Finally Leaving the House + Fifth Week Home // Pelvic Fracture Recovery

June 23, 2021

You can read about my accident here, my hospital stay here, my first week home here, my second week home here, my third week home here, and my fourth week home here.

This week was full of really high highs and really low lows. I got to leave the house for the first time, see Lady (the horse I was riding during the accident), and I had my 6-week follow-up appointment, but I also had to ween off pain medication and it was horrible. However, I keep moving forward in my recovery and I am making a lot of progress.

Going off pain medication

I’ve been off my daytime pain med for a while, but for the past 6 weeks, I’ve taken a high-dose, codeine-based pain med every single night. One night, right before my 6-week follow-up appointment, I decided to try skipping it. It was horrible. I tossed and turned all night, I had horrible restless leg syndrome, and I don’t think I slept a wink. I shouldn’t have stopped taking the pill without consulting a doctor, but I didn’t realize how strong of a dose I was taking.

Needless to say, I had become dependent on codeine. I wasn’t addicted to the nightly codeine pill, but not taking it made me irritable, unable to sleep, gave me restless leg syndrome, made me anxious (which could also be due to the lack of sleep), and overall, I felt like shit.

At my appointment, I spoke to my doctor about the issues I was having and he told me the best way to ween off the pain meds to minimize the withdrawal symptoms. Spoiler: It took about two weeks before I finally felt “normal” again.

People said the hardest part of this process would be the 6-week bed rest, so I mentally prepared for that. Although the bed rest wasn’t easy by any means, because I went into the situation prepared, it wasn’t as horrendous as I thought it would be. No one prepared me for the withdrawal part of the process. Because of that, I sometimes think that the withdrawal from the codeine pain meds was harder. Mentally at least.

I am out the other side and doing a lot better, but please take this into account if you are going through something similar. Make sure to speak to your doctor about weening and don’t experiment with cold turkey the way I did.

Pain?

Now that I am off all pain meds, am I still in pain? Mostly, no. However, sometimes at night when I am rolling over in bed, I get a sharp pain in my hip, almost like a cramp. The doctor is confident that will go away soon. I also get a bit sore when I overexert myself, but that will also go away as I gain strength and stamina.

I also still have a bit of numbness in my upper thigh, lower back, and, weirdly enough, my right shoulder. Again, the doc is confident it should go away soon. Apparently nerve regineration takes 6-12 weeks and I am nearing the end of that timeline.

Leaving the house for the first time

I finally got to leave the house! Alex and I went to his cousin’s house to visit and see puppies! It was so nice seeing something outside of my four walls. The day of my 6-week follow-up appointment, I also went to the mall with Alex, grocery shopping, and out to lunch. Even that basic activity completely wore me out. I was exhausted and I think it was the first time in the history of our relationship that I fell asleep before Alex.

I also saw Lady for the first time since my accident. Her reaction was pretty much what I expected haha. She was terrified of my walker, which might explain why she gave me the cold shoulder, but she also could be upset that I survived the accident – cause she was trying to kill me (just kidding ;P). There is more of this in my YouTube video.

6-week follow-up appointment

For the entirety of my accident and recovery, “6 weeks” was the magic number that seemed to represent my freedom and my return to “normal”. So, when I went to my 6-week follow-up appointment, I genuinely (naively?) thought the doctor would tell me that I was completely healed and everything could go back to “normal”.

I was wrong.

They took x-rays of my pelvis and there is still a significant gap between the bones. I am shocked that I can even walk on a broken bone with such a gap. The doctor assured me that he saw regrowth and everything is healing correctly.

He said I can continue to walk (while using my walker or crutches) and that in the next few weeks I can start walking independently. I should continue physical therapy and, ultimately, with time, I will heal completely.

Mental Health

I think I addressed this enough in the “going off pain medication” section, but I am doing a lot better now and I am happy with how I am feeling and recovering.

What’s next?

To be quite frank, I am sick of my entire life revolving around my accident. It’s all people ask me about, it’s all I talk about, and it’s all I post about. Although I was hoping things would be back to “normal” by now and they aren’t, I am faking it until I make it. Aside from using my walker, continuing my physical therapy, and going to my follow-up appointment in a month, I am going to operate as if I am back to “normal”. That includes going back to work (online, of course).

To that end, this will be my last weekly update on my accident. I’m sure I will address it again in the future, especially on Instagram and YouTube, but this will (probably) be the last dedicated blog post.

Spoiler: As I am writing this, I am 10.5 weeks post-accident and I am doing a lot better. The pain is minimal, I can walk without a walker or crutches, and the doctor is confident in my recovery. He said I don’t need to see him again unless the pain continues (he is sure it will go away in the next few weeks).

Thank you so much for your support during this time! For more updates on my injury and recovery, check out my Instagram @MorganThroughALens.

I also posted a YouTube video about leaving the house and seeing Lady, which you can check out here: