Saturday April 4, 2015
Alamere Falls was one of the most beautiful hike's I've ever done. Minus the poison oak along the trails. There were wide and narrow trails.
Towards the end of the trail, we had to do a bit of rock climbing down to the beach. There were also a few beautiful waterfalls!
The final part down to the beach was almost a 90 degree climb down. There was a lot of loose rock too, so everyone had to becareful and wait for people to go up and down.
Down by the beach, there was this big waterfall where everyone went to take pictures.
This time I didn't wear my ankle brace or bring my hiking poles. Mostly because I misplaced the brace and forgot to bring the poles. It was a quick last minute rush decision to go this morning. I was definitely feeling tired by the time I got to the beach. We walked along soil, uneven paths, gravel, rocks, acorns, leaves, and sand! The entire hike was uneven pavement. It was a workout for sure for my ankle. Waterfall was our reward at the end, with a vietnamese sandwich for a late lunch.
By 3/4 of the way back, I was slowing down and starting to limp just a bit. The next time I come back, I should really wear my ankle brace because I slipped a few times. Luckily with my left foot.
Once I got home, I put on a Icy Hot wrap. I realized I wore it inside out, as shown in the image below haha. Sore but happy! I'll be back and more prepared next time!
Hi Jenny! I wish I found your blog sooner! I can relate to everything you post! I broke my ankle hiking in South America in January 2014. Hoping off the Island of Cape Horn (assisted of course) to a zodiac, back to the ship, and then 3 flights took me 9,000 miles home to have surgery. Luckily there was an Orthopedic surgeon on our trip who set my dislocated food, put on a splint, went to see my xrays and said to get home for surgery. Because of the swelling (caused by a splint put on at a local hospital, not the original splint or travel) I had to wait another 10 days for surgery. Surgery at Stanford included, 2 plates and 13 screws - small plate on my tibia for a piece of bone that chipped off and a larger one on my fibula as it broke in two places. After 12 weeks of splints, casts and boots, I started therapy but it took me another 4 weeks to get rid of the boot. I had a lot of stiffness and the pain you describe throughout my initial recovery. Finally after continuous therapy and trying to increase my pain free activity level with no success, my doctor said I had a bone spur in the ankle join that was causing the ROM issue and the pain in my leg could be the hardware. She said the pain in the leg might always be there. I had the hardware removed and joint cleaned out in Feb 2015. They had to chisel the hardware off as my bone had grown around it only after 12 months, but was still only in a splint 2 weeks. For the next two weeks I could walk in my boot. Right away I could feel the difference without the metal. No phantom pain in my leg and the swelling is down quite a bit. I can now actually stand and walk on my tip toes. I couldn't before - my entire leg below the knee would hurt and all my heels in my closet have been mocking me. I can sit in an office chair without pain and I don't feel the 'toothache' feel (great description by the way) when the weather changes or I get tired. I still am working on range of motion and stability after the bone spur removal and joint cleanup, but am finally feeling like I'm on my way to recovery. Even my doctor was shocked at how sensitive I was to the hardware. I'm just heading to the Lafayette reservoir this weekend for the easy paved path and not quite ready to get back on a bike outside the stationary one at the gym, but will get there soon. Now I have to lose this weight I gained after basically no exercise for 16 months. I look forward to future blog posts and hope you continue to heal! Julie
ReplyDeleteHi Julie!
DeleteI hope you're feeling better! Thanks for your message. I'm so sorry to hear about your injury. It sounds like you went through a lot more than I can even imagine! I'm happy to hear that you're doing well now. I would also love to hear your progress after removing the hardware. I still wonder and think about removing it some days. It just doesn't bother me enough to go through another surgery. But again, on days I get tired I do think about it. Thanks so much for your story. It's really helpful and insightful to me. Take care!