I've upgraded!

Well today was a long awaited day. Today marked my first real step toward recovery, toward walking, and toward getting back on a bike. Wow, that sounded dramatic. But really it was only the first step.

I met with the doc today. Yes the doc that needs a lesson on bed side manner. I have heard nothing but good things about this guy from the day I fucked up my ankle. Three people went out in different directions to look for a good orthopod and all ended up at the same spot. So this guy must be good. Now... don't get me wrong. I am certainly not doubting that. But since the surgery he hasn't been very communicative about anything.

They led me to a room and one of his staff came and cut my splint off. I was quite anxious for this moment. I really wanted to see what it looked like. My first though was "wow look at all the dried blood". Then I though "oh my, that looks gross". Then..... "oooo I've got to take pictures." I took a hand full of really crappy pics with my camera phone. I emailed them out to a few people right from there. But I decided as an amateur photographer I couldn't post those low res pics. So here is the real deal. I found it is kinda hard to take pictures of the left side of my leg but here's what I've got. (official I warned you.. it's a bit nasty. The people that have seen the sneak peak pics already have been a bit grossed out.) click a picture to see a larger version.









Oooo look more scars!

People have asked what the sore is on the top of my ankle. That is where the bone decided it was about to pop out of the skin when I fell..





You still with me? If you are reading this then you have either seen the pics or you skipped over them right to here. If you skipped over then I suggest you go back and peak. You know you want to.

Yeah I thought you'd like those.

The doc came in and checked to see if I could move the ankle. I had very limited dorsaflexion (flex foot toward body). By limited I mean 1/4". But he said the stitches were ready to come out.

So before he left I decided to get some information. I cornered the doctor and asked him exactly what the procedure was that he did. Did he do anything to the ligaments or was it just the screws. Basically he said I pretty much shredded the ligaments but these soft tissues will heal on their own. So all he really did was put two screws in the tib/fib at the ankle. ok... fine. Now my next question "are they going to stay or take them out when we are done?" He says most of the time they leave them in. Despite the fact that many times they break on their own. Exqueeze me? Many times they break?!? But he says most of the time when they break they don't effect anything and you don't notice. If you do notice they will take them out. I didn't mention it then but I would think taking out screws that are in one piece are easier then taking out a broken screw... but that's just me. I did however express my concern about them breaking. I mean your ankle takes a hit of 4-5x your body weight as you walk. Ok so for you math people out there figure this out one. Lets say I weigh 250lbs and I am on a 30lb bike. I decide to do a drop off a 3 foot ledge to the ground. As I hit the ground my bike absorbs 3" of travel. How much force is put on my ankles then? I know there may be some variables missing like how many lbs of pressure in the front and rear shock, etc, etc. But I think you math and non-math people get the point. It's A LOT. So I guess we will just wait and see for now. We are still 1.5-2 months away from that point.

So that paragraph looks like I talked to the doctor a lot. No, that was mostly inner monologue.

The same staff guy from before came back and cut my 6 stitches out. He fitted me up for my upgrade. I went from this lightweight plaster and ace bandage splint to this heavy rocker boot looking thing.



The boot basically allows for me to begin flexing my ankle to start stretching it out and improve the dorsaflexion. This boot is a 24hr a day thing including sleeping. I can take it off to shower. The boot also help to force my foot to a 90 degree angle.

This guy was much more informative. After the boot, he hooked me up with my handicap form to get my temporary sticker and gave me some information about exercises I can start and general timing.

Basically I am heading back in one month for x-rays and see when I can start physical therapy.

It is nice to be able to wash my leg and get my whole body in the shower. Well, I'm one small step closer. I'll keep you posted.