Arrgggggh!!! I stepped in a hole several years ago. The hospital x-rayed the ankle and said it was sprained. I did the crutches thing for a week. 6 months later, after I kept complaining about the pain, they discovered it was broken and I had torn a ligament. That required surgery and I was off my foot for 3 weeks. I actually ended up on crutches for 5 months, but wasn’t stuck in bed any more.
PLEASE continue to be serious about staying off the foot! Use the crutches (if you have them). Some continued time on crutches will cause you to lose some serious weight (and you really don’t need to exercise your arms on top of it). If you end up being on crutches for a while, some of those fingerless gloves that weightlifters/bikers use will be your best friend and save you a lot of blisters on your hands. If they do end up having to do surgery OR if you need to stay off the foot longer, think about getting a recliner (if you don’t already have one).
For the time I was down, I rented a recliner for a month. I lived in the thing. It was too hard for me to get in and out of bed and my couch was uncomfortable to lie on all the time. I had several books, my phone, my TV remote, a sketchpad and pens/pencils, a bottle of water, etc. on a table next to me. One of my friends stopped at Walgreens and got me one of those small round pillows that are really squishy so I could put it under a hip or behind my back (essentially to allow me to change position while still in the same chair). I got a Play Station, but with the pain meds, I really couldn’t focus on it. I watched a lot of TV shows I had never seen before because I am usually at work every day.
At the time, I didn’t have a laptop, but if you have one, there are all sorts of sites you can visit to learn cool stuff. Try researching things you may not know anything about. For example, I know you like poetry—research the Arlington Ladies if you want some really poignant material to think about. Or write a response poem TO Sylvia Plath, Edna St. Vincent-Millay or another poet. I also did a great deal of thinking about the metaphors of my situation and what they might mean for me (didn’t have a leg to stand on for example). You can write some wicked good poetry about some of the metaphors.
This is your great opportunity to sit and read a series of interesting books (so you get continuity of character) and can just keep reading without interruption. You might enjoy the Diana Gabaldon series if you haven’t already read them or The Awakening Land Trilogy by Conrad Richter (the individual books are The Trees, The Fields, and The Town).
If they tell you to keep it elevated, do it! If they say put ice on it for 20 minutes, then off, then on again, there is a really cool boot (made out of the same stuff Spenco uses in bike seat covers) that goes in the freezer. Here is a link for the type I used (and still use every night). It wraps around your entire ankle and is far more comfortable than an ice pack.
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