Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Broken ankle: One Year Later

It's been over a year since I broke and dislocated my ankle: a trimalleolar break (three
bones) as well as a dislocation (my foot bent down and backwards).  Here's my six
month update which has links to my other ankle posts.

Now it is 14 months later and as snow has hit the town Im living in - I find myself
thinking of my fall last winter and struggling with Snow PTSD. I'm a very slow walker
on icy surfaces now.

I also:
- still have ankle pain daily, but for shorter periods of time. I would guess I pop
    painkillers (2-3 aleve usually) about four days a week.
- still have swelling. every day. Sometimes by noon. Sometimes by the end of the day.
- limp sometimes. Not a lot.  If I have been sitting at my desk for a long time I will
    limp for a minute when I get up.  Or if I take the dogs on a long walk I sometimes
    limp a little afterwards.  I usually try to disguise it as a jaunty boho walk (whatever
    that is!)
- don't wear any sort of heel. No way. fear of wobbling.
- still have visible scars on both sides of my ankle wear I had the surgery. Visible to me
   at least.  I don't think anyone else would notice unless they were sitting right beside
    me and looking straight at them.

All in all, I think I've been pretty lucky.  And if you are reading this due to your own injury,
I hope you'll be lucky too.