Ankle Surgery Take Two

On December 19, I had another surgery on my right ankle.  The first one was almost two years prior--a micro-fracture--and I never got to return to running, and in fact, I was in pain just doing everyday stuff again.  Dr. Ocel said that his procedure works for 85% of patients with my condition, but unfortunately I was in the unlucky 15%.  Not really what I wanted to hear, but I was glad to learn that there were other things that could be done.  I tried hard to avoid a second surgery, but eventually we decided to go with a second opinion from an excellent surgeon named Dr. Ng.  He recommended a cutting edge surgical procedure called De Novo, in which he would place pediatric cells in my osteochondral defect, and upon re-integration and healing, I would be able to run again and live pain-free.  We decided to take this option and get the surgery right before Christmas because Brent would be home for almost two weeks, the most critical time of my recovery.  I'm also so thankful for all of the help I got from parents and friends who were helping me get my kids to/from school.  I couldn't drive for four weeks (again!), and that has real life implications when you're a mother! Crutches and the wheelie cart were helpful, again, and I'm so glad to be on the other side now!!!  I'm still going to physical therapy once a week and glad to report that they said I had great range of motion when they checked it just the other day.  I'm finding it hard to live hopefully yet appropriately cautious.  The last thing I want to do is re-injure myself, but I want to live actively and in freedom.  It's humbling to realize that I don't have the same body in my late 30s that I used to have.  There were plenty of years when I ran the Bolder Boulder cold turkey, having run ZERO every day of the year prior to the race.  It's hard to realize that I'm getting older, and my body won't cooperate with my whimsical athletic ideas and ideals.