17 days post-op.

   As a guy recovering from this surgery I am grateful for the state of the world. I am grateful my parents, in-laws, and everyone else in this world has been given a chance to protect themselves from this crazy virus. As an educator I am selfishly grateful that my recovery can continue to happen from my bed or couch, as this has helped me tremendously. That being said I am very sad for my students, I know this is not what they signed up for.  Some, if not most of us thrive in the classroom, this new remote learning model is definitely not for everyone.
  Lets get into the surgery stuff now. Like I said, this virus thing timed very well with my recovery. I have had to go into work one day since surgery. That day was one day shy of the one week post-op mark. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. The worst part was any time my ankle wasn't propped up the pain showed up quickly. Now this pain was never more then say a 4, maybe 5 at most. This goes for the entire recovery to this point, The first couple of days were rough when the nerve block wore off but never more then a 5 or 6 max. This was more due to my nerves in the surgery area just firing off random shots of crazy pain, short lived and random but quite unpleseant . Honestly, most of the injuries I've had to my ankles over the years hurt worse. At this time the biggest issue is the non weight bearing thing. This being my right ankle it has definitely made driving a challenge. I was told not to do it. I've never been very good at following rules so this was my solution. It worked great(not legal I'm sure). As long as I kept my right leg propped across the passenger seat my left foot just took over. It was amazing how quickly I adapted. This was my set-up. The square tubing on the back was a counter weight to keep everything in place. The duck tape kept the copper pipe from sliding left or right, it worked with the pipe brackets I screwed into the deck. Worked just like it was suppose to.

  The issue of non weight bearing will be an issue until it's not. I have employed crutches, a knee scooter, and the i-walk. Crutches suck, straight up, but for middle of the night bathroom runs or in and out of the shower they are great. The scooter is great for the grocery store or just taking a hot lap around the bock to break up the day. I thought I was going to be back on campus  a week after surgery, it would of worked great there. Who knows it still might. The i-walk takes a little getting use to but it is incredible. I have been able to do just about everything I need to do around the house. I can navigate the stairs much easier. I've been able to pitch back into household chores to the delight of my wife. The only downsides to it are as follows, 1. you have to strap in and out every

time you use it. This means anytime you just want to take a seat it has to come off. 2. I'm right about 6 ft tall, my injured leg hangs off the back of the i-walk about a foot. This has created an issue with me catching it on things and even worse, my 180 lb Saint Bernard has plowed right into it several times. He 100% did it out of love every time. Here is a picture of the i-walk(peg-leg) I highly recommend it.

That brings us to my appointment today, exactly 17 days post-op. I was 100% expecting a cast for another 6 weeks but to my suprise I was put into an air-cast boot. I have to keep the boot on for the majority of the day, everyday. I can take it off to shower and to ice. At night I have to splint and wrap it. I will be in the boot for another month of non weight bearing. At the next appointment my doctor will evaluate and hopefully transition me to weight bearing where I am sure the fun will really begin. All in all this surgery hasn't been terrible, Its a surgery and that comes with obvious discomfort and inconvienience. Neither which have been anything to right home about at this point. I will add another post in a month to keep my blog up to date. I hope this helps someone out there.