Son of a *bitch*.

[swan_tower]

I find myself reluctant to post about this, as I have several friends right now dealing with medical complaints of a much more serious nature. But I also know those friends would tell me that their difficulties do not mean I should somehow be happy about my own, and I'm going to have to bring this up sooner or later. So:

I'm having ankle surgery.

Again.

I had a private bet on with myself that my recent pain was going to turn out to be the same thing I had surgery for when I was nine. (Osteochondritis dissecans, for the curious.) Instead it's a torn ligament. But yeah, that's why my ankle's been making unpleasant crunching feelings every so often, because one of the ligaments isn't stabilizing the joint like it ought to. And the other pain, when I try to crouch, that's the cartilege taking on stress because of the ligament not doing its job. So I get to cancel my physical therapy appointment and make one for surgery instead.

Four weeks in a boot, four weeks of physical therapy -- at least it isn't six weeks on crutches and then more serious physical therapy, which is what another round of OCD would have meant. Two months out of karate, grrr argh. (I was looking forward to starting kobudo soon, but I guess that's delayed.) The biggest hassle, though, is my research trip to London. I need to talk to the surgical scheduling coordinator, but my basic choice is between surgery in March followed by London in late May/early June, and London in early April followed by surgery as soon as I come back. I think I'm leaning toward the former, because while the doctor said it wouldn't be a problem to wait on the surgery, he recommended wearing an ankle brace around London. I don't think he understood what I meant when I said "a trip with a lot of walking." The ankle brace, while generally quite good, strikes me as a recipe for blister disaster if I wear it for miles every day.

Sigh. I want new feet, that will stop malfunctioning on me. I'm tired of the twisted ankles and collapsing arches and metatarsalphalangeal joint sprains and all the rest of it. And I'm really, really tired of surgeries, because one is more than enough and two is way more than I ever wanted.

It isn't the end of the world, of course. But it's an annoyance, and one I really could have done without.

Comments

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Oh geez... Speedy recovery to you!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[leatherdykeuk.livejournal.com]

I feel for you. I've had three ankle surgeries in two years and it killed my fitness. However, surgery is better than constant pain.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so much for my desire to bike around more often and get back to fencing. Those, like kobudo, will have to wait.

[leatherdykeuk.livejournal.com]

Ayem fencing, kobudo and ju-jitsu were my passions too.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

My sympathies. I'd go for early surgery, healing time, and careful walking afterwards - walking around a lot on an already compromised ankle isn't going to make it better.

And no, it's not a competition - the fact that someone else is worse off doesn't mean this doesn't suck.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

He said I'd be good to go back to karate after eight weeks, though something involving swift changes of movement like basketball should wait until the twelve-week mark. So ordinary city walking shouldn't be a problem, I think.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Bleh, I'm sorry!

I'm pretty darned sure he didn't understand what you meant when you said "a trip with a lot of walking," because you are like me and doctors never, ever understand me when I say things like that.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I should have said "five miles of walking on a normal-to-light day."

[moonandserpent.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Good luck! I'm confident you'll survive - find out who did it. And then kill them.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that would result in suicide.

[moonandserpent.livejournal.com]

Blame someone else! It's the American way!

Kyle makes you walk sometimes, right?

[kendokamel.livejournal.com]

Aw, man, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. /:

I hope that, whenever you have it, that it heals up quickly.


*hugs and mojo!*

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[d-c-m.livejournal.com]

*big hug* I truly sympathize and I hope you recover fantastically and your ankles and feet become strong.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

They never have yet, but we can hope.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

That's very frustrating. I'm so sorry.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Yah. Not what I was hoping for. (Though also not as bad as I was fearing, since I had geared myself up for crutches.)

[celestinenox]

D: Eeep! Good luck with the surgery, I guess? And recover soon!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

booo. :-(

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

The internet needs an emoticon that sufficiently illustrates my grumpiness. >_< comes close, but not quite.

[cloudshaper2k.livejournal.com]

My son had surgery on his ankle in Sept of last year - silly boy severed four tendons. The six weeks he was on crutches just about drove him nuts!

Adding this to my prayer list.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

The thought of SEVERING a tendon makes me want to curl up in a little ball. And not one, but FOUR! Yowch, yowch, yowch. My sympathies to him.

[doriscrockford2.livejournal.com]

If you come in late May/June we may have decent weather for you. (Trying to think positively here.)

I'm sorry you have to go through this. I hope the operation helps.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

You can't fool me. I've been to the British Isles seven times, mostly during the summer. I know what your weather is like!

But yes, my odds of it not being cold and rainy at least improve the later I come.

[unforth.livejournal.com]

First, never feel that you shouldn't be unhappy about something just cause other people happen to be going through worse.

Second...that sucks. I'm really sorry. :( Given what I know about your London trips, I think it'd be wise for you to go with the first option instead of the second...

Here's to a speedy recovery, no more pain, and lots of awesome afterward!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

As I put it to kurayami_hime, I don't think I'm at high risk of catastrophic ankle failure or anything, but blisters from the brace are a real possibility. I need to talk to the surgical scheduling coordinator on Monday, but it'll probably be the March option.

[zellandyne.livejournal.com]

:/ I'm sorry to hear that.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

It could be worse -- but it could also be better.