To the moon, boot and all..

Thursday I headed to Brisbane bright and early to collect my custom made moonboot and catchup with Ivan for the first time post surgery to remove the Ilizarov frame.

When I arrived at GB Orthopaedics the lovely Brad walked into the consult rooms with my moonboot in his hands and a huge smile on his face.  My eyes dropped instantly to the boot (it actually looks a whole lot like a ski boot) and I knew instantly…. it was not right!

In a classic Cinderella moment Brad sat at my feet trying to get my leg/foot into the moonboot! Except in this case I was one of the ugly stepsisters, trying to jam my foot into the glass slipper! We laughed (awkwardly).

‘What has happened!!’ he kept saying to my leg ‘I don’t get it.. I took a cast in theatre’!

‘Was it before or after the rod was inserted into my tibia?  You know that Ivan managed to straighten my leg.’

Brad quickly glanced at me and my question was instantly answered in his look. The cast had been taken prior to the rod being inserted! Oops.

While Brad was very disappointed his beautiful moonboot needed a fair bit of modification, I was actually smiling! Again I am grateful to Ivan for the amount of straightening he had managed to achieve in my tibia!

So, Brad set off to ‘panel beat’ my moonboot and the fifteen minute consult turned into an hour and a half over the course of the day. Brad is a top bloke and the ultimate professional but I must admit I did laugh that my perfect moonboot was now just like my leg, imperfect but functional!

I tried to ease Brad’s disappointment as after a whole lot of heating and manipulating of the plastic boot it was only just feeling a little more comfortable and aesthetically looking a whole lot worse! Eventually we decided to run with it for a bit to see how it goes..  at $800 and wearing it for a minimum of four months I really do want it to feel great!

If the shape of the boot was not enough to deal with.. my ‘other’ issue, in true Libran style, I’m actually having a few minor regrets around my colour choice! Black.

Today in moonboot fashion I’m wearing a dress that I am positive has shrunk and my VERY black boot!

I figured black would be super practical, show minimal dirt and work well with most clothes particularly as we head into winter..  what I did not think about is that it looks like I have a WHOLE lot of black plastic on my really white leg! I kind of look bionic! I know….. first world issue.

Anyway on meeting with Ivan he inspected the wounds and changed my dressings! Wow! Just wow..  How incredible is the body?! Two weeks ago I had pins screwed right through my tibia and right now they are almost completely healed!

This photo is in black and white as my legs are a patchwork quilt of colours and it camouflages the mangy hairs on my legs!

So now I have my moonboot Ivan has made it very clear that I am to continue to weight bear WITH the crutches for the next month.. and no beach! So the visions I had of skipping around free of crutches has been crushed.
However, if there is one thing I have learnt this past 10months it is patience. I need the bone to be strong and stable before I start applying weight fully. I get it.  I have promised to behave – no beaches!

So here’s cheers to staying patient and trusting that this journey will eventually come to an end!

It helps when I look through a rose coloured glass.

👣