So I got out of hospital today, and completed my “goal” of walking out of there on crutches. Let me first say this, having your ankle operated on, is not that great of an experience. I was finally wheeled into the theatre at five yesterday evening, feeling rather jovial for some reason. The anaesthetist asked me for the fifth time which ankle to operate on, I joked and suggested he draw a big red arrow on my shin pointing to the ankle. Apparently it wasn’t necessary.
They did a quick explanation of what they planned to do. This part freaked me out: they were going to graft some of my hamstring tendon, onto my worn ankle ligament. That didn’t sound good to me, I didn’t want 2 sets of pain, in my ankle and my hamstring. And I like my hamstrings, I’m rather attached to them you see. Anyway, I was put to sleep, and woke up just over 2 hours later. My first instinct was to grab my hamstring, and then I looked up at the doctor, all groggy, and saw him smiling. He said that the op went very well, and didn’t use any of my hamstring tendon. He used a frozen tendon, and attached it to my lateral ankle ligament, and they should bond together, or something. In other words, I HAVE SOMEONE ELSE’S BODY PART IN MY ANKLE. All I can hope is that I’ve got some Kenyan dude’s tendon…
So I learnt how to use the crutches and was given some exercises to do. So I’m feeling fairly positive about the whole thing. The recovery plan is as follows:
- I’ll be in the current cast /bandages until Wednesday, 3 March. I can’t wait as thing is very heavy, and I have to keep my foot above my heart. This means on my back for a week.
- When the cast goes off, I’ll be going into a plastic “boot” which is lighter and will allow me to be mobile. I’ll be in that for 6 weeks, so that means no driving and crutches for 6 weeks.
- From the boot, I’ll go into an ankle brace, the Aircast A60, which I bought a few months back. I can then start cyclin, swimming, and physiotherapy. This will the crucial stage, and strengthening the ankle is very important.
- It will be about 4 weeks in the brace, then I can start running again!
Obviously things can change, and it will most likely take longer to recover. I’m very goal focused, and I believe this trait will help me through this stage, as it will keep me motivated.
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