Medication Intake

Tracking Pain and Recovery through Medication

Chart tracking pain medication use following an ankle fracture and surgery, visualized day by day over a three-month recovery.

In May 2024, I broke my ankle at a Pitbull concert in Vegas (a funny story now, but very unfortunate at the time). A week later I found out I needed surgery. I’m not a huge fan of heavy painkillers, but I knew I had to be careful with over-the-counter meds too since there’s a limit to how much ibuprofen and Tylenol you can safely take in a day.

I needed to track when I took each dose and when I could take the next one. Also, I was stuck on the couch for a while with nothing to do and a lot of Advil to juggle.

So I built a system: a Google Form to log each dose, and a Google Sheet that helped me track timing and totals. It was simple, mobile-friendly, and gave me peace of mind. My family also thought I was a little crazy for it, but it worked much better for me than the pen and paper strategy my mom normally used.

At first, it was just about making safe choices. But as time went on, the data became a record of my recovery. I could look at how much I was taking and when, and even spot patterns around doctor appointments, workdays, or travel.

I started playing with how to visualize it. Line charts didn’t really capture the story (nobody thinks in their pain in terms of mg taken of any specific medication, and it was hard to visually distinguish Tylenol from Ibuprofen from other meds!) A calendar felt right for this; it showed rhythm and recovery better than numbers alone.

I sketched little pill icons on my iPad, rebuilt the calendar in Illustrator, and kept updating it as the summer went on. The final version covers May through August and shows the arc of recovery: surgery, rest, travel, and finally, getting back on my feet.

Circled dates indicate either the initial break or big appointment days at the orthopedic surgeon office.