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.