14 years of Ankle Drama... woof.

After realizing not everyone knows my history... thought I'd post it here.

History

-grade 3 ankle sprain in 1999 while hiking the Grand Canyon... I got helicoptered out (kinda cool).
-casted for 2 weeks then gradually walking again.
-I was 22 and hadn't discovered how to be fit as an adult (I'd run in high school and crewed for Cal). This probably let me heal... but also contributed to the initial injury.

-2008: I finally learned how to be fit after sporadic fitness throughout my 20s. I fell in love with running again and ran a bunch of 5ks and 10ks and did a few triathlons.

-2009/10: ran successfully and grew to adore running. Added in sprint triathlons and started going for longer distances...

-Late 2010 I made the decision to try different shoes for running even though I still loved my Asics. Not too bright. I started to get tendonitis.

-January 2011, tendonitis got worse. So I tried minimalist shoes. Again, not too bright. You really need healthy feet for those...
-February 2010 I switched to cycling to train. Kind of smart.
-March 2011 I ran a 1/2 marathon even though I'd only trained on a bike. Really not smart. (See a pattern here?) Developed plantar fasciitis.
-May 2011 slowly tried to run again with those dratted minimalist shoes. Really wasn't smart in May and when the Newtons box said run 1/2 day one, I thought... Ooh I feel great. I'll run 3. Then the next day I packed and moved my classroom in flip flops on tender feet.
-May 2011 Leaned over to kiss my son goodnight from a crisscross sitting position and felt an enormous click or pop. Immediately could not stand and the pain was intense. Stayed in bed with boys until they were asleep then crawled downstairs. Borrowed hubby's car (mine is a stick shift) and drove to urgent care. I saw an awful doc who told me I could probably do the triathlon I was signed up for in 2 days. Uh no. I was nwb for 3 weeks. Had to ask for crutches.
-May 2011: Decided to see a doctor. I went to a podiatrist/surgeon. He did an MRI and a boot I couldn't wear and said my foot was fine and to just let it rest.

-The next 8 months: I tried to run on 3 separate occasions - spread out over time - and it didn't work. Too much pain. I went to my regular doctor who referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. I'd picked the other doc off of the Internet.

-January 2012: Saw Dr. H. He looked at the same MRI and said my ligament was very thin. It might heal with compression to increase blood flow. Come back in a month and see. Note: this was the MRI from 8 months ago. No tear to my peroneal tendon on that MRI. My only guess - other than inaccurate reading of MRI - is that the running and exercise I tried because the first doctor (podiatrist) told me I was fine did more damage.
-February 2012: No progress. Scheduled surgery.
-March 22, 2012: Brostrom Procedure to tighten my ligament and while he was there he discovered an inch long split to my peroneal brevis. He chose to suture it.
-Summer 2012: My ankle seemed to be healing well. I got to the point where I could do the stationary bike and the elliptical. I started off gently but was starting to amp it up towards the end of August. And that is when I started to feel some twinges.
-Beginning of School Year 2012: During the first two weeks of teaching my kinders, my foot really started to flare. I called and the doc suggested I go back to the boot for two weeks. He said that flares can happen during the first year. But the boot didn't work so I went in. He said to try two more weeks of being in the boot whenever I was on my feet.
-October 2012: It didn't improve and the doc had set it up so that I could just call and schedule and MRI. The MRI showed that my ligament had healed but the peroneal brevis tendon was grey and mushy. It was obvious when compared to my healthy peroneal longus tendon.

When he said surgery, my heart dropped. I'd really convinced myself I just needed time. I asked if it could get better over time. He said anything is possible, but unlikely. If I left it alone, I would have periods of no pain then it would flare and so on. I probably wouldn't be able to be active. He said he would likely transfer the healthy longus to the brevis. I asked about cadaver tissue, and he said it wasn't as healthy. So I scheduled the surgery.

Present Day Drama...


November 2012: The last week before surgery was brutal. I flirted with a temperature all week. 99.5... 99.7. I also was getting chesty goop. So I took lots of vitamin c and zinc and it worked... Sort of. The chesty stuff went away. The temp too, at first.

The night of the 19th (night before surgery): Nasty stomach bug hit. I was hurting all night. I barely slept.

Morning of the 20th: I had diarreah. TMI, but its a medical board, so hey! I was NOT skipping surgery. No way. I got dizzy in the shower from dehydration and started to worry. I didn't tell anyone. I was allowed to have Gatorade and water until 9 since my surgery was at 2:30. I felt so much better after drinking the Gatorade.

I stayed home and laid down all day to rest. I was worried about my temp because it kept going up and down... 99.0 ... 99.7. It stayed down luckily!

I went to the hospital at 1PM. Because my smallest son (age 5) was home sick, my husband just dropped me off. I didn't mind because I was able to relax and do a word search. Ha. I've never done those but it was distracting and perfect.

Last March my surgery was delayed by 3 hours and they didn't bring me back for a long time. I was so dehydrated and felt terrible. This year, my surgery was at the hospital (instead of the orthopedic center my doc works at) and even though it was delayed by an hour they brought me back right away and got me hydrated through an iv. Oh that was wonderful! (We have one of the best rated hospitals in the country in my town... Note to self: any time I need surgery, opt for the hospital if possible.)

Lots of people came in and out checking my vitals - temp was 98.3 - and history. Then the anesthesiologist came it and got me going with the block. He blocked the nerve on the outside of my leg and when he couldn't see the inner nerve (this was just in case the doc needed to do unexpected work) he just put the meds around the area. The first block didn't hurt but I admit to several very bad words when he did the second!

The doc came in and told me details of the surgery. He said that if there was good tissue he wouldn't do the transfer. I told him I didn't want to do this again, so if there was any ambiguity to please do the transfer...

And then it was time. I'd been so scared it wouldn't happen and now it was! No Vanilla Ice this time. Lol. It was so cold in the operating room but they gave a warm blanket right away and I felt so good.

When I woke, I was groggy for a bit but became lucid right away. I could communicate and got dressed and ate some applesauce. Best. Applesauce. Ever.

I got some details from the anesthesiologist, from my friend via text (she'd spoken to the doc, then from the doc himself...

Quote :

Quote:
Significant tear - 1 1/2 inches - on the brevis tendon that showed only partial healing
-Augmented the brevis via a transfer of the healthy longus
-Tenosynovectomy of the brevis: not quite sure what this is... The med dictionary says excision or resection of tendon sheath, so I think its related to the transfer or is the transfer.

It's been 7 weeks and I think I'm doing well. I haven't managed to get completely weight bearing yet, but I'm getting closer. I felt great last night so walked a bunch an am achy this morning... taking it a bit easy and will ice today...


Patti

Nothing specific to write, other then that is alot to go through.

Dang girl!! That is insane! Glad you managed to stay healthy! At my last surgery I had the coolest gown. It had a little port hole on the side of it that hooked up to a hose where they can either blow warm or cool air into it. Combo of the heat going in and the warm blankets I was so cozy!