How to Properly Break Your Ankle Returns!!!

In January of 2011 I broke my ankle. It was a nasty break too.

Gross, right?

Then in November of 2013, I flew off to Thailand with one of my best friends with a definitive deadline. Stateside by the end of the 2015 Thai school year, I've got a final piece to this broken ankle story.

On August 3rd, I got the final part to my broken ankle fixed .... ideally.

Since January 2011 I had been walking around with an extra body floating around in my ankle area. Over time it migrated from whatever hard-to-reach-place it initial began in to sitting right on top of the joint in my foot. Randomly I would feel a rather excruciating pinching sensation in my ankle, but overall I left the pain level at a solid, constant 2.

Leading up to the out patient surgery, I felt as though I jumped through literal hoops of fire in order to get Dr. Chodos back as my doctor. It looked and felt just like this:

Those are steam lines coming off my head.

But I survived! And got Dr. Chodos as my doctor! And did all the things I needed leading up to the surgery. Which was including but not limited to:

• an incorrect, unnecessary x-ray
• the correct x-ray done at Dr. Chodos' office
• a CT Scan  

THEN, my doctor went on vacation for two weeks and I impatiently waited for his return and to hopefully change my appointment from almost the end of July to earlier.

That attempt resulted in a game of phone tag with the head physician's assistant that went no where.

Finally the day arrived and I was off to meet Dr. Chodos and talk about the results of my CT scan. And low and behold! A surgery was recommended. A "rather large" bone fragment was hanging out in my ankle joint and he assumes that is what has been causing me pain for the past 4 years. My doctor went as far to mention how they would need to "widen the scope" when they go in to clean up the joint that left me imagining I had a decent-sized rock in my ankle.

The gray blob is the rock I imagined.

And yet, I held off on committing to the surgery until the following Monday. I got a call right before heading into work. "We'd like to schedule the operation for August 3rd. You pre-op appointment will be tomorrow at 9:45 AM and your first post-op is August 13th and your second will be September 15th." This was with a week's notice. I said "Let's do it!" and luckily my work wasn't like "You're a jerk we hate you you're fired." But instead were like "We need a doctor's note to say when you can and can't work and any accommodations you'll require."

I felt guilty showing up the next day with a doctor's note that said no work for 2 weeks and they were like "Alright. Bring us a note for when you can come back." And that was that. Work was cool with it!

Leading up to the surgery there were some doubts and fears and also sadness of being put back on crutches. The boyfriend came down for a much-needed beach day and time spent on two legs.

And then Monday rolls around. I haven't had anything to eat since midnight the night before, the hospital calls me as I walk up to the check-in desk asking if I could come in earlier which gave me a false hope that I would get out of surgery early.

I went back to the surgery prep area to face the final challenges before the surgery.

You would think this was a simple task. But the nurse couldn't stick a needle in me and even the anesthesiologist had some troubles. But a victory was achieved

This one was simpler, except there was a man sitting across the hall from me describing all the food he ate that morning. Since that's a no-no, he ended up not getting his surgery that day. Still, on my end, a victory was achieved again.

Needless to say, this man was furious that he wasn't getting his surgery done, claimed he was not informed about the only rule of surgery (don't eat 12 hours in advance), and threw his phone at least twice. Still, never made eye contact. Win.

What is your name? When is your birthday? How old are you? What ankle are we operating on? Is this your mother? When did you initially break it? Do you want a blanket?
Spoilers: The final question was the hardest to answer, but it was so warm. Another win for Amy.

There were no obstacles, and the moment had finally come! Off to surgery! The final challenge has been passed!

I wake up in a haze. I think I was stress dreaming about work and dropping trays. But whatever the stress dream was really about, I woke up crying, and was not allowed to wipe my eyes. I was so confused as I was wheeled off to the calm down area. A nurse over there wiped my eyes for me but all I wanted was to blow my nose. As the anesthesia wore off more, I got over my "struggle."

And then I learned that the nurse was Thai! And so I talked to her about Thailand and what part she was from and I honestly think she didn't understand where any of the places were that I mentioned and she just wanted to be nice so she nodded and smiled. It was a little bit disheartening.

My doctor showed me pictures and explained some of the stuff they did. I didn't completely understand I think thanks in part to still being high on pain meds and coming down from anesthesia. FYI, they may be gross looking.

The ankle X-Ray.

The "rock" that was in my ankle.

The bleeding they caused to make my cartilage heal properly.

My mom and my neighbor took me home. They bought me a smoothie right after the surgery and then I got to put my legs and kick it at the house. Overall, successful day.