I can walk!!!!

I had my orthopedic appointment today. Three x-rays and a consultation later, I am now walking in my own two shoes, sans walker, wearing an Ace ankle brace on my right ankle and occasionally using a cane for balance, or to signal in a crowd that it is probably not a good idea to jostle me.

It feels SO good!

I've seen my x-rays from today, and the bone looks good. I can't even see where it was broken, though admittedly I'm no expert at reading x-rays. Apparently, it's pretty solid now, anyway, and the doc said that in another few weeks the ankle will be completely healed and good as ever. In the meantime, I'm to walk normally, wear the ankle brace if I feel the need (and yes, it makes me feel more sure of the ankle, which feels slightly weaker than the other one, though it doesn't hurt unless I'm on it for a long time). I get to return to my normal life, and I go back to the orthopedist on April 17th for another checkup. He also said not to worry about my left knee, since a lot of the current pain I'm having in it is probably due to a combination of having been my mobility workhorse for several weeks and walking in the fracture boot, which has a higher sole than my shoes. Once I've been walking levelly in normal shoes for a while, he expects the pain to subside, and if I do the PT exercises I had for the knee before, that ought to take care of the rest. Basically, sensible leg exercises will strengthen both legs, and I'll be just fine.

I'm still a bit confused as to whether I merely have a torn meniscus in that knee, or a torn meniscus and a torn or missing ACL. My regular orthopedist is currently on vacation, and the one I saw today is an associate of his who also saw me while I was in the hospital. My regular one had told me back in September that my ACL was "okay" but my meniscus was torn; however, in a visit to my primary doctor yesterday, I was informed that according to a letter from that orthopedist to my primary doc in October, my knee injury was described as a torn ACL and a torn meniscus. Well, either way, the knee was stable after PT, so apparently it will be again. Good, because I really don't want surgery.

Anyway, I can walk now. My friend who took me to the appointment had to go back to work, but by that time my fiance had arrived home from work, and came to get me. We ran a few errands, and now he's gone to shovel a friend's car out of the snow left from this weekend's blizzard. I'm looking forward to getting back to normalcy.

A D&D-inspired Look at Politics

Charlie Stross describes the current crop of Presidential candidates in Monster Manual terms.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Spring is coming!

I saw the first robin of spring today, and the pussywillows in our backyard are pushing forth their fuzzy little blooms!

This is annoying

I am currently watching a program on the History Channel, Journey to 10,000 BC, about ancient humans. For whatever reason, the History Channel has seen fit to keep a banner in the top left corner of the screen, announcing "Ax Men Series Premiere Starts In" followed by a counter in hours, minutes and seconds. (It's currently at 01:47:38 or some such.)

Do they have ANY idea how annoying this is? I really don't want my view of the program I'm currently watching to be obscured or distracted from by a banner advertising an upcoming show that I have no interest in. (To be fair, I'd be just as upset if the banner were advertising a show I was eagerly awaiting.) Why not just let me watch what I'm watching right now, and trust me to be able to read my cable guide and figure out when the next thing I want to watch will be on?

From the department of OMG, WTF

Ah, late winter in Cleveland, Ohio...

Water Floods Basements in Downtown Cleveland

And the whole mess put a big sinkhole at a major intersection in Public Square, too.

There is speculation that this week's fluctuating temperatures may have caused the pipe, installed in 1880, to weaken and break.

Update...

For those of you who weren't aware, I broke my right ankle on January 16th, and this on top of having suffered a torn meniscus in my left knee last year. The knee was treated with physical therapy, and I was cleared to return to normal activity just before Christmas. So of course, less than a month later, I break the ankle on the opposite leg. The left knee decided that bearing all of my weight did not constitute "normal" activity and went on strike. I wound up not being able to use crutches, and so had to use a wheelchair. Thus began several weeks of inactivity. Inactivity of this type can often lead to the development of blood clots in the lower limbs, and I had already been hospitalized in November of 2001 for a clot in my right calf. (I was on birth control pills at the time, and over the age of 35, and had smoked briefly off and on up to that point, so the clot was chalked up to those things as they are known to increase clotting risks. I was treated with heparin in the hospital, spent three days there, was discharged, spent 6 months on Coumadin, have been off BC and smoking ever since, and remained clot-free.) I was worried about developing another clot while sitting on my butt waiting for my ankle to heal, and indeed I did develop one, this time in my right thigh. I was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, February 23rd, late at night after spending several hours in ER getting tests done. Heparin was administered via IV, and I started on Coumadin while in the hospital.

Also, while I was in the hospital they checked my ankle on Tuesday and cleared me for full weightbearing, as tolerated, in the big plastic removable boot I've been wearing since February 7th. (I also now get to leave the boot off except when actually walking in it. Yay for increased foot comfort!) They gave me a walker and taught me to use it, and had me hobbling the halls, and also had me practicing on the stairs in the physical therapy gym with a crutch so that I could get in and out of our 2nd-floor apartment without having to go up and down stairs on my butt anymore. So one day before the six-week anniversary of the fracture, I was cleared to walk.

I got home Friday evening, and will be on Coumadin (also known as warfarin) for probably the next three months, and at least to start with, I have to have blood tests on Mondays and Fridays. The clot probably did indeed result from my being confined to wheelchair, bed and sofa for most of six weeks though the doctor says that I may also be slightly predisposed to clotting, according to some bloodwork. Not all tests on that are back yet, and I'm asking for everyone's continued GoodThoughts/prayers/whatever that everything still out there comes back showing no problem. My doctor says that after three months on the warfarin, I may well be able to transition to a low-dose aspirin regimen combined with being active rather than sitting around, and indeed I am going to be getting active again while on the warfarin too, with his blessing. Since now I won't be sitting on my butt quite so much, I'm able to start getting back on track again.

Overall, it feels good to be walking, even though I have to do it slowly and use the walker for now. I go back to the orthopedist on March 11th and hopefully by then I'll be able to start walking without the walker. To be honest, the old left knee injury is actually giving me more pain and hassle now than the right ankle. Life is odd, isn't it? Anyway, now I get to start from square one with the PT exercises for the knee. Which is pretty much what I expected I would need to do.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, GoodThoughts and well wishes. They are much appreciated.