If anyone were to say to me now, how nice it must have been to have a whole week in bed with everyone waiting on you… Well, if looks could kill. Try lying in bed for a week, shouting your fathers name every time you had to go to the bathroom, calling your little brother every time you dropped something on the floor. Asking your mother to bring you a cup of water whenever you got thirsty. Lying in bed at 3 in the morning, thinking about how badly you have to pee but you can't because your dad is asleep and won't hear you. Not being able to shower and then receiving the nickname "Stinky Stacey" from your older brother. THEN say how nice it must have been. HA! (Unless you are a very very odd person and all of this makes you happy…But being waited on, hand and foot is not my cup of tea.)
For 7 days I was forced to have my dad carry me from my bed to the bathroom… I couldn't walk into the kitchen to join my family for meals, I was cut off from my life… Showering, anyone who knows me well, knows that I take personal hygiene very seriously… A week without a shower basically killed me, and when I was finally allowed to take a shower, it was not a very ideal shower. Crutches were difficult because I had 2 boots instead of one, so I had to learn to balance my weight just enough to get from one foot to another without causing any pain. Sitting on my bed all day, not able to do school because of my medication, I had a lottttttt of extra time on my hands. I finished the first season of Friends in 2 days, it really puts time into perspective when I say it now… One good thing did come of this bed ridden-ness. My parents brought the TV into my room :)
I am not sure when I started, but after a while of being on my feet I attempted walking without crutches, and the reaction I got was not what I had hoped for. Setting the crutches down I took, 1, 2, 3 steps and caught the railing of the stairs for balance. "Oh, I guess I have to make it BACK to my crutches… Whoops." I thought. Soooo, I kinda stood there for a while, waiting for someone to come see me looking helpless and grab my crutches for me. I was slightly embarrassed, and in a fair amount of pain. I think my mom was the first one to come around the corner and see me, and she was not very pleased with me, but I was so happy to walk again that she couldn't scold me. She handed me my crutches and helped me back to my room, and then I started to realize how much I missed my friends, of course I couldn't have them over when I hadn't showered. That would be unacceptable.
It was my sister's spring break, so during that time she spent her days sitting in my room, talking to me, watching movies with me and all that good stuff. When she first showed up after my surgery, she burst into my room with balloons and a potted Orchid, it was the prettiest flower I had ever seen. I still have it, sitting on my window sill. My oldest and best friend, Maddy, was the first to visit me, and I couldn't help but be the happiest person alive, at that point. we talked watched a movie, played card games, and video games. She helped me forget that I hadn't been outside in nearly 2 weeks. Then when she left all I wanted to do was cry, but instead I went to sleep, because that was pretty much the only thing that occupied my time. Evenings that were usually spent at my ballet studio in class, were now spent watching movies with my parents, eating popcorn, or reading. Although I don't remember anything that I read… at all. I missed my ballet friends, the people I used to see everyday. I missed going to church, and seeing all the little kids run around laughing and playing with each other.
One Sunday, my sister told me she was bringing some MBII's (dancers in Milwaukee Ballet's second company) over for a visit. I was so excited because I had gotten very close to them in just a few months, and hearing stories about how they were doing, from my sister, wasn't enough. So, that morning, when my family left for church and to pick the dancers up, I decided I was going to be very productive, but I regretted taking a shower 2 days before instead of one, (I was told not to shower often because it would effect my bandages). I set myself to work, no one was there to stop me, no one had to know… Now, I had cleaned and rearranged my room the day before my surgery so that i wouldn't get claustrophobic, and i wouldn't get bored staring at things that hadn't changed for a while. But during my time immobile, with my family coming and going from my room, and the fact that I couldn't get up to fold my clothes, my room got a little messy, nothing, of course, compared to what it looks like right now… So I began cleaning. folding clothes, putting dirty clothes in the laundry, remaking my bed to make sure I got all the creases out of the sheets, not that anyone was going to judge the folds in my blanket... -_- …. but it was something for me to do, to get my mind off the fact that I was home by myself. It made me so happy to clean.
Now, with my room all tidy, I got in to bed, and then it hit me. Exhaustion. I had done way too much, and my ankles were now beginning to feel as though I had ripped the incisions open. I think to myself "Whoops, probably not so smart. Well, it was worth it," I tell myself, "I had to go to the bathroom anyways so why not kill 2 birds with one stone." ha ha, yea Stacey, sure. So anyways, I got myself ready to see my visitors and fell into a very light sleep, due to my anticipation. I heard the door from our garage slam and heard friendly familiar voices. But I COULD NOT open my eyes. I kept telling myself "Wake up! Your friends are here! Get out of bed and say hello!", then I heard my mom tell them she would go check on me, she came in and I sat up, looked around, and then I saw them, standing in the doorway, all smiley. I was so happy to see them. I got out of bed, my mom handed me my crutches, unaware of the fact that I hadn't used them all morning, and hobbled over to give them all hugs. We spent the day, playing games, watching movies, and eating really good food. Then it was time for them to go, and I really didn't want to let them. I wanted to run around and lock all the doors in the house, (not that that would have done anything. They all lock from the inside anyways.). So they left, I was glad to have spent time with them, and I was so grateful that they took time out of their weekend to come visit me :) But it hurt my heart to see them leave.
Those are pretty much the only exciting social interactions I had during that time, but they meant the world to me.
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