As our followers already know, and for those who do not know, this was an unadventurous winter for us. I (Stella) underwent six procedures on each of my legs. The first surgery was October 2023, with the second followed in December. I had these surgeries so that I could cross-country ski again, which is my ultimate passion. But the nitty-gritty truth is that I also needed them just to be able to walk again.
The recovery process has been long and I have had several setbacks along the way. However, I have been pushing myself and training very hard to rebuild muscle and gain stability, along with trying to speed up the revival of the circulatory processes, which are temporarily altered with surgery. I’ve never experienced swelling in my legs/ankles before, and that is the part of recovery that bothered me the most. Not to mention, this was also a very humbling situation, hobbling around with a walker and then in a boot for many months.
In learning to walk again, I was not patient during this journey – whatsoever. Much of the recovery process is as much psychological as it is physical. As unrealistic as this is, I was of the mindset that my legs should’ve been ready to go, fully healed, after one week of each surgery. I did not mentally prepare myself for the actual reality, which is that my legs will heal in several stages and will not be at 100% for a year. The reality of the extensive recovery process was a dynamite slap in the face for me 24 hours a day as I dealt with constant discomfort and ineptness. I was raised to embrace the notion that ‘nothing keeps you down – you just get up and get moving!’
As I progress through recovery, I continue testing my legs, pushing them to see what they are capable of at different points in time. A few weeks ago, I had progressed to a 5-mile walk, which included several long, steep paths. I was quite uncomfortable for the following five days. Two weeks after that, I took an 8.23-mile walk; I developed discomfort at the 6-mile marker but kept going. Again, I experienced pain for a week afterward. I continued training at home with my equipment and decided it was time to try snowshoeing. Snowshoeing is a great test because the trails are often uneven and we usually break trail. This means that it would engage different ankle kinetics, forcing the ligaments and tendons into action.
Recently, we went to Grand Lake for a snowshoeing adventure, and it felt great to get outside in the snow, a sense of normalcy. When we arrived on Friday, we walked on the path from Winter Park to Fraser, which was a 4-mile trek. On Saturday, we snowshoed 4.34 miles on the Colorado River Trail inside of Rocky Mountain National Park. That was a little grueling for my ankles, as I broke trail in semi-deep snow, on uneven terrain for most of the trek. Surprisingly, the next morning I did not have any discomfort, which was very encouraging!
On Sunday, we roamed 2.98 miles, making our own trail, in the East Shore Trail/Ranger Meadows area on the east side of the Colorado River. We also crossed over the river at the AA Barn and trekked wherever our snowshoes took us. This trek was also a great test of my ankles’ strength and overall stability. That night and the next day, I was, again, pleasantly surprised that I experienced no discomfort. This was a fabulous weekend spent in the snowy outdoors, something I had been missing and craving.
While these two snowshoe treks were significantly less grueling than what we usually do, I am fortunate that I was even able to snowshoe, to that degree, at this point in time. It indicates that all of the training I’ve been doing was/is worthwhile. As encouraging as this trip was, however, I know that my legs/ankles are not ready for cross-country skiing. That is something that I will have to continue training and conditioning them for, with high hopes of pushing myself really hard next winter!
We have several trips planned this year, April through September. Keep an eye out for our next post that will highlight where we are going and what we are doing. With brand new legs, our adventure posts will resume with full force and we will be doing some awesome stuff! We also will have some new gear reviews coming.
To end this post, I want to give shout-outs to three key players:
1) My loving husband, Larry. He consistently demonstrated patience and tolerance, as well as graciously assisted with the most basic of needs (showering, changing clothes, etc.). There were many times when I attempted to be a little too independent during the recovery process and he had to bring me back to reality. He was my emotional rock when I got frustrated and impatient with my legs, which was a frequent occurrence. I love you, Larry!
2) My physical therapist, Sarina. For 5 months she put up with me every week, listening to me discuss the same concerns over and over: why things were taking so long, why my legs still hurt, why I couldn’t do certain things yet, etc. She would just smile and laugh at my ridiculously high self-expectations, always reminding me, “Stella, it takes time to heal.” And then the one day came that she had been waiting for. It was the day when I told her that my legs were finally feeling pretty good.
3) My surgeon, Dr. Hunt. These surgeries are life-changing for me. And now, with a few months of recovery under my belt, it emphasizes just how bad things really were with my legs/ankles. After careful consideration and listening, he had me undergo a very specialized type of test two days prior to the first leg surgery. His hunch was spot on and I am so grateful for his intuition and skilled hands.
SOME OF THE GEAR USED:
Stella
Larry
Ms. Stella you amaze me with all you went through, and to you too Larry for being there for Stella. Let the adventures begin again, you are on your way. They can’t hold you down my sweet Stella. Love to you both !!!
Wow your a strong women ! Which I knew congratulations on your recovery !