Two Weeks

Two weeks have gone by since surgery...and my! It seems like it was yesterday! That, I suppose, is a good thing. It means that time is going quick and that in only two more weeks I'll be out of this cast and in a walking boot and into PT.

I'm dealing OK with it but that's probably because I'm NOT one of these wrapped tight folks that go nuts if they aren't doing anything. I actually like having to take a break...I've been going fairly hard for a number of years so don't mind the time off..

Have been watching a lot of movies. reading some, spending time on the computer and watching the Giro d" Italia bike race, live, everyday. I'd have missed it if I was still able to go to work.

Pain comes and goes and the pain meds REALLY help with that but I've noticed that I'm needing them less and less which is good. I'm not a fan of narcotics so the sooner I can leave them behind the better.

ML has been a jewel waiting on me and carrying things around the house for me since I'm crutched...

Baseball stitch

Here's a shot from yesterday, when I was between casts. Doc was great and he explained the cut well. The curve under the malleolus was for reaching and repairing the three ligaments. He had to go high in the back to replace the bone that had broken off the talus.

He used a baseball stitch.

Now casted again for three more weeks , then be in a walking cast after that to start PT.

So I'm thinking a little tattoo of a ski jumper? Incorporating it into the Nike Swoosh? A lopsided smiley face?

1000 Channels

Have been relegated to sitting on the couch and watching movies, reading and...watching TV.

Many of you who know us know that ML and I are not TV watchers at all. So much of it is inane and vapid and that's not snobbery. It's the truth. You can find some interesting things though:

The weight of the Sun in grams is 92 to the 36 power.

You can be fined $10k if ANY of your crabs are undersize.

The Strada Bianca get muddy when it rains:

Plasma coolant can destroy organic matter.

Folks that win the London Marathon are impossibly small.

"Gold diggers of 1935" was probably just as bad then as it is now.

There's a 90% chance that the world will be destroyed by a meteor...and we won't see it coming.

The only news channel worth watching is the BBC.

You can make "happy trees" very easily using the tip of the brush.

Rick Steves has a VERY cool job.

Today is big day number one in the recovery phase. Off to the Doc this afternoon to have my bandages removed and then get casted. I am excited as I'm dying to know what the incision looks like. Have been trying to cut back a bit on the pain meds but sometimes it just hurts like a mamma jamma. Not sharp pain but a throbbing ache deep inside...the same kind I had as a kid in the hospital.

One week down and five more till ML and I can have a normal life...If you can call our life normal!

Weak End Uodate

The doctor told me the surgery went fine...I was asleep at the time.

This is going to be short, because the pain meds are making it sort of hard to type and I keep making mistakes!

Turns out that Larry, Moe and Curly were damaged. This marvelous drawing shows the three ankle ligaments torn...

In my case one was torn completely through the second was stretched badly and was flopping around and the third was torn running with the grain. Doc stitched the tears and tightened up the floppy.

The BEST news came with the broken bone on the Talus. It was still viable and was partly attached. It was still innervated and vascular! All he had to do was put it back in place and sew it on!

Just great news...no pins, screws ,staples, chicken wire or spit!

Still stuck on crutches for 6 weeks ABSOLUTELY no weight allowed on it.

In a side note, I couldn't have been more pleased with the level of care received at Frederick Memorial Hospital! The staff, from the folks in registration to the woman who rolled me out the door were just top shelf! Was very comfortable and was well taken care of...Many thanks to my ankle geek, the gas passer the OR nurse and the surg tech!

On the road to recovery!

Many thanks to all those folks on Facebook for their kind words and support and to my family too. Mary Lou...you're aces!

Nyuck, nyuck...woo woo woo

Here's a great drawing of the three lateral ligaments of the ankle. I've named them Larry, Moe and Curly. (L to R) Two of mine, Moe and Curly) are torn...to what degree, we don't know yet. The large hunk of bone below the Tibia/Fibula is the Talus...that's the one that's broken.

The official procedure I've consented to is Right Lateral Ankle Ligament Repair/Right Open Treatment Talus Fracture.

I've been told by the Doctor that he'll fix the ligaments and see what he can do to the bone fragment...If it's viable, he'll drill holes in it and the talus and put them together and let the osteo-genic cells do their thing. If that's not possible he'll put a pin in it. If that's no good...he'll toss it. That will mean 6 weeks non-load bearing. Crutches. a brace/cast and NO using it. I can't even drive. I thought I might be able to drive left footed, but I tried it...YIKES! Breaking was fine but I couldn't even reach the gas safely, so no dice.

Maybe I could one leg it around the neighborhood on the bike? I'll definitely try biking on the indoor trainer with just my left leg...but not too much. Can you imagine that? After six weeks my left leg a bulging mass of knotted muscle and the right one that looks like the leg off a sixth grade girl? I'd be biking in circles after that! Running will be a different matter. That may take awhile, but pool running will help.

Plan on downloading some music while I'm down...listening to Moby right now.

The HRM (heart rate monitor) won't be that hard to figure out but it has features I haven't checked out yet. The Nano? Oy!...it does have video!

My boss has been awesome and folks at work supportive. I may be out the rest of the school year and I'll for sure miss the kids.

This time Wednesday night, I won't know what the hell is going on! Better healing through Chemistry!

Lemons? Lemonade!

As many of you know, I've been struggling with an ankle that won't heel since I rolled the bloody thing on the 29th of November...

Saw my doctor, did some PT...even ran a 1/2 marathon,Marathon and 10K on it...I mean It doesn't hurt when I run! After though, it swells. Gotten to the point where it swells after biking, standing on my feet all day, driving the car, hurts all the time, interfering with sleep...you get the picture. Last weekend, a short run brought lots of pain and a big swell.

Finally have had enough and went to the ankle surgeon...a fine young man I call "Skippy" because he looks like he's 16. He's young it seems (to me anyway) and that's what I want. Someone young who knows all the latest "ankle geek" stuff. I have great confidence in him. Anyway, an x-ray and MRI later Skippy and I have a sit down and he gives me the news. (drum roll) Two torn ligaments and a hunk of bone off the back of the Talus that's floating around in the gunk. Wheeee!

Surgery this coming Wednesday.

If things go well, four weeks on crutches. If not six weeks non-load bearing.

No worries here. It's the first time in 40 years I've had a running injury...well there was that sprain In "The Valley" after a fall on this big climb. Oh, and the busted ribs from the bike wreck....then that sprain at mile 6 of the JFK 50 miler (I finished)...there were those several skull wacks (climbing) that required stitches...ok, ok I have had a few injuries over the years but this is the first one from running that's going to require surgery!

(I can't tell you the number of times I should have been dead, but got up and walked away without a scratch.)

Routine stuff in an active life where you go to the edge sometimes.

Now at least I'll have time to catch up on reading, movies, watching "The Giro" live on TV, plotting the next adventure and actually figuring out how my heart rate monitor and iPod nano work..not mentioning getting to be near my awesome wife...

I'll be blogging here pre and post op and during the recovery and return to an active life.

Oh, if you're looking for a piece of bone in this pic...it's not me. Just an ankle pic.

May Day!

Finally! May is here. April just dragged, the school days and workouts and yard work just all being blenderized in a mess that was hard to keep track of.

On the athletic front, things are improving. Bike rides are getting longer and I have my running up to 30 miles a week on a regular basis.

Last weekend I ran the first 10k I've run (as a stand alone event) in probably 3 years! The Pikes Peek 10k runs from the Shady Grove metro station to White Flint on a course that drops almost 200 ft. It has it's up hill sections but the downhills are fast. Smooth road surface and great organization make for a good time.

Hadn't been doing any speed work so I felt I'd be lucky if I broke an hour. Of course that's the beauty of having poor self confidence. You always do better!

I ran in :50 minutes and change...I'm running in the 55 -59 age group now and it's interesting to notice that the times generally slow. However...if I had been doing speed work and had been working at it, I would have run my usual time of 43 or 44 minutes, which would have put me on the podium in my AG.

Felt good the whole time...afterward my ankle even felt ok. But I'm still guarded on that. Still have bits of discomfort and at times it feels weak despite PT and my keeping up with that program.

Wanted to bike a century on the eastern shore today, but am fighting a cold...better to lay low and do something short.

Have to look at the various schedules for bike, runs, and other races and see what I can get into.

Realized I haven't been here much as of late...too much time on Facebook! Need to get back over here..this is much more fun!