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May 19, 2022 | In: Faith, Family & Home, Inspirational

How a Broken Ankle Completely Changed My Life

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Quick Overview

  • Life with a Broken Ankle
  • How My Broken Ankle Completely Changed My Life
    • The Things I Wasn’t Able to Do
    • The Things That I Can Do
  • Getting Stronger
  • The News That Nearly Broke Me
  • The Man Who is My Rock, My Strength and Comfort
  • God Has Sent His Angels
  • Letting Go in Acceptance
  • Your Prayers Are Appreciated
    • Related Posts

I was in shock and in denial and felt that my life would never be the same again when I realized that I’ve broken my ankle.

I know it’s a little dramatic but it really is.

If you want to know how I broke my ankle, you can read all about it here.

Life with a Broken Ankle

I’ve been reliant on my husband (God bless his heart) this whole time to do mostly everything for me.

When I first got home from the hospital, my kids did not know it. This was the day after my surgery and I was still pretty sore then.

I gave them a surprise in bed. My youngest Hannah came into our master bedroom first and then the rest followed. I was welcomed with much surprise, love, hugs and tears.

When my daughter, Hannah saw me in bed, she was so surprised that she started crying as she crawled on the bed towards me. We hugged for awhile and she was sobbing while she was in my arms.

I think she took it the hardest, because she was there with me at the time when I fell and broke my ankle. It probably traumatized that poor little soul to see her mom in a cast unable to walk. She was sad and felt my absence the most when I was in the hospital for 6 days.

Video screenshot of Janice's broken ankle with kids in bedroom
Picture above: I was comforting Hannah while she was crying in my arms and the other two kids (after greeting me) were much distracted with my leftover sushi. Lol.

How My Broken Ankle Completely Changed My Life

The first few days when I first came home from the hospital was the hardest. It was the day after my surgery too. I struggled with using the crutches. I was huffing and puffing after taking a couple of steps. More like hops actually.

I had to balance on one foot while using my upper body strength to pull myself forward while hopping on one foot. There were a few times that I almost lost my balance and fell over. WHOA, it was super dangerous.

Oh my goodness! It was truly a mini workout each time I did it. I was using muscles in my body which I haven’t used before and so for the first couple of days my body ached so much, specifically under my arms. Thankfully with the magnesium cream I was using, it only ached for about a day or so and I was good.

The Things I Wasn’t Able to Do

I wouldn’t be able to walk without my crutches, drive, pick my kids up from school, do groceries on my own, climb a flight of stairs, shower properly on my own without the need of a support chair or simply just making myself a cup of coffee.

Plus, some other simple things that I wasn’t able to do, like:

  • Bending down to pick up things
  • Carry my cup of coffee to the study
  • Picking up rubbish along the way
  • Moving things out of the way
  • Sitting at my study table for long hours with my foot up

The Things That I Can Do

Fortunately with the support of ACC (New Zealand’s accident compensation scheme. It provides no-fault personal injury insurance cover to all New Zealand residents, and visitors to New Zealand), providing the tools I need to support myself at home, I was able to do the things that matter, like:

  • Taking a shower
  • Cooking
  • Making a simple meal or drink
  • Getting around house (more like hopping around the house)
  • Scooting my way around at long distances in the house using my knee walker
  • Exercising sitting down

Funnily enough, I was also able to find some creative ways with my crutches to make up for my lack of mobility by:

  • Picking up rubbish while standing or sitting down with my crutches
  • Wiping the floor by moving the floor mat to the wet spot
  • Using my crutches to instruct my kids to do something for me (by pointing at things etc) or
  • To bring something closer to me
  • To push a door open or close or
  • To turn a light switch on or off from a far distance
  • Using my crutches to push down on the step of the bin so I could throw my rubbish in
  • And lots more…

These crutches are truly like my second hands and feet and am SO grateful for them!

Getting Stronger

Thankfully, I am becoming stronger each day and more independent as I move around the home. Plus, having little helpers around me, helped as well ☺️. Plus, I have also cut down my pain medication from taking 7-8 times a day to 1-2 times a day – which is awesome!

I think after 6 weeks, I would be an expert kangaroo hopping on one foot and ready for a one legged race! Lol.

Just kidding. No more races for me. Uh uh.

The News That Nearly Broke Me

Before I knew the my true condition of my ankle, I actually thought that I’ve just torn a ligament or something.

But when the doctor saw my x-ray, he told me in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice. No emotions. Just directly in my face, he said:

“Yeap. You’ve broken you’re ankle. You’re going to the hospital right now to have surgery.”

That news nearly broke me. There it was, on the x-ray, clear as day, there were large and small cracks in my bones, and the front of my foot has dislocated to the side.

It’s one thing to hear the news from the doctor. But it was another to see it with my own eyes.

I was in shocked and was feeling all kinds of emotions that were running through me. I was sobbing at the waiting room and couldn’t care less if anyone was looking.

Peter was there comforting me, telling me it was alright and its only going to be 6 weeks before things could start looking normal again for me. Just calming and reassuring me.

Janice in hospital bed with a broken ankle
I was looking happy here but I was actually quite uncomfortable because my body was itching quite a bit from the pain medication.

The Man Who is My Rock, My Strength and Comfort

I’ve spent about a week alone in the hospital without being able to see my kids because of Covid, especially on Mother’s Day. So I’ve missed them dearly. My husband was only able to visit me about an hour a day and sometimes couldn’t visit me at all. I did not have much support, so my husband had to look after my kids while I was in the hospital.

My heart goes out to my husband, he’s truly my rock, my strength and my comfort during this whole time. He doesn’t complain and does everything with such grace and love. He’s a man of few words, but his actions speaks far louder than any words ever can. He’s taught me to be patient and most importantly, he’s shown me what is truly God’s love is – unwavering, unselfish, giving and unconditional.

Janice and Peter at home
Picture above: That’s my handsome man, right there. 🥰

God Has Sent His Angels

Thankfully, God has been sooooo awesomely good to me. He’s showed me how loved I am by the response of people and kind angels around me. Since I was admitted to hospital, there were people – friends and family that have been dropping meals over at my place almost every day.

I was sent messages, after messages, people sending over their prayers and kind wishes.

I was visited by Hannah’s kindy teachers that gave me a huge hamper of food and snacks for the family and a handmade card with little personal “get well soon” wishes by each teacher.

Funny, how it takes a broken ankle to experience His love for me. Praise God that I haven’t lost my joy and peace because to be honest, I almost did.

Letting Go in Acceptance

Through this experience, I realized I had to let go of my pride. It’s truly humbling because I have to openly and graciously asked for help because my family needed it. It was honestly hard and embarrassing to do so because I wanted to be in control and not let others see that I’m weak and vulnerable like I am now.

Thank you to those who have emailed me. You have truly made my day and I feel so blessed to know that you are listening and praying for my recovery.

Please continue to do so because my recovery will be an ongoing process that will not only take me 6 weeks, but 3 months up to a year for me to feel normal and to start walking normally again.

Your Prayers Are Appreciated

My recovery process is not going to be easy, I have to go for physiotherapy and all of that, so please continue to keep me in your prayers – for a faster recovery than what’s normal because I really want to be well again and look after my family.

Please also pray for my husband, Peter. Although he has been my rock through it all and not complaining, he is taking a lot on his shoulders, doing twice the amount of work in the home, with the kids, the school runs, back and forth, preparing meals and everything else in between. It takes a lot, not only looking after me but also our four children. And I know he’s exhausted. 😢 Please pray that the Lord will give him much continuous grace and strength to shoulder everything while I’m in recovery.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart ❤️.

How a Broken Ankle Completely Changed My Life

Printables, design elements, graphics and any digital products provided on this site are for personal use only. You may NOT modify them or redistribute them for free or monetary gain without the written agreement from the author, Janice Banks. You may share these with your classes or co-workers (educators/teachers/tutors) as long as they are not modified in any way. Please share the link to the blog post if you want to share these digital resources with others.

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About Janice Banks

A mom and a graphic designer by profession, Janice broke away from her passion to run her physical product business. After two years of running her business, her health deteriorated and realizes that her growing family needed her more than ever. So she started creating beautiful printables to organize her life and to support her family. She now wants to teach others to do the same. Her desire is to inspire creative moms so they too can start making money from home and create the life they LOVE. To learn more about Janice, click here.

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I believe that every creation you design should be intentional and pleasing to the eye. I am here to show you how it’s done. I want to also inspire, encourage and empower moms; that YOU too can create a passive income while taking care of your babies, just like I have! In this blog, I will be sharing my experiences as a mom of four/creative business owner and how I’ve balanced life and business while living a life FULL of joy, hope and love amidst my daily struggles.

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