ankle-bitten

or 'keep on keepin' on and things will eventually not suck so much.'

initially i thought i would write an ode to my ankle, but the plan failed. as i am currently not speaking to my ankle, i certainly am not going to address it with sparkling wit and lyricism.

i know, i know. its childish and 'won't help anything' but sometimes that it is the only way to get along.

so i hear you thinking, what did you do now you obstreperous thing?

not really sure. i have my ideas but nothing that would stand up to peer-review. Saturday i did end up snowshoeing with another CPNR patroller. it was gorgeous and we went about 6 miles. as usual, about 5 miles along, my ankle went 'clunk' but didn't feel unpleasant afterward. Sunday i gave a continuing education lecture at CSU Annual Conference. Monday i biked* to work (brr, i need different winter bike gloves!) and knocked out a couple things. headed over to the student rec center* and 'tore it up'. it felt great to really push my muscles and heart and they have remodeled the place since i was last there so it was really quite fabulous. biked home, quiet evening and to bed.

[*New Year's resolutions]

woke Tuesday with a painful right ankle with focal swelling. both the pain and swelling worsened precipitously over the first hour or so that i was up. called the health center but they were closed for training. couldn't go anywhere, had no milk for lattes or cereal, and didn't think it wise to stand to cook.

small meltdown.

finally called one of the receptionists whose daughter is a client and friend to see if she thought her daughter might be able to bring me milk. Endie to the rescue! snap! milk, movies, soup, candy and analgesics appeared along with a few minutes of company to cheer me.

ankle-biter
Originally uploaded by jacquichris.

Wednesday Endie gave me a lift to the doctor who was very nice and showed me that i have torn my talofibular ligament (the red one) and maybe also partially torn the calcaneofibular (the yellow one). he then got me in right away with the PT. after an hour of testing, measuring and stretching, she decided i had endured almost enough torture. they actually have an inflatable boot that fills with ice-water. all i can say- 'good times' and no i don't really mean it. 15 minutes of that and then she taped me in and good. the tape actually hurts more than the ankle did beforehand.

Friday i go back to be remeasured and taped. was supposed to be doing an avalanche training session in the field Saturday. the PT says that she thinks i will be good to go if i am 'good' beforehand, am willing to tolerate numbness during (the taping will decrease circulation to my toes) and accept there will probably be plenty of pain on Sunday. she doesn't think i can make it worse though and understands the mental health benefit.

the good thing is that i probably didn't break anything and that the PT will help me strengthen both ankles to prevent injury in the future. small comfort when the tape is poking at C fibers in the night. the pain isn't bad enough to require narcotics but is plenty enough that i can't concentrate. basically the only thing i have to break up the monotony is videogames and eventually even Ratchet and Clank gets old.

well, that is about all from here. hope your New Year's resolutions are causing less trouble than mine!