Roller coaster ride

This has been a crazy injury/recover!  It seems as though one day I’ve got one opinion and am headed in one direction, then just days later everything changes and I’m headed in another.

In my last post (and I just re-read it to be sure I remembered correctly) I felt certain that that the surgeon was going to tell me I needed surgery.  I went armed with lots of questions:  what and when would he do it, what was the recovery like, etc..  We talked briefly, he examined my ankle, and then told me that surgery wasn’t required.  He put me back into the removable cast/boot and told me to come back in a month.  I wasn’t at all prepared for that response and hadn’t thought about any questions.

I did push back, indicating that I had athletic plans for the future and needed a full recovery.  He told me I was getting the same answer that Mario Williams (a professional football player in case you didn’t know) would get.  Still in shock I only thought of one other question:  when could I run again.  Red flag:  he didn’t know!

He said he was going to speak to Dr. Sanders, whom I knew would have the presence of mind to ask the questions I didn’t.  The big ones being how can two pieces of the ligament that aren’t touching going to reach out and reconnect?  If that do manage that, how tight will the ligament be?

I’ve done some research this weekend on my injury, something I should have done before my last appointment.  There were two themes:  Avoid surgery if possible, and people who did months of rehab only to end up having surgery later anyway.

Today is my first day back at rehab.  I feel a bit sorry for Dr. Sanders.  He gets as one of his last patients of the day someone with a lot of questions, and a lot of frustration with the answers he got from the surgeon!  Hopefully he has some answers for me!

Medical update

I’m late with this post because there was always another update just around the corner.  It’s still the case, but I do want to log my thoughts.

Last Thursday I went back to the orthopedic doctor.  I immediately told him I was unhappy with the continued pain and lack of progress.  He took a look at my ankle and sent me for an x-ray of my foot to verify I hadn’t broken something there.  That came back negative.

He took me out of the removable cast, put me into an air-splint and sent me to rehab 3 times a week.  There were two key questions asked/answered:

1. Are you sure that doing rehab now won’t do any further damage:  No.
2. Is this amount of swelling and pain normal for this long after the injury:  No.  If the pain continues he will refer me to a pain management specialist.

I signed up for my first rehab session for Monday, two days ago.

After some pushing and prodding by my parents, who were concerned about my situation, I called Dr. Sanders (a chiropractor) who has worked on various parts before, but more importantly works with the Houston Texans. He looked at my ankle briefly (and a photo I’d taken weeks earlier) and said something wasn’t right.  He didn’t want to rehab me without knowing what the problem was and sent me in for an MRI.  That was last Friday.

I cancelled my rehab session with the orthopedic doctor for Monday, and instead went for the MRI.  I have two words for that:  loud and cold!

Yesterday I went back to Dr. Sanders for rehab and to find the results from the MRI.  I knew something was up when he walked in without his  usual cart of stuff (gels/lotions, etc.).  Long story short, it wasn’t good news.  While it did provide some level of validation that I wasn’t just whining, for me it was the worst case scenario.  Reading his notes now I see that I have a full thickness tear of the ATF and medial deltoid ligament, and a compress fracture of the talar dome.  I also see a sprain and strain of the calcaneofibular ligament.  I had to look all of those things up, but I agree; that’s where it hurts!

He isn’t a surgeon, but he doesn’t believe those full tears can heal without help, meaning surgery.  I go in for a surgery consult tomorrow morning.  This is an ankle specialist who works with the Texans and Houston Ballet.  I believe that he will know the best thing to do to speed my recovery.  In the meantime I’m back in the cast with no extra walking or biking and limited swimming.

I wasn’t letting Dr. Sanders off the hook that easily, I wanted to know what that meant.  What were the best and worst case scenarios.  He replied that my season is over.  “That’s what you really want to know isn’t it?”  He knows me too well.    He added that either I wouldn’t be able to come back, or if I did I would be one of those old/slow people, which I won’t do.

He didn’t leave me hanging though.  The best case scenario is 3 months in the removable cast and no surgery.  However, he doesn’t believe that will work and said he would want to speak to the surgeon if that is what he recommends.  The worst case is much worse and involves pins and plates and 9 months of down time.

Needless to say I was pretty upset yesterday.  Today is a new day and I’ve got to accentuate the positive.  If I hadn’t gotten the MRI I could easily have done some damage and would be down much longer.

Tomorrow is my first appointment with the surgeon.  I hope to leave his office armed with a new plan for recovery, and that whatever he wants to do, we get to it as soon as possible.  Time is ticking and I’ve got races to run!

The Long road to recovery

I know it’s been a long time.  I had such good intentions this year to keep up, then I got injured, moved twice, and then got really injured.

Four weeks ago Wednesday I fell off a ladder while installing a ceiling fan.  I couldn’t have been any more than 2-3 feet off the ground, but in my attempt to jump clear of the ladder I landed awkwardly on the mattress frame and really did a number on my ankle.

I won’t bore you with the details of how we got here, just where I am now.  I’m in a removable cast, with which I’m able to walk around fairly well – just not very far.  I’m also finally able to sit in a chair like a normal person for an extended amount of time.  I’m unable to walk normally without the cast (nor am I supposed to even try) and am still too swollen to fit into a shoe.  Training wise I’m limited to swimming, and then only with a pull buoy as kicking is still too painful.

I go back to the doctor later this week to find out if I can take the cast off and maybe start some rehab.

I might be able to do some biking on the trainer, but I’m very concerned about getting my cleat off my injured foot (no way am I going to twist it out!).

Hopefully I’ll be back in a few days with a medical update.