Incision

Seven weeks after my fall and subsequent ankle surgery, things are slowly
healing. I have another scar just like this one on the other side.

After six weeks of being "non-weight bearing", I have slowly begun
putting a little weight on my injured foot, while wearing "the Boot", my
removable cast.  It's a slow process, and very awkward, but it feels good
to be making progress.

Ankle Anniversary

Today is the one month anniversary of breaking my ankle.  My ankle was both dislocated and broken 

in three places, making it a trimalleolar fracture.

To clarify:

The big bone on the left ankle on the left side of the foot is the lateral malleolus. The big bone on the 

inside of the left ankle is the medial malleolus. Malleolus is singular (one); malleoli is plural (two or 

more); malleolar means pertaining to the malleolus/malleoli.

 -unimalleolar pertains to one malleolus;

 -bimalleolar pertains to the two malleoli, the lateral and medial;

 -trimalleolar pertains to three malleoli. Technically, there are two 

  malleoli, and the big bone at the tip of the tibia counts as the third.

So I go back to my OP (Orthopedic Surgeon) next week and hope to hear more about how my 

recovery will progress at that time.  My OP says that it is hard to predict: my injury is complex and 

everyone heals differently.  My internet research however has me thinking that this is a long slow 

process taking anywhere from 6 - 24 months with some people never getting 100% back to normal.

I have no insurance, but I spoke with a physical therapist when I was in the hospital and he said I 

could come in for one visit and he could teach me things to do at home on my own.  Physical therapy 

seems to be critical to a full recovery.  Here are a few sites I looked at today which I found to be helpful 

regarding therapy/exercise and a broken ankle:

Chair yoga

Suggestions for ankle exercise

More exercise ideas

Yoga poses with broken foot

It's been very hard having this injury at Christmas time.  No Christmas tree this year.  No lights

up anywhere.  I greatly miss walking.  And taking my dogs to the park.  Even things like

grocery shopping and cleaning house sound good to me now.  My sympathies go out to

anyone experiencing a similar injury.  

Broken Ankle Update

So I haven’t been doing much writing OR photography lately.  Having a broken ankle

really affects so many areas of one’s life.  In addition to being painful, limiting my mobility,  

affecting my emotions and putting a huge obstacle in my job hunting path, it has also 

seemed to dampen my creativity.

Here’s a short overview of my broken ankle so far:

Nov 22 - Fall on the street near my house due to snow and icy conditions. 6 PM

My daughter, Delaney, gets our neighbor to drive me to the hospital.  I am told I have 

dislocated my ankle and broken it in three places.  The orthopedic surgeon (who looks 

like Dr. Oz’s cuter, younger brother) tells me I need surgery which has been scheduled 

for the next day.  I’m worried about money (no insurance), my job interview next week, 

Delaney (18 and a bit shaken) and how the heck I will be able to function for the 

next few weeks.

Nov 23 - Surgery (see photo  here).  I love morphine.

Nov 25 - I get to leave the hospital.  I have a walker rather than crutches due to the huge 

amount of snow.  Very nervous about getting home but I make it ok.

Nov 26 - Delaney cooks her first Thanksgiving dinner and it turns out amazing!!  I am 

spending most of my time in bed with occasional trips to the bathroom.  

Dec 6 - Appointment with Doc goes well.  He says I am healing faster than anticipated given

 the complexity of my injury.  Cast removed, boot added.  It’s all still a little scary.  I have my 

next appointment in three weeks.  Doc asked me if I was able to work something out with 

the job interview and I am amazed that he remembered that.  What a nice guy.  (The job

 stared Dec 15th so I remain on the eligibility list but missed out this time).  

Today I did a bit of searching on the internet to see what others have experienced and 

found this site  and this one and here's one more .

They have different recovery experiences but all have one thing in common: it takes a long 

time.  I have been unemployed for almost six months now.  I really need to be able to

walk NOW.