They Gave me The Boot.

Today was just great! Just as I reached the "Get me out of this thing!" point with my cast, I had a doctor's appointment. Esposa Favorita drove me as I 'm unable to drive. Once there, waited for just a bit and off to get the bloody hard cast cut off. Wonderful little device. Looks like a Dremel Moto Tool ( the coolest tool ever) except that this one vibrates back and forth instead of whirring. No damage to skin that way... The tech cut through the cast, which I kept.

Skippy ( the teen age looking doctor came in) and took out my stitches and complimented me on being a fast healer. (I had an advanced healing class in college...you got to love a liberal arts education) He said it looks like I'm doing everything right. Yeah!

He dressed the wound and said I could start showering again tomorrow. Yes, I've been keeping clean but when you're a one a day shower(at least) guy cutting way back makes you feel...yucky.

Three weeks in the walking boot, take it easy and walk on for short bits at first, start PT and still no driving. I don't think the boot would fit in there anyway and he really wants to make sure the reattached bone stays put.

Hopefully in three weeks I'l be able to get back to some form of aerobic exercise.

Feeling good about things right now...next appointment on June 30.

I d have to say...I am absolutely pleased with this doctor and his office and the staff. They have done a great job and I have no complaints....

S-l-o-w M-o-t-i-o-n

Now...three weeks post surgery and everything seems to have shifted into slow motion...At first the time seemed to be going quickly, but now it's not. I have to check a calendar to see what day it is...my days are marked by what time Mythbusters comes on and bed time is usually after Cash Cab.

I miss work like mad. I know if I were still able to get to work and ...work, the time would be just ripping by. It always does this time of year. But here at home with my leg up the time just drags...I miss the kids.

I'm not having much pain now, but still take a half a pain pill from time to time when I get this disquieting uncomfortable feeling inside my foot. I understand why I have to keep my foot up most of the time. My skeletal/muscle pump can't work in my right foot as it's completely immovable...so leaving it down for short periods of time makes the toes turn blue and look like sausages...it gets uncomfortable. Put it up, and in a few minutes, it's good to...not go anywhere.

One more week till I'm back at the doctor and get my stitches out. I'm hoping for a walking cast, but ML reminded me that I'll probably be in a removable boot...but still unable to walk on it.

Nuts!

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!