It has been a rough week! The past 8 days felt more like 3 weeks between a million doctor/dentist appointments and lots of pain. I'll give you the short version because I'm sick of the full version from living it. Last Thursday evening I had my 3 wisdom teeth extracted, all were impacted and one was extra complicated. I ended up with something called Dry Socket which means that it isn't healing properly and there is exposed bone in my jaw. To sum it up, it fucking hurt. It is okay now after 3 days in a row of visits to the oral surgeon for quick treatments. Apparently this is really common because tons of people have told me that they also had it. It felt like the worst thing ever a few days ago, but now everything just tastes like cloves from the medicine in my socket. It'll be fine in a few more days. Whew.
In the middle of that mess, I had an appointment with an Orthopedic Dr to check out this nagging ankle injury that I got 6 weeks ago. It happened with a traumatic blow to the ankle during my first (and last) soccer game of the season. A girl twice my size kicked me on the lateral side of my foot while my foot was in the air. I scored a goal that game, for the record. The doc insisted on an MRI and Xray, but I thought that was excessive. Keep in mind that I was still on heavy painkillers from the teeth and had forgotten how much my ankle had been hurting. The imaging was Wednesday and my wonderful Dr emailed me the entire report to read today. He knows I'm a PT. Here's the exact wording:
1. High grade partial tear of the Anterior Talofibular ligament without retraction. (ATFL=ligament on the outside of your ankle, mine is halfway off of the bone)
2. Contusions versus reactive edema of the posterior, medial and lateral talar dome without a fracture or osteochondral lesion. (oh my poor Talus- a bone, is really beat up. It's a major component of the ankle joint)
3. Large tibiotalar joint effusion. (aka fat ankle)
4. Possible reactive edema versus Contusions of the lateral malleolus ( what most people think of as their ankle bone). Mild Peroneus brevis and longus tendinitis. (those are the tendons attached to the muscles that move your foot outward)
So, what now? This week I go see an ankle surgeon who will set me up with some sort of brace to keep the ligament in place so that it can heal itself. I'll wear it for several weeks. If it doesn't help, I'll have to get it surgically repaired, but it should work. Then I'll have weeks or months of PT to retrain my ankle to work properly because the ankle plays a major role in balance and it's going to get lazy in that brace. I actually really appreciate having all of this knowledge in my head, it makes the whole thing manageable. Of course it sucks that I'm out of the NYC Triathlon this weekend and possibly (probably) out of my Half Ironman this Oct, but I always knew I was risking injury by playing soccer and I didn't care because I love it. Don't we all risk injury when we train for our marathons, trail races, triathlons, swims, etc? Someone remind me of this in a few weeks when I'm cranky: It is only an ankle injury, you're still a healthy, strong athlete with wonderful friends and family and there will be many more races in the future.
I'll know more after I see the surgeon, but for now I'm thinking that I'll have lots of time in the next few weeks to work on strength, core and everywhere else. I need that anyway,hopefully I'll be ripped come Fall.
I wonder if I should tell the Doctor that I won two Age Group awards on this ankle? Hmm, maybe it's best for my karma not to be boastful.
In the middle of that mess, I had an appointment with an Orthopedic Dr to check out this nagging ankle injury that I got 6 weeks ago. It happened with a traumatic blow to the ankle during my first (and last) soccer game of the season. A girl twice my size kicked me on the lateral side of my foot while my foot was in the air. I scored a goal that game, for the record. The doc insisted on an MRI and Xray, but I thought that was excessive. Keep in mind that I was still on heavy painkillers from the teeth and had forgotten how much my ankle had been hurting. The imaging was Wednesday and my wonderful Dr emailed me the entire report to read today. He knows I'm a PT. Here's the exact wording:
1. High grade partial tear of the Anterior Talofibular ligament without retraction. (ATFL=ligament on the outside of your ankle, mine is halfway off of the bone)
2. Contusions versus reactive edema of the posterior, medial and lateral talar dome without a fracture or osteochondral lesion. (oh my poor Talus- a bone, is really beat up. It's a major component of the ankle joint)
3. Large tibiotalar joint effusion. (aka fat ankle)
4. Possible reactive edema versus Contusions of the lateral malleolus ( what most people think of as their ankle bone). Mild Peroneus brevis and longus tendinitis. (those are the tendons attached to the muscles that move your foot outward)
So, what now? This week I go see an ankle surgeon who will set me up with some sort of brace to keep the ligament in place so that it can heal itself. I'll wear it for several weeks. If it doesn't help, I'll have to get it surgically repaired, but it should work. Then I'll have weeks or months of PT to retrain my ankle to work properly because the ankle plays a major role in balance and it's going to get lazy in that brace. I actually really appreciate having all of this knowledge in my head, it makes the whole thing manageable. Of course it sucks that I'm out of the NYC Triathlon this weekend and possibly (probably) out of my Half Ironman this Oct, but I always knew I was risking injury by playing soccer and I didn't care because I love it. Don't we all risk injury when we train for our marathons, trail races, triathlons, swims, etc? Someone remind me of this in a few weeks when I'm cranky: It is only an ankle injury, you're still a healthy, strong athlete with wonderful friends and family and there will be many more races in the future.
I'll know more after I see the surgeon, but for now I'm thinking that I'll have lots of time in the next few weeks to work on strength, core and everywhere else. I need that anyway,hopefully I'll be ripped come Fall.
I wonder if I should tell the Doctor that I won two Age Group awards on this ankle? Hmm, maybe it's best for my karma not to be boastful.
posted from Bloggeroid
You have a fantastic attitude about it! I hope you don't need the surgery, though.
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