Well, I'm starting writing this a little late, as I'm about to get arthroscopic surgery done on my ankle in two days. I've had quite a journey up to this point and through my copious amounts of google searches, I couldn't really find very much first-hand experience of this surgery. There are quite a few health and medical sites about the surgery. That information is all well and good, but they describe things very generally...expect a "few" weeks of recovery, "some" pain, "chance" of complications, yadada... So, I'm writing this so that anyone else having a similar surgery can at least read one person's account.
If you scour the internet, you'll find a ton of comments about what a terrible experience their surgery was. I'm starting this now, so you know that I'm not jaded. You'll notice that no one posts about what a great root canal they had, or how easy their surgery a time they recovered from surgery. My guess is that it's because they're too busy enjoying their lives...so for better or for worse, I'm going to continue this blog with my recovery efforts.
What will the Arthroscopy Fix?
I'll post a bit more on the background later. But about the surgery...5 months ago, I felt a sharp pain in the front part of my inner-ankle. This pain would occur multiple times throughout each day. It would kick off simply by walking. After multiple appointments with orthopedists, physical therapists and two orthopedic surgeons, the conclusion was that I had a bone spur on the front my talus bone. This was detected on the X-Ray but not on the MRI. When I move my foot up and down (plantarflex and dorsiflex), this spur grates on the soft tissues above it...and eventually it rubs it raw. So the fix is that they will go into the ankle arthroscopically, and shave down the spurs.
About Me
As I went through the net, it was a little frustrating to find someone getting a similar surgery, but was nothing like me or my lifestyle. So, I'll just lay it out here and you can decide whether you want to keep reading or not. As of this posting, I am a 35-year old male, weighing in at about 165 lbs. Prior to the injury, I was fairly active. I played volleyball competitively 2-3 times a week. I am/was also a runner. I ran my first marathon a few month before, and at the time of the injury, I was running 20-30 mile weeks. Post-injury, I had stopped almost all activity. Up until recently, I have finally been able to start running again. However, I can still feel the aches in the same part of the ankle.
Why am I having surgery if I can run again? Well, first, I still do not feel comfortable doing any jumping, which basically prevents me from playing volleyball. Also, the bone spur does not go away on its own. So, there is still a chance for this to occur again unless the problem has been corrected.
About the Surgery
So, in two days, I will be undergoing surgery first thing in the morning. The surgeon did not require a clearance for surgery prior to this appointment. As I understand it, they will be doing the pre-op tests the day of. The surgeon said that I would be put under general anaesthesia. The surgery itself consists of two incisions being made on each side of the ankle. They said there was a 7% chance of a nerve injury...this can consist of numbness, pain and it could be temporary or permanent.
So, that's the quick quick version...I'm a little nervous about being put out, as I haven't been under anaesthesia before. Also, I'm a little nervous that this could introduce other issues or perhaps not even fix the problem. I guess time will tell...More to come...
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