Woo-hoo! I received some great news yesterday during my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. It turns out that the protrusion of bone on my lower fibula is, in the doctor's opinion, from a previous ankle sprain. My ankle is *not* broken - the x-rays were simply misinterpreted by the Urgent Care doctor, which can (and will) happen if they are not experts in the skelto-musculature realm of medicine.
So, the doc said that I should try putting weight on my ankle as I could, first with both crutches, then with a single crutch on the good side, and then with no crutches. When I got back home, I tested out my ankle and was able to put weight on it with two, then one crutch. Later that evening, I discarded the single crutch and was able to hobble around fairly well, even helping out with the preparation for dinner.
To cap off the night, I was able to ascend our stairs to the second story and actually tuck in my kids and sleep in my own bed for the first time in four days.
As far as further recovery is concerned, the doctor said that wearing a brace might be a good idea for the next few weeks, and to work on my range of motion in the ankle. Running is out of the question for about three weeks, but biking would be a good exercise when my ankle feels up to it. I am hoping to be back in soccer shape in fixe to six weeks - we'll see how things go.
I can not express how happy I am to be rid of those crutches! The four days I had to deal with them has given me a small dose of insight into what it must be like to permanently live with a disability. Just being able to walk and use my hands at the same time seems like an amazing gift to me right now.
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Good! Sounds like a nasty sprain, though, any idea what the pop was?
ReplyDeleteI can only guess that as the ligament continued to stretch way beyond the norm, that perhaps one of the bones may have temporarily dislocated, but I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteOnce the doc said it wasn't broken, I was so happy that I didn't ask too many other questions, other than what I should do to treat it and when I could conceivably run again. :>
Oh my god! I came across your blog just now while searching for solutions to my ongoing calf muscle problems. And I went back to your home page, and your first entry .... YOU HAVE BROKEN YOUR ANKLE!!!!! Does that mean the calf muscle problems are now looking good?
ReplyDeleteGOOD LUCK! and thanks for the tips on the calf muscle stuff, you poor thing!
Manda (NSW, Australia)
Manda,
ReplyDeleteThankfully, my ankle was note broken like the Urgent Care doctor thought. It was "just" a severe sprain, which is getting better with time.
It's now been almost three weeks, and I can walk pretty much anywhere. It is the side to side rolling that still causes some discomfort, so I am still going pretty easy on it. I think I will start biking on it this week, and maybe try some light jogging on it as well.
The cutting and quick changes of direction will probably need to wait until next week. I hope to be better just in time for our next soccer season, starting the first weekend of March!