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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Ankle Update

Kiwi and I hanging out in my parent's house in Florida

On Monday afternoon I went to the Florida Orthopedic Institute to have another doctor check out my ankle. After taking off my cast and taking another xray, the doctor gave me the newest evaluation of my ankle.

Looking at the xray, he told me the same thing as the other doctors, that being that I have a fracture in my ankle that currently can be healed without surgery. He continued by saying that because my ankle was still very swollen and bruised, it was difficult to say just how stable it was and that there was a likely possibility that I had tendon damage. If tendon damage did occur, it would make my ankle less stable and increase the likelihood of reinjurying it to the point of needing surgery. He then gave me the option of putting another cast on my foot or putting me in a walking cast (basically a removable cast/brace). I quickly took the walking cast option and got fitted for my new boot. I am still using crutches, but can start weening myself off of them as I feel comfortable.

He wanted to see me again in 3-4 weeks to have a look at it once the swelling had gone down to have a better idea about the seriousness of the injury and what type of recovering plan would be best. I told him I had a flight back to Ecuador in two and half weeks and after a little coaxing he agreed to see in two weeks to see if he could tell me anything then. So as for now I am keeping my flight and hoping that in two weeks he is going to give me the go ahead to return to South America. Otherwise, I will have to move my ticket back again.

As for my life in Tampa, I am just trying to keep myself busy. Since it is my right ankle that is injured, I am unable to drive which leaves me pretty much helpless and stuck. I'm surviving by working for my mom's accounting firm part-time transferring general ledger trial balances into excel (not as much fun as it sounds), studying Spanish, working out my upper body, spending time with the family, playing with Kiwi and dreaming about my next adventures.