Ankle Updates

Its a funny thing about this ankle problem of mine. For the past 20 years I have known that an ankle fusion is going to be in my future. Having always known this, not once have I ever actually looked into what the process entails.

Here is what I have learned:

1. I had hoped that in the past 20 years there would be significant advances in this particular field that would eliminate the need for a fused ankle. Sadly, this is not the case. Thanks to the availability of copious amounts of medical information (courtesy of the World Wide Web) I have learned that ankle fusion is really the most common fix for a guy like me and the most successful.


2. I never really knew the process of an ankle fusion, but now I do. There is a particularly useful site that was found by Dean Flint. Allow me to post a link: http://home.earthlink.net/~janny01/. This lady had the surgery done, her ailment might be slightly different, but the idea is the same.


3. Recovery from ankle fusion is not a quick process. It seems that 5-8 months is a normal recovery time. Thinking about it now, that seems like a really long time. Especially when you consider the first 6-8 weeks there can be no pressure put on the joint at all.

Here is a picture of what an ankle fusion would entail:

So, it seems like I should have known all this information sooner than now, but as they say, "There is no time like the present."

Right now I am in a state of pretty constant pain, I'm living on ibuprofen and Tylenol at work, and the occasional vicodin at home. I'm waiting for the doctor's office to call with the information about a cat scan before I can be referred to an orthopedist.

I'll keep you posted.