Down again

I promised a post so here it is:

The ankle injury I sustained last November 4th never fully healed correctly, so I was forced to take drastic means and get it fixed.  After suffering through the summer months of pain and frustration I opted for surgery which was this past Monday (November 1st). 

After getting to the hospital in Columbia around 5:30am I was soon wisked away to pre-op and got in my gown and got the IV started.  Around 7 am the nurse shot some "stuff" in my IV and I immediately felt a little drunk.  (Which I must say wasn't bad)  At 7:15 I said good-bye to my wife and was taken into the OR.  All I remember from there was transferring to the table and talking to the nurse.  Next thing I know I was waking up in recovery. 

I remember them asking how my pain was, but I was in and out of conciousness and must have said OK.  They were going to give me a nerve block for the pain, but I said..."Team redwheelers don't get nerve blocks.  They down pain meds and drink beer!"  So it was a NO on the nerve block. 

Somehow I made it through recovery and was taken to a recovery room where my wife was waiting.  I greeted her and fell back asleep.  I was in and out of conciousness for a couple hours and then they made me try to eat something.  Not a good thing, as I had some trouble keeping things down.  After upchucking crackers and sprite for a while I was finally able to keep something down and was released for home at 8:15 pm.  It had been a long day.   

I was told the surgery was a success but time will tell.  The doc said it was a little worse than he thought and the surgery took a lot longer then he thought.  I was in the OR a total of 5hr 35min where they scoped my ankle and repaired a couple torn ligaments, repaired an avulsion fracture, and took out a piece of cartilage that was floating around in there.  No more basketball for me....

I will be in a softcast for 2 weeks, a hard cast for 6-8 weeks, a boot for another 6-8 weeks, and then rehab for 1-2 months.  Ouch...  I laid around with my foot in the air last week and am preparing for more of the same this week.  The pain is Ok, but the real fun is mixing the pain meds and beer.  When that happens I don't feel any pain. :-)  I will return to work next week.   

I promised a poloroid so here ya go. I have added more photos of what my ankle looks like after the soft cast came off.  I now have it wrapped back up, but in a boot.  Probably no cast which is good, but non-weight bearing for another 6 weeks.