Spot the 'Not'

What's [probably] not supposed to be in this photo of my office?

....I'm not sure.

But focusing on the more important thing in the photo is...


My bike!

FINALLY, I am biking to work!

What was a 35 minute door-to-door trip by Metro --OR-- a 45 minute door-to-door trip by bus, is now an 11 minute door-to-door trip by bike.

And while I can't say that uphill inclines and hitting potholes and speed bumps are the most pleasant feeling in the world for me, but I can say... Bye bye, broken ankle!

Beyond Bootleg

I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon Dr. Douoguih yesterday and finally got to see post-surgery X-rays of my ankle...

[Click on photos to enlarge.]

For a man who gets paid so much money (after all is said and done, the surgery and follow up will total out around $19K), you would think he'd have more to say. Nope. After about three minutes in the room, Douoguih left me with an ankle brace (much smaller and less heavy than the boot -- photo below), and some short, simple words of advice that I think go beyond a healing ankle...

"Do what you want until it hurts."

(My new ankle brace and my view yesterday sitting on the steps of Cardozo High School overlooking the city.)

Global Cankle

[Click on image to enlarge.]

In case you haven't noticed, I've considerably slowed my roll on blog posting over the past few weeks. Mainly because I have nothing new to report. And since getting off the crutches almost two weeks ago, I've seen little-to-no improvement... even after attending physical therapy twice-weekly.

...Needless to say, it's discouraging to continuously post discouraging blogs about being discouraged...

So enough about me, here's something about YOU...

Through the magic of Google Analytics, I've been keeping track of the number of people around the world who have read, glanced at, stumbled upon and/or accidentally discovered my blog.

Whoever you are... Thanks for keeping me amused at your interest in my temporarily disabled life.

U.S. Blog Circulation/Number of Visits:


Global Blog Circulation/Number of Visits:

[Click on images to enlarge.]

I'm also able to do a breakdown of visits per town/city globally.

And with that being said, I'd love to know who from Plano, Texas is consistently reading the blog. Shoot me an email or a blog comment. And thanks again for your interest!

Electric Feel

Not much has changed... I've been going to physical therapy twice weekly for the past two weeks now.

I can tell it's helping, but have heard from several of the PTs at the rehab center that this is not going to be the speedy recovery that I had anticipated [and/or that I was led to believe by my doctor who said I would be running 6 weeks after the surgery... Right.]

Perhaps if we can't speed up the recovery time, maybe we could speed up the amount of time I spend at the end of each session hooked up to the electroshock machine while my leg spasms and the electric currents flow through my ankle "to get the blood pumping..."

It'sGettingOld.

[[And now I insert one of my old favorites by MGMT- "Electric Feel"]]

Staples instead of stitches

Sunday I decided to get out of the house and venture into downtown DC for a much needed change of scenery and some quality people-[i.e. tourist]-watching time.

After making the trek down by bus and hobbling around for a couple blocks, I became extremely exhausted and realized the only benches to sit on were occupied by unfriendly tourists and the sleeping homeless.

Tired and sweaty, I decided to hobble to the nearest metro and head home, passing the [above] sign/store/mirror along the way... I wish everything could be so easy.

A brief hiatus

It’s been almost a week since my last post. Delayed from a series of ups and downs, here’s an update on my progress:

Friday marked the first day of my physical therapy. If I could sum it up into one word it would be -- frustrating.

My therapist showed me a series of seemingly effortless things to do using my good ankle, and then he told me to do each exercise with my bad ankle.

Seeing how easy something is on one side and how challenging it is on the other is the most testing thing I have been through since the first few [painful] days after my surgery. Not to mention, the repetitions from each exercise pulled and strained my ankle so much that I felt sick to my stomach.

I also found out that, because of the position my ankle has been inside the boot, I have a build up of tetanus, in which my muscles have been contracted for so long that my lower leg is starting to spasm and assume the position that it’s been kept in [for almost a month now]. Added to my list of exercises, I have to roll a tennis ball around on the ground several times a day using the bottom of my foot so that the ball will help move/reshape the bones and muscles within my foot.

I left the appointment tired, sore, and frustrated, with exercises as homework and with the realization that this is no short process. Appointments will be two to three times a week for the next six weeks, and all notions I had prior to the appointment [that I was healing and would be back to normal in another two weeks] went flying out the window.

Originally, my surgeon insured me that after the surgery, I would be running in six weeks. Well, it’s been four weeks now and I can hardly walk.

Rehab resumes tomorrow...

Comparing Calves

A weak calf...

vs.

A weak calf...

Overdue and Overdone

I'm overdue for a blog entry, so here's a recap on the past few days...

Dr. Douoguih said that two weeks after my surgery I could start putting weight on my right leg. Well two weeks have come and gone, and I've finally started limping around with the boot and no crutches.

So when the nurse took my stitches out at my appointment yesterday, I thought my down time was coming to an end. I also thought from there on out I would be able to hobble around DC, to and from work [and play], and slowly get back to my normal life. Nope.

I can't say the doctor was thrilled to see me in his office without my crutches: "I said you could start putting 'a little weight' on it, not all 123 pounds." (<-- yep that's my weight.) Not to mention, Dr. Douoguih said I have no muscle in my lower right leg and that I'm going to end up getting hurt [again]. How lovely.

And after hobbling from my appointment, to the metro, into my office, then to the bus stop to head home, I realized he was right -- I overdid myself.

[Feeling like the metal pins are rubbing marks in my ankle bone.]

...I was asleep by 8PM last night, and I'm pretty sure I could have kept hitting 'snooze' when my 6:40 alarm went off this morning.

But to make my morning sound even more charming than an alarm clock...

I left my house early, so I would have enough time to 'one-crutch-it' to the bus stop to get to my office by 8:30.

Let's just say the bus was overdue, as well... and it stopped at --every--single--stop--along--the--way. Such a long ride, and in the end, and as much as I'm an advocate of being environmentally friendly, I hate public transportation sometimes.

Can I please start riding my bike to work already?!?

Did you know...

From my [long] morning bus ride...

"Federal law requires that these [bus] seats be made available to persons with disabilities and seniors."

Now I'll try to get a photo on the way home of how many young, physically fit people are sitting in said seats...