Anterior Talofibu... do huh?

Yet another boring, self-involved blog entry. But I figure you might be interested to know what the orthopedic doctor said.

The diagnosis was a grade three (most severe) sprain. He said I completely tore the anterior talofibular ligament in my left ankle. Snapped it like a Slim Jim. Broke it in two like a toothpick. Anyway, he also said the same thing the ER doctor had said about seeing some bone fragments in the x-ray, saying there was a possible avulsion fracture. But the main problem appears to be the ligament. He told me that tearing the ATFL only requires surgery about 20% of the time. He said about 80% of people who tear it can usually rehab and do most of the activities they did before without surgery. Of course, the ligament will never heal on its own, so my ankle will always be a little unstable.

For now, I am supposed to be trying to get the swelling down. When they took my splint off, my foot was purple and swollen to about twice its normal size. They sold me an air cast or something which I'm supposed to wear when walking, as soon as I can fit it over my gargantuan foot. Otherwise, it's pretty much whatever I can do whenever I can do it. He wants me to get off the crutches as soon as I'm able and start walking. Then whenever I can walk without pain, I can start jogging. Then after that, I can start cutting and planting, and then after that, I can get back to playing softball, with a brace, of course. You could tell he'd treated softballers before, because I didn't even have to ask if I'd be able to play again. I think he knows how it is and how we are. He said depending on how I heal, it could be anywhere from 3 weeks to two months.

The bottom line is that hopefully, surgery won't be required. They took my splint off, so now I just have an Ace bandage on, and that feels much better. I have a follow-up appointment in two weeks. I am going to try to go back to work on Monday. I just haven't been able to sit up for very long the past couple of days because of the pain medicine. My boss loaned me a 2001 Monte Carlo to drive until I am able to go back to my stick shift again. It's pretty sweet. OK, hopefully I can get back to my usual scintillating blog entries soon. lol

It was kind of funny, because the doctor had a copy of a newspaper article he'd been interviewed for a few years back on sliding and softball injuries. It was saying stuff like, most softball players are closer to retirement than their high school graduation, guys sometimes slide to make it look more dramatic, and most people don't know how to properly slide. That was all too true.

"Oh well I'm torn and tattered. So the thoughts in my head, they get scattered. Well, pain gives me the right to be unkind..."