staring.

[alex51324.livejournal.com]

Dude, I was going to recommend that exact thing!! Definitely funny, cute, and entertaining. Perfect for someone who is a bit drug-addled, too.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

There's also Sushi Cat: The Honeymoon (http://www.kongregate.com/games/ArmorGames/sushi-cat-the-honeymoon?acomplete=sushi).

[txanne.livejournal.com]

ECR! I am not at all sure I needed to know that, but I'm glad you told me. :-)

[alex51324.livejournal.com]

Awe-some!

[inizitu.livejournal.com]

Plants Vs Zombies. Cutest game in the world, really cheap, and HOURS of fun, super simple game play. It's a Pop Cap game, but you can get it from Steam, Big Fish games, you can even buy it at Target, although it's $20 there, as opposed to $10 online. =)

[kate_nepveu]

I have been known to say that my own very mild RLS-like symptoms were such that I'd call them torture if someone else were doing it to me. I can't imagine having a broken ankle with them and not having to have someone tie down my hands to keep me from doing myself damage.

http://www.jayisgames.com/ is my go-to for timewasting entertainment on the Internet; I find their reviews really useful.

[cammykitty.livejournal.com]

I've had RLS too, without having anything broken, and it's awful. Get well sooner than soon!!! Nothing funny to offer though, unless Alex reads Twilight hasn't crossed your path yet. Alex is a young Brit who is quite the critic. You can find him on youtube.

[cc-weasel.livejournal.com]

One of my personal favorite web entertainment things is Strong Bad emails. It consists of short flash videos where one of the site's characters answers the emails of those who write in to him. It is more amussing than what I know how to explain the idea of the site. My favorite one is Technology, where Strong Bad explains technology to a bunch of Jr. High kids. Anyways, I'm done rambling now -- here is a link. http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail143.html

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

Clonazepam makes me sleep most divinely well. I hope it does the same for you. Be a little cautious in the mornings, though; it can affect your balance, particularly when you first get up.

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

As someone with a part-time hobbyist case of Restless Legs, the notion of RLS plus foot-in-cast makes me want to cut my legs off with a saw and throw them out the window.

Have you seen the webcomic The Meek (http://www.meekcomic.com/)? The first 'book' is kind of interesting. The second is riveting. The third has just gotten started.

If your taste in webcomics includes the beautifully drawn and frequently outright smutty, Oglaf (http://http://oglaf.com/) is pretty fabulous. And hilarious. And sometimes horrifying.

That combination makes me pretty happy. YMMV.

(edited to fix my damaged tags)

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I have read that RLS can affect phantom limbs, so cutting off your legs is perhaps not the optimal solution.

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

Now that you mention it... I remember reading the same thing.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Sending good thoughts your way and hoping the recovery goes smoothly.

My ankle injuries were much less severe than yours, but having spent several weeks in home confinement, I can vouch that BN.COM's free shipping and rapid delivery were a lifeline.

[michaeldthomas.livejournal.com]

Hooray for outside!

Cait used to take clonazepam for her seizures. It's powerful stuff.

I realize you probably love the phone as much as sunlight, but feel free to call us if the boredom becomes too much.

[libskrat]

Kingdom of Loathing, for chuckleworthy puns and a bit of timekill. The wiki can help with all the lateral thinking necessary to get anywhere in the game.

[cassandraterra.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp4yWTLIPaE
Charles Phoenix's Cherpumple: The "Monster" Pie-Cake It's hilarious and so amazing.

[summers-place.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, you have my sympathies and best wishes!

I only get RLS on a very intermittent basis, but oh yes, I remember having a few episodes of it while I myself was in a cast for a broken ankle. Since I was also in a wheelchair due to knee problems in the opposite leg, the enforced extreme inactivity only aggravated this. I am happy to say that I have found drinking tonic water as soon as I begin to experience symptoms is quite helpful. I sometimes drink it as a preventive as well. The quinine is what short-circuits the twitchies. About a half-cup is enough. (And good thing, too, as I really don't much care for the taste of it.)

As for how to keep myself occupied while healing, I did manage to get some sewing done, once I got used to operating the sewing machine pedal with my opposite foot. And I did quite a bit of writing, of reading, and - let's face it - simple web-surfing along the lines of free-association.

Ironically, I was never given PT for my ankle, despite having had it earlier for my knee. Oh well. I'm functional regardless; it just took a few weeks to get back to that level after the cast came off.

Hang in there!

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

Gin and tonic FTW!

[elisem.livejournal.com]

Tonic water? Cool! (I sm going to see if that help mine.)

Truepenny dear heart, you have my sincerest sympathies and empathies on the Restless Leg Syndrome. I'm sorry to hear you have joined the club on that one. After the hip replacement, I slept with my legs strapped to a giant foam letter A for... well, many, many, many weeks, lets just say that. When they up you to the Requip, we can be Requip buddies. (I take it; it helps.)

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

On of the worst things about prolonged health problems is that you manage to graduate to new and more annoying problems as you get better.

Pretty things to look at:

Contentment Farms (http://www.contentmentfarm.com/), a dealer in antique clothing and textiles. Cora Ginsburg (http://coraginsburg.com/), ditto. Vintage Textile (http://www.vintagetextile.com/), ditto.

Cahokia Mounds (http://cahokiamounds.org/explore/), a UN World Heritage site.

Fort Chartres (http://www.ftdechartres.com/page/page/1396753.htm), and Kaskaskia (http://www.greatriverroad.com/stegen/randattract/kaskaskia.htm). (The rest of the Great River Road site has some interesting things as well; if it doesn't mention Tower Rock (http://www.tower-rock-winery.com/tower.htm), it should.)

You may already have the National Quilt Museum (http://www.quiltmuseum.org/) in Paducah bookmarked.

For a judicious application of Robber Baron cash, try the Cleveland Museum of Art (http://www.clevelandart.org/collections/collection%20online.aspx).

[alex51324.livejournal.com]

In addition to the seconding of Sushi Cat, I also recommend Awful Library Books (http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/) and Unshelved (http://www.unshelved.com/). The former is a blog commenting on outdated, cheesy, or otherwise hilarious books found in libraries by the librarian-bloggers and their readers, and the latter is a web comic set in a library. There are about four strips a week; the weekday ones are regular comic strips and the full-color weekend strip is a book review (usually using the conceit of one character recommending the book to another).

[girlpunksamurai.livejournal.com]

Oh, ouch! -_-

New job with crazy 7, 8, 9 and 11 hour shifts has apparently kept me offline for wayyyy too long >.>

[animeserena.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know if you'll find these as entertaining as I do, but here you are:
http://www.cracked.com/
http://www.amirite.net/home

And a comic:
http://humoncomics.com/sweden-denmark-and-norway

And if you're feeling down:
http://www.givesmehope.com/

[zelda888.livejournal.com]

I've just lost half my weekend to crawling around Cake Wrecks (http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/). Lots of good designs badly executed, well-executed versions of designs that should never have been allowed off the page, and many, many language snafus that will make you want to claw your own eyes out. Good times.

for language buffs

[mevincula.livejournal.com]

I'm sending you to where I found it first for the background, but follow the link. English as She Is Spoke is fascinating, hilarious, thought-provoking...

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/08/23/i-am-catched-cold-in-the-brain

Should provide hours of entertainment: ) (my empathies, I once had compound fracture of the tibia/fibula pre-internet and I remember the incredible boredom from 7 months of immobility. didn't help that I had a broken wrist also. Even I ran out of books and became an old movie hound)

[maki-to13.livejournal.com]

Oh ick, I have RLS too (very very mildly, at least for now), and I've seen my mom deal with it really bad when she was pregnant (it got to her elbows too, wtf), so I can imagine how majorly not being able to move your legs much sucks. If narcotics aren't your ideal preventative, I've heard folic acid tablets at least take the edge off.
I don't have much in the department of cute things at the moment, but here, have a cornicorn: http://cheezpictureisunrelated.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/576b00d8-d89a-4efb-9250-dbb2f312d067.jpg

Feel better!!

[electricland.livejournal.com]

A minor diversion: Catalog Living (http://catalogliving.net/). Probably more entertaining if you read a lot of home-decor catalogues or magazines, but fun regardless.

Hope the cast and the PT and the clonazepam and everything go well!