End of an Era

Wednesday was my return appt. with Dr. Haase, my podiatrist, to check on the status of my ankle. Unfortunately, I was beset with a touch of 'itis (I suspect of the bronchitis variety), so I was battling a healthy 101 degree fever, and I had no voice. I'm sure specialists try not to pick up on symptoms outside of their specialty, cause they don't want to deal with that shit, so she dutifully snipped off my foot wrap (it had been under the boot since the beginning) while I squeaked that I had been a good boy and had worn the boot as requested (I left out the parts about ping pong and the dance club, though I was booted for both activities!).


With her clipping done, she revealed ..... a fairly normal looking foot! The bruising that turned me into the muffin man had settled out along the top of my foot, all the way to my toes, but wasn't near as knarly looking as I had hoped for (trust me, you'd be seeing pictures if it were bad!). She was pleased with my progress, and asked that I remain in the boot until Saturday, at which time I could start transitioning into a soft wrap and tennis shoes. I of course took that to mean I don't need to wear the boot ever again, and thus I went to work today with a soft wrapped ankle in my normal dress shoes.


There's a reason people go to medical school people; they learn stuff, and then they share it with patients. By about 3PM it was clear Dr. Haase was a good learner, as my bootless foot was quite pissed. She even warned me that my foot might get a little tired as I transitioned out of the boot. Still though, I think I am done with the boot; I'll simply try to take it easy and limit the walking (and ping pong) near term.


For the near future, she gave me no time table for my return to sports, only advising that I avoid uneven surfaces as those could lead to a new sprain, and then we'd be starting all over again. As was usual, I heard "You can play softball, just use a brace that will prevent any kind of ankle sprain." Other than softball though, I plan to only run in the near term.


Upon closer inspection tonight, there is still a decent amount of swelling present. It seems to be deep, hard swelling though, so you really have to compare my left and right ankles to see the spots that are still misshapen. I an fearful that I may still be a couple of weeks away from comfortable running, but somewhat confident that I can still run Indy, even it at a slow pace. This Saturday morning I think I'm going to go with Melissa, Lynette, and Jonathan to the Trolley Run 5k. I figure I might as well be present when Melissa further crushes my 5k PR! While they're out on the course, I think I'll do some light jogging near the finish line and see how I hold up.


Later kids, be safe.