Foiled Plans

Well. I called work on Thursday to find out how to go about coming back to work on Dec. 31. I'm probably really just barely ready, but I seriously need the money. They said I had to call my doctor and get released, then they would see if there were any restrictions, talk to Skeeter to see where I could be assigned, and that would be that. Well, that wasn't exactly that. I called my doctor, who hesitantly agreed to release me as long as I could sit half of the time (generally I stand all day, but have often done sitdown work, particularly when Skeeter needed me to do a lower level job for his convenience). They wanted me to still continue therapy for a couple of weeks after starting back to work, too. OK, so I called the nurse at work back and she was going to talk to Skeeter and call me back. She called on Friday, saying that she had talked to him and to the HR person, and I am not going to be allowed back right now! It seems that orders are really down, and that there is no work in my area for someone with that restriction. They are on (previously unplanned) shutdown next week, and Dec. 31 will only be a 4-hour day. And then for the first week of Jan, at least, they are on 36-hour weeks. At first I was really angry about that, since they tend to rush people back to work if they are on workers comp (I'm not). And I was furious that this is all in Skeeter's hands to say when I can come back. But I got an email today from someone at work who said that it really was true that there is almost no work, and that they gave 5 lack-of-works yesterday. So maybe I'm glad I'm not involved there right now. It's legal for me to work my tax job while I'm off (since they obviously have no work for me) so I should be able to put in quite a few hours there doing the OJT that is required at the first of the season. That will bring in a few dollars, anyway. I guess I should be trying to be more positive about this. It's just that I am SO broke, beyond broke. And so far my winning-the-lottery plan isn't working too well. I guess I'll feel better after the Christmas spending has stopped, but I'll still have the bills to pay. I think part of why I felt so crummy about this whole thing yesterday was that I was having a pretty bad day physically. My knees are absolutely killing me because I've been walking so much more, just like they would after any unaccustomed exercise. They gave me a new brace at therapy, one more flexible and comfortable than the air cast, but very supportive. It's what they put their athletes in when they start back to playing their sport. It has no hard plastic parts, just a lot of elastic, strapping and velcro (LOTS of velcro), and it takes approximately 20 minutes to put on correctly. (OK, it's not that bad, but it does take awhile to do because there are three layers to it.) It feels great once it's on, which has led me to walk more, which is hurting my knees. On the other hand, I have virtually no pain in my ankle at all, just the occasional twinge in my Achilles tendon. I have to keep in mind that I have only been walking on my own for a week (actually, it will be a full week at dinner time tonight), so I'm actually doing OK. Yesterday was two months since I broke the ankle, today is two months since the surgery.