Jump to content

Well, this was unpleasant...


Scruit

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

Bump for update:

MRI confirmed grade 3 sprain with complete tears of the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments, plus partial tears of several other ligaments. I have an avulsion fracture and "bruised bones" from when the ligaments let go and my ankle bones smacked together.

It's been about 3 weeks since the injury. Pain is gone but I can't walk on the ankle without the cast or brace. I'm still in an aircast and will be for another 3 weeks, with physio staring one week from now. After that I'll be in a smaller ASO brace (inside my shoe) for a couple of months.

Can't ride or drive stick in the cast or the ASO brace. Knowing it will be at least 3 more months I'm spending time today putting sta-bil in the car/bike etc. I don't expect to get back on the bike this year much, if at all. It'd be october/november before the ASO brace comes off (if I heal quickly) but it could be longer.

In the meantime I bought a cheap (automatic) car to get around in ($1400 '89 Park Avenue). When will the fun ever end?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just found this thread. I did the exact same thing years ago sparring in Taekwondo. I jumped up to kick someone and landed on one leg (by design). Unfortunately, the shin guard I was wearing shifted (the band that wraps under the foot) and it caused me to lose balance. So yeah...225 pounds coming down full force basically on my ankle. I rolled it ...and my foot looked just like yours. Of course, this was 2 weeks prior to my first big competition at the Arnold Battle of Columbus..and I almost cried myself to sleep that night because I couldn't fight. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...could I?

This was back around 01 I think? There weren't many 'forums'...folks were mostly using USENET. I put a question out there....basically an SOS...asking if anyone had any experience with this type of injury and what was the quickest way to get the swelling down. A high school football coach responded, and told me to get apple cider vinegar as hot as I could take it, soak a towel in it, and wrap my foot in that at least three times a day. After a few days, I said F it, and just got it really hot on the stove and dumped it in a bucket and soaked my foot in that. The house stunk like I don't know what.

That shit worked though. It got the swelling down enough for me to wrap the shit out of it and be able to stand on it.

I beat the dog shit out of everyone that day and brought home the gold baby.

Now for the bad news. Be prepared to deal with plantar fasciitis for a long time. I had it for years. You'll know the signs...when you wake up in the morning your foot will be tight, and the first time you set it down and put some weight on it, it's gonna hurt for a little while. It will feel like someone driving a long nail through the bottom of your foot, straight up through your heel.

I've been there, so I know exactly what you're going through. Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Update, for those who care:

It's 7.5 weeks post-injury. I've been out of the cast for 2 weeks and I just had a follow-up with the ortho surgeon. The ligaments have reattached themselves and are healing as expected. The swelling is all but gone but my range of motion is still only baout 75% what it used to be. I have 3 more weeks of physio before they cut me loose.

I'm finally allowed to drive stick again, but have to wean back into it, so I'll be in the Gimpmobile for another 6 weeks before I am totally back to stick. In 6 weeks I'll sell the Gimpmobile - by then I'll have saved 12 weeks of rental car costs. If I get $1750 for it then that's $1500 in savings versus renting.

I can ride the bike again!!! But only very short journeys for now (around the block, not too many upshifts as the "dorsiflexion" can be painful), working up to going back to my regular commute in about a month. That'll give me back a month or two of the season, which is better than the "season-ending" injury it was thought to be at first.

Looking forward to getting back on 2 wheels. Think I'll take a victory lap around the block this weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Drove my normal car up and down the street a little, just to get an idea of how my ankle will handle the heavy clutch. Seemed ok, but it is a HUGE difference between the Gimpmobile ('89 Park Avenue Auto 3.8 FWD) and my regular car ('05 Subaru Legacy GT 2.5 Turbo AWD stick). It's not even funny how different they are.

The PA is like being pulled serenely down the street in a recliner on wheels attached by a bungee to Patrick Maruniak. The accelerator pedal acts like a suggestion box (maybe it will accelerate, but not until they open the box at the end of the day and had a good long think about it.)

The Subaru is very much sit-the-fuck-down, shut-the-fuck-up and hold-the-fuck-on. It's accelerator pedal has a direct connection to that white house lauch-the-fuckin-nukes red telephone. The shifter is hardwired to teh awesome. If you stomp the gas while the engine is anywhere above 3500 then you better have already gotten your affairs in order and be at peace with your maker because unless you let off pretty damn quick you're gonna meet him.

Damn, I've missed this car.

The PA is 3300lbs, 165hp and 0-60 in about 10 seconds. The Legacy is 3300lbs, 250hp and 0-60 in 5.2 (if you aren't paying for the clutch).

CarFixed.jpg

Edited by Scruit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Update: I rode to work today!! I've been going on short rides around the neighborhood. At first I couldn't flex my foot up to shift down unless I lifted my foot up off the peg and my ankle was sore for a couple days after that. Next ride I could reach the pedal without lifting off the peg but it was sore (but the soreness didn't linger)

This morning I was able to ride to work (25 miles) and I actually forgot about my ankle during most of the journey - which is good. It didn't bother me at all.

I'll cage it tomorrow to give my ankle some time to object, but if I get no longering soreness from the bike commute then I'm going back to commuting on the bike 100% starting next week, a little short of 3 months since the injury.

It's great to be back on the bike. :D I had been warned to write off this season completely. Still, I lost half of it. :nono:

Edited by Scruit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...