Walking

I had my surgery. It went well. I was awake for all of it, though a little loopy. Now I'm trying to learn to walk again. It hurts. My ankle feels very strange when I twist my foot back and forth. I'm missing quite a bit of range of motion. The last time the doctor checked it, a little over two weeks ago, he said I wouldn't need physical therapy. Hopefully I still won't when he checks it again on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll be allowed to shower soon.

Surgery!

Tomorrow morning I have surgery again. It will be back to the crutches for me I'm told. But my ankle will be free moving, which means I'm close to walking again.

Microbes

The NY Times has an interesting article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html

If you've paid attention to medical science then you've probably noticed that it mostly operates on fear and ignorance. My mom once asked me why doctors wouldn't tell her about herbal remedies. My answer was that Christianity had demonized the witches, and medicine has continued to carry that torch. Years back I saw a scientific paper on detecting pregnancy. Some amazingly smart "scientist" had discovered what everyone has known for thousands of years (the Greeks were the first to writ it down). But now that a paper had been written on it, it was actually real.

So anyway. The what-if question. What if diabetes is just a problem with intestinal fauna just like that woman in the article had?

Back To My Old Weight

I weighed myself recently. The big metal boot and the Teva added some extra weight to me, but I don't think I'm looking for pound-accuracy. I'm back up to just under my pre-Death-By-Mountain weight. In the past couple of weeks I'd noticed I'd gotten bigger. It's been seven weeks of a broken ankle, and so that isn't too surprising. Hopefully I can send it back down in a few weeks when I'm allowed to walk again.

More on my ankle

One bit of good news is the physical therapy. Lots of people have been telling me to make sure I do my physical therapy because if I don't I'll never recover that lost movement. When one person told me I had a long and painful PT ahead of me I brazenly said that no, I didn't, it would be easy. He told me that was a good attitude.

Yesterday the doctor had me show him my range of movement in my ankle. After which he said that there was no reason to send me to physical therapy. I don't have as much movement in the left ankle as I do in the right, but I have quite a bit. And once those screws come out I expect it will be even better.

They are making me get a physical for this surgery. I asked why I didn't need a physical for the last surgery, and they told me I had had one because I wouldn't have had the surgery without it. They were insistent that I had one, and that I couldn't have had surgery without one. And I'm very positive I didn't have one, because I'd remember it.

I'll probably be awake for the next surgery. It is pretty minor. It has to happen in the OR though, it is too involved for an office visit.

That was a really long appointment.

My calf has shrunk. My leg is really dry and flaky.

The next surgery is two weeks from today. After that, I should be able to walk without the giant metal boot anymore.

In a little less than eight hours I'll be at the doctor again. I've been out of the cast for about three weeks. It has been seven weeks since the surgery. It is my sincerest hope that the giant metal boot will come off today (and stay off). I hope to be able to shower soon. I hope to be able to start physical therapy. Going on long walks isn't very viable now because of how badly the boot rubs on me. Bicycle riding will be easier with out it as well. I hope to have the second surgery soon. The sooner the better.

Four Mile Bicycle Ride

I started riding a normal bicycle yesterday. It wasn't so good at first, but it got better. Today I went out for a "long" ride. I headed to Macey Center, then to Wal*Mart, then home. By the time I got to Macey my arms were hurting badly. I'm sure I'll regain that conditioning pretty quickly. I tried to ride without hands to alleviate it, but I haven't done that in a month and a half, and I was using a squirrely bicycle, so I gave up on riding that way pretty quickly. I made it about four miles at least (1/2 mile form my house to the plaza plus 1 mile from the plaza to the gym makes 3 miles overall round trip, plus the extra distance to Macey and I took a longer way home, so I had to be getting up near 4 miles). This will be easier without the boot.

Weight: Gained

I've gained weight recently. Considering how "well" (poorly?) I've eaten in the past week, I guess I expected this. I need to get back on track.

I rode a two wheeled bicycle today. The first 400 meters were great. The next 400 meters weren't so great, but it wasn't painful. My ankle just felt weird. I stopped for breakfast then. The 800 meters back home felt just fine. I'll need to go out and ride more not that I can.

I can't really pedal fast because the giant boot is in the way, and my foot isn't straight on my leg anymore, but I can pedal.

Slowly recovering

In about a week I visit the doctor again. I'm hoping that my next surgery will follow shortly thereafter because once I have the surgery I can start trying to regain my range of motion in my ankle.