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Health Update
Jun. 7th, 2009 09:10 amA bit of a backstory; When I was 14 I fractured my left ankle (actually did it three times). Since I was 14, if I ran for any distance my ankle would swell up and be painful (and I would hobble around). I discovered in my early twenties that I had an "unresolved" fracture still and there was the tip of one of my ankle bones floating around.
Unfortunately I never had health insurance long enough to actually do something about it. It also had some other problems that sprouted out. I was unable to be extremely active, my ankle would swell up and I would hobble. This resulted in me gaining a little weight (plus the eating things bad for me didn't help either :) ). The more weight I would gain the worse my ankle would be and the less I could be active on it. Sort of a bad never ending cycle. Additionally the ankle had an effect on my left knee, and finally as I hit my late 30's on my back
Now that I gave you the all to brief backstory I can talk about last week. We went in to see the podiatrist. He was a fairly good doctor. They took x-rays of my ankle and then he yanked it around in a physical inspection. After about 20 minutes of his dry humor (mostly about my painted toenails) he said he thought he knew what it was. He believes I tore two of my three ligaments in that ankle.
He explained that there is a ligament in the front area, the side and on the back. He believes the first two ligaments were torn away and that the third ligament, which is usually too strong to break, is what broke off the tip of my ankle bone. Basically he believes when I took the fall the first two ligaments ripped and the third one stretched around the tip and broke the bone.
He has arranged for an MRI to make sure this is what happened (I am going on Wednesday night). He explained there were three options, all of them are surgical. The first option would be to tie the pieces of ligament back together, but since this happened 23 years ago, he doubts there is enough to work with. The second option is to take one of my tendons, wrap it around the area that the ligaments would support and secure my ankle that way. The third option (and the one he likes least) is to put in artificial "anchors" to secure the ankle (but the articial ones are the least desirable due to performance).
So, I go in next week for an MRI. If it does turn out to be the problem, I will probably put surgery off until late October/early November (after the Dying Light season so I don't have to spend plot time directing from a chair). I am a bit nervous, and I wish it didn't take so long to get insurance, but now that I am doing it, I am very happy to get it done.
Oh, and yes I am wearing the brace he gave me until we know more.
Unfortunately I never had health insurance long enough to actually do something about it. It also had some other problems that sprouted out. I was unable to be extremely active, my ankle would swell up and I would hobble. This resulted in me gaining a little weight (plus the eating things bad for me didn't help either :) ). The more weight I would gain the worse my ankle would be and the less I could be active on it. Sort of a bad never ending cycle. Additionally the ankle had an effect on my left knee, and finally as I hit my late 30's on my back
Now that I gave you the all to brief backstory I can talk about last week. We went in to see the podiatrist. He was a fairly good doctor. They took x-rays of my ankle and then he yanked it around in a physical inspection. After about 20 minutes of his dry humor (mostly about my painted toenails) he said he thought he knew what it was. He believes I tore two of my three ligaments in that ankle.
He explained that there is a ligament in the front area, the side and on the back. He believes the first two ligaments were torn away and that the third ligament, which is usually too strong to break, is what broke off the tip of my ankle bone. Basically he believes when I took the fall the first two ligaments ripped and the third one stretched around the tip and broke the bone.
He has arranged for an MRI to make sure this is what happened (I am going on Wednesday night). He explained there were three options, all of them are surgical. The first option would be to tie the pieces of ligament back together, but since this happened 23 years ago, he doubts there is enough to work with. The second option is to take one of my tendons, wrap it around the area that the ligaments would support and secure my ankle that way. The third option (and the one he likes least) is to put in artificial "anchors" to secure the ankle (but the articial ones are the least desirable due to performance).
So, I go in next week for an MRI. If it does turn out to be the problem, I will probably put surgery off until late October/early November (after the Dying Light season so I don't have to spend plot time directing from a chair). I am a bit nervous, and I wish it didn't take so long to get insurance, but now that I am doing it, I am very happy to get it done.
Oh, and yes I am wearing the brace he gave me until we know more.
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