So five years ago I broke and dislocated my ankle along with splitting my leg bone vertically and dislocating my knee. Things had been improving this year although I still suffer with chronic pain and take tablets to manage it. As you can see from the above picture I ended up with pretty big scars as well as several screws and a metal plate. My father loves to joke that I have a screw loose...
Here's me waiting for the ambulance all those years ago, I look pretty happy but trust me I was just trying to distract from the pain I was experiencing.
I had reduced my hours of work and changed my life style which helped to manage the pain.
However, yesterday everything changed. I experienced my first night terror, not that I was aware that it was one, as it was Wheels who informed me about them after the event. I found this particularly strange as I am not one for having nightmares usually.
I digress.
Point being I had this night terror which led me to thrash around in my sleep. Wheels got out of bed at 1 am because of how violent I was and he was unable to wake me. Around 2-3ish I wake up. This wave of pain immediately hits me. It was full force, intense and completely overwhelming.
I took my pain meds and thought it will ebb away. .. it did not.
By this point tears were streaming from my eyes as no matter how I moved my leg or what position I put it in the pain remained the same.
At 5 am I had resided in the fact I was not going to get any more sleep so Wheels and I laid in the dark chatting as he could not sleep either.
The kittens tried to be helpful by comforting me/using me as a cosy place to take a nap.
Nature called so I tried to get out of bed only to find I could not put weight through my leg at all.
After crawling back from the bathroom I called work. They covered my shift fortunately and gave me three days off to assess whether or not my leg is going to be a long term issue.
Pretty much I could end up on long term sick leave if I cannot weight bear properly as my job requires me to be on my feet most of the day.
Around 10 am I looked at my foot to notice a faint bruise starting to form. (I had to change the saturation on the image as my phone camera didn't really pick up the bruising very well but there is a blue hue you can just make out)
All I can do is rest and hope things get better. I can hop around the home and I have strapped my ankle up as it feels like someone is pushing a hot screwdriver through my ankle whilst my foot is in like warm water. It's a strange sensation and pain killers don't seem to stop it. The leg is spasming and the muscles feel very tight to top it off.
I am annoyed as I had been managing my pain well up to this point and now I feel I have taken a step back. I am careful with steps, stairs and stepping over or around things but I cannot control what I do in my sleep. This night terror may have created a living nightmare. Only time will tell.