April 02, 2010 (Vail, CO) – Before coming to Vail for my second compartment syndrome surgery I spent eight days in snowy Truckee, California, and two days in the Bay Area with friends, Joanne Reid and Eliska Hajkova – we had endlessly funny adventures. We entered a 9km biathlon race, each of us only hit one target, but we still managed to sweep the race; we baked Czech bread – it takes 6 hrs to make, so don’t start after 9pm; we sewed spandex headbands and hats; we went sledding on a golf course; we skied at Royal Gorge, Auburn ski club, North Star, and the golf course; we perfected our acrobatic skills on Nordic skis; and Joanne and I entered a 15/30km race the last day in Truckee.

Here’s a video of Adele and her friends playing leapfrog on skis…

I won the 15km race and felt like I had one of the best races of the season, and Joanne won the 30km. I had lots of energy and discovered that I love the longer distance of a 15km. My shins seized up a bit during the race, but since it was just for fun I was able to slow down and let them regain sensation.

Midweek, we took a trip down to San Francisco and biked all over the city. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, a famous sourdough bread bakery that we happened upon, and we went shopping in a four-story fabric store. The next day we spent the morning at Half Moon Bay Beach and watched a high school track meet in the afternoon. The water at the beach was numbing cold, but the size of the waves was irresistible – we got soaked.

On Sunday, the 28th, I met my mom in the Denver airport and we drove up to Vail to meet with Dr. Hackett at the Steadman Clinic. He looked at my legs and determined, from what they looked and felt like, and from my description of the pain and seizing/numbing sensation, that I did need surgery. On Tuesday morning I went in for the operation.

He performed fasciotomies on all four compartments in each leg, and did partial fasciectomies as well. He explained that the term “fasciotomy” refers to cutting something, and “fasciectomy” refers to removing something. He cut each compartment and then took out chunks of fascia to ensure that the incisions would not reseal themselves. He also found that my perennial nerve – the one that runs along the outside bottom of the shin near the ankle – was completely encased in massive amounts of scar tissue. He freed up the nerve by scraping out the scar tissue.

This morning Dr. Hackett took off my bandages and let me see the damage. I now have three scars about 3.5-4″ long on each lower leg; two along the outside of my shins and one on the inside. I’m off all pain meds and feeling great. I will be on crutches for ten days, so I think I’ll decorate them with ribbons this afternoon! I meet with the physical therapists later today for the first time. This was definitely a more extensive procedure than my last CS surgery, but the medical team here is taking great care of me, so I am not at all worried. Dr. Hackett was incredibly patient, helpful, and kind to me and my mom. I highly recommend Dr. Hackett if you need to get compartment syndrome surgery. But try to stay healthy!

Enjoy the pictures! If you don’t like blood you might not want to look at the pictures of my legs- pretty gruesome!