Out With The Old - Post #16

Well needless to say, they got 'er done. The left foot. All reshaped while my Achilles remained intact. It took another year of physio , but the doc delivered on all three of his promises. I would never again have the rotational capability of a healthy ankle but the mobility was increased, the up and down of inclines, stairs and hills was dramatically improved and best of all, the pain associated with simple act of walking was reduced significantly.

The strengthening of the calf muscle in my left leg became the most difficult task. Seems once you lose the mass of a calf muscle that has been built up over a life time, the atrophy resulting from an injury like mine, is almost irreparable. Hours upon hours, days, weeks and months over many years with weights at the gym and still it is not the way it once was.

I even tried, about two years post accident, to make a come back at the dojun. It was not to be. The joint in my ankle no longer had the prerequisite pivot that was necessary for so much in Ti Kwon Do. And the impact of running was not something the doctors encouraged because the cartilage that is the shock absorber between the leg and the heel was no more. Gone. "Gone where"? I inquired. Just compromised such that the intended function could no longer be supported.

The martial arts were at an end. Looking back, it seems all of it was simply so I could lose the weight and get ready for that split second maneuver, that would save my life. Golf too, was over. But if you ever had the pleasure of witnessing my golf game, that was just a blessing for all involved. Hockey. Gone. Skating. Gone. Running. Finished. And all things associated with running. Done.

Now, fifteen years later, I am usually able to walk with out a noticeable limp. I say usually cause, every once in a while, right out of the blue, without any fore warning what so ever, I can wake up on any given morning and the foot is so sore I can't even stand on it let alone walk. It takes about twenty four hours for the pain to ease off. I begin with stretches and massage. Then I very gingerly begin putting weight on the foot, with more stretching and massage and gradually work up to walking with the aid of my upper body taking most of the load by holding on to stationary items and hopping. Over the course of a day the pain dissipates. Completely and totally. And may not return again for months.

I tried journalling my activities over the course of a day, for about eight months. I was hoping to figure out if there was any pattern to my activities that might hint as to what I'm doing to cause the relapses to occur. Nothing ever became evident. So I lived with it and it soon became a distant memory as the next phase of the trial began.