Be careful what you wish for...

For the past two weeks I have been anticipating today...almost salivating. Today was my post surgical follow-up with my orthopedic surgeon. I wanted so badly to get that soft cast off so I could see my ankle and see how things were healing. I was also a bit apprehensive...worried that moving the ankle would prove to be excruciatingly painful. But the desire to get a good look at my healing foot outweighed my anxiety.

At 10:30 this morning I walked into...well, rolled into Dr. Zavala's office. His nurse took me to an exam room almost immediately. She removed the ace wrap, grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off the cotton wrapping my leg. She removed the soft cast and this is what was underneath...



I was very disappointed.


My foot feels like it has been pumped up with novocaine. Absolutely no feeling on the surface of the skin though I can feel (aka "it hurts") any pressure to the foot. It is ridiculously swollen and discolored. And the stitches??? This dude had to have failed homemaking...at least the sewing segment. Actually, Dr. Zavala said my foot looks great and in retrospect I believe he is right. It has been only two weeks. And after the number it did on my car...how can I expect any less for flesh and bone. Also, I saw the pre-surgical xrays. Both of them. The one before they realigned my foot and the one after. I could feel Dr. Zavala looking at me as he showed me the xrays. All I could say was, "Holy Moley!!" My shin bone is split vertically, my ankle was shoved two inches up into my shin cavity and bones were pushed all over the place. The post surgical xrays look much neater...two titanium plates and eleven screws holding my ankle together.

Prognosis: I am now in a lovely purple cast.


After a couple of weeks in this cast I return to Dr. Zavala. They will remove the cast and reassess my ankle. If he feels it has healed enough, he will place me in a fracture boot. No, I won't be able to put any weight on it for at least another six weeks, but at least I will be able to flex the ankle to keep it from locking up and keep the Achilles tendon from atrophying. After that I could be facing months of physical therapy. But hey, I'm alive and flesh and bones heal...eventually.

On a side note: Libby, my precious Jeep Liberty, has gone to the great junkyard in the sky. She was totaled. I didn't even get to say goodbye. But I think she knew how much I loved her.





Now I begin the arduous task of finding a new vehicle. If I had even been thinking about getting a new car I would have some idea of what I want. As it is, I wasn't even entertaining the idea of replacing Libby. We leave for our annual anniversary trip in less than a week. Yes, I am going to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas with one foot in a boot and the other in a cast (LOL)and I am going to have a great time. Someone said to me tonight, "You're going to be miserable." My reply? "No, I'm not because I don't choose to be. I have made up my mind not to wallow in misery. I have made up my mind that I will have a good time...and so I will."

After seeing my Jeep, the accident scene and my xrays, I realize that my guardian angels were working overtime that evening. My injuries could have been so much worse...even fatal. I am blessed and I intend to live my life that way. So, if I haven't said it before, I am saying it now, "Thank you, God, for your grace and mercy and for protecting me from more serious injury."