Finally, an update, the continuation of the never ending Broken Ankle Journey!!

I know it has been like forever since I have posted. I have been getting back to my life, and kind of forgot about my journal. I know I needed to update it, because things have changed, for the better for the most part. 

Back to my journey----

Let's go Back to December ...sorry not the Taylor Swift song...

I left the story back in December after my first I & D, and surgery for my infection. That was on December 11, 2012. I reviewed my labs from that procedure, and it did reveal that I did have a little bit of a staph infection. It is the most common form of staph after an ankle surgery, "Staphylococcus aureus" (info from a medical journal, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690750/). 

I did all my follow up and the infection cleared up. My incision healed up quite nicely. I continued PT, and it went very well. I loved my therapists, and they challenged me every visit. My walking improved every visit. I am glad that I asked my DR for more therapy to work on my balance.

Wearing boots were one of my many major accomplishments of recovery. Walking long distances, especially while shopping was great. Making Christmas goodies, and just enjoying the holidays.

No matter what, through all of this I kept positive. I truly feel that being positive helped me the most during this journey. The encouragement of my friends, family, my BA family on facebook, and especially Dr's made this journey so much easier!!

The Return of the infection.....seriously??

It was not until the end of February that my infection, returned again. This time it returned with vengeance. I was very sore this time around. This was due to not only the return of the infection, but to some ligament issues. 

March 1, 2013-

I followed up with my DR, he scheduled a CT scan to check on the healing of my fracture. At this point he was debating Hardware removal. I had my CT that day. This was another Friday I had taken off of work, that I spent the majority of the day in the ortho department. To this day, I am afraid to take a Friday off. 

March 8, 2013-

Another Friday...I had my follow up for my CT scan. I discussed my results with my OS, and all the options and risks. We decided even though my fracture was about about 40% to go ahead and schedule Hardware removal for March 15, 2013. 

March 15, 2013-

Hardware removal, so it was scheduled to be...

I arrived bright and early for my procedure. My mom accompanied me this time. I got all prepped. The nurses all remembered me. I knew the drill. The resident came in and marked my ankle with his big ol'initials. explained the risks, etc. Also told me since my Dr was running behind he would not come in to see me before going back. Yet not to long after he left, my Dr was there. He looked at was was my infected sore....it was healed. totally healed up. It surprised my Dr. That is when he asked me if I wanted to proceed with the Hardware Removal...I told him it was up to him, because i trust his decision. He consulted with another Dr I know, and we decided at that time to not do the HWR.

He did aspirate the ankle joint, to check for infection. Basically took a big needle and took fluid out of the joint so it could be tested. Also if it looked cloudy, or infected he was then going to take out the hardware. It looked fine. Also due to the soreness in my ankle he did a procedure called "manipulation" he moved my ankle joint different ways to see what was causing the pain, insufficiencies in the ligaments, etc. He did this under fluoroscopy, which is basically live xray. It was very interesting because I was awake and could see it all.

I ended up discussing the results later with my Dr. He did advise me that the results of the labs came back clean and he discovered a possible issue with my deltoid ligament. This could be the reason behind the pain and instability I was having. We will take it day by day. Once Hardware is removed, then an MRI can be done to check on the ligament issues.

Of course...guess what? The infection came back...
I got in to see my OS, and in April...the hardware...this time...had to GO.