Day 325 - 1 Year Surgery Anniversary!

Saturday, September 28, 2013 - Week 53

Happy 1 Year Surgery Anniversary to me!!!

It's been exactly 1 year since I've had ankle surgery! I still have my plate and 9 screws in my ankle! My ankle feels great today! No limping, no pinching, no discomfort, no tiredness, no soreness, no swelling, and most importantly no pain! No matter what, this feeling of something squeezing my ankle lightly will never go away. It is because of the hardware inside that is stretching out my skin.  Today I celebrate what I have gone through to get back to close to 100%, and feel like I am still progressing with healing.  

I will never forget the day I broke it and the wait to get surgery 4 days later. And the unknown feeling of getting back to my normal self. It was the most nerve wrecking feeling in my life! I am here now and feel as normal as I can ever feel. I am just glad I do not walk with a limp! The only unknown now is how I will feel 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. at my 8 months mark, my surgeon did ask me if the hardware bothers me enough to hinder my everyday activities, I do have the option to remove it. I decided at that moment, the hardware did not bother me enough to remove it. Today, I can say I don't even feel it on my ankle which is amazing to say =)

I remember how hard it was to even go grocery shopping, I felt bad for taking up isle space from people and it was a huge hassle to get in and out of anything like cars, shower, and handicap shopping carts with the use of crutches. I don't miss that at all!

Today, my right calf is still a bit atrophied and not quite equal size to my left calf. 

I continue to do my stationary biking exercises at home for my cardio workout. One day I will go back to running on the track and hope to not be so sore. So far so good! I still do my ABC ankle exercises and often massaging my ankle at the end of the day.  

Dit Da Jow is still my friend, I continue to use it almost everyday. The entire year, I have swelled up only twice! Once hiking in hawaii for 2 hours, and an entire day of walking vacationing in NYC from 9:30am - 3am! I am actually shocked I haven't swelled up from running or other activities. It's mostly from very long walks or being on my feet for too long over a period of days from traveling. 

I am excited to be able to wear heels once again! The only downfall is that I can only wear wedged heels, no more stilettos. I would be too nervous to wear those and it doesn't feel comfortable or stable enough to support my ankle. I am still very cautious even in wedge heels. Must be careful! I can't break my ankle a 3rd time now. It would sadden my grandparents and mom. They were afraid I would never walk normal again after this second major break. (First one was on the same ankle with a heel hairline fracture, and torn ligaments on the same area on top of my foot, and was in a walking boot.) Seeing me in a cast really freaked them out. 

Whew, what a year! Moving forward and looking forward to how I will feel months from now. Cheers to myself!