Back under the knife

Following a climbing accident around four years ago my ankle is still screwed up and having seen several orthopedic specialists my options seemed to be either live with it or have it fused.  Neither sounded particularly appealing.  I read about "ankle distraction arthoplasty" and made a trip to NY to speak with a specialist.   

They basically cut into the ankle joint, remove all the bone spurs, scar tissue, arthritis, etc., put a cage around the ankle and pull the joint open and inject stem cells into it.  All this is to promote growth and repair of the cartilage.  They also lengthened the gastrocnemius to allow for a better range of motion.

 

 I ended up having severe nerve pain and numbness in my foot caused by old scar tissue from the original accident and the distraction and ended up needing a second surgery to open up the tunnel the nerve travels through.  Nerve pain is a whole different type of pain that I hope to never experience again. 

Now, at the half way mark, the pain is still there but much less and still swells up very quickly but I'm starting to see the finish line ahead.