10 June 2024
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I have a great set of friends. A lot of people contacted me after yesterday’s post. My old shipmate on the Reliance, Chip, called. We both have medical issues and we try to keep up with each other. Joel, of course called, as did Judith and Chris. Minnie Jean filled me in on Charles’ recovery from radiation and sent me kind words. I talked to my cousin Jimmie and cousin Jo. All tried to cheer me up and it worked. Thanks for being there for me!
It was an early morning for me to make an 8:15 am check in with the Orthopedic Institute to see Dr. Mills. With traffic on I-95, it took almost 45 minutes to get there. They did an additional set of x-rays. Dr. Mills had a student in with him and he asked if it was OK to use it as a teaching moment. Duh!
There are two ligaments (bone to bone) associated with my injury. The first is from the fibula to the calcaneus (anterior calcaneofibular ligament (ACFL). The second is from the fibula to the talus bone (anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL). Almost certainly, the CFL is either partially or completely torn and there’s a good possibility the ATFL is also torn. The only way to tell is to do an MRI.
The reason Dr. Mills thinks this is part of the fibula broke away and that’s generally 100% the tearing of the CFL when a bone breaks away.
I called central scheduling and the earliest MRI is July 1st. I went ahead and got that scheduled. Once done, I’ll go back for an MRI consult with Dr. Mills. I really like him and how he handled the student. I learned probably as much as the student did. I used to know all the bones at one time but that was 50 years ago.
I was told to mention the boot as too small. The nurse told me my insurance only covers one boot a year and the insurance would charge me around $400. She suggested I go to Amazon and order it for around $40-50. That’s next on my list.
It looks like physical therapy will be a way of life for me for quite some time.
My friends Holley and Jim returned from their cruise ill. Yet, they were more worried about me than themselves. Typical. Hopefully they will recover quickly.
Yesterday, I contacted my niece Ashley and she has agreed to take the forms from the Veterans Administration (VA) to my brother and get them filled out. That takes some pressure off me. My brother and his wife need some help and the VA has the potential to take a lot of stress off them.
Looks like I got finished with one procedure (cancer) and picked up another.
Stay tuned!
