Yesterday I went to Charlotte for the long-awaited appointment with the foot and ankle specialist. It's been a long time since I did much driving in Charlotte, so I armed myself with the directions provided by the doctor's office, printed out directions from MapQuest, and also had GPS in the car. Is this my OCD kicking in?? I didn't want to get lost!! After I got off I-85 I drove past the Carolina Panthers stadium, passed a place called Tailgateville, wound around a few more streets, and arrived at my destination about 45 minutes early!!! I had intended to take a book with me, knowing that magazines in doctor's offices are usually many months out of date. But even though I remembered all those directions, I forgot my book. So I sat....and sat.....and sat.....and watched the people. Watched them go in for their appointments and come out again. Watched people manuver their crutches with varying degrees of difficulty. And finally, about 40 minutes after my appointment time, I was called back. Sure wish I had remembered that book!
Anyway......more x-rays and then consultation with the doctor. Turns out I may have another option. Both options involve surgery. But there is the possibility of an ankle replacement rather than ankle fusion. Recovery time for each is the same, but the results are a little different. With a replacement I would have flexibility/range of motion in the ankle. With a fusion it won't bend at all (which is pretty much what I have now). With a fusion, there's the possibility that some of the bones in the foot will develop arthritis since they won't have the motion of the ankle to take the pressure away. But with my arthritis history, that will probably happen anyway. Ankle replacements tend not to hold up over time, but there is a new artificial joint that should last about 30 years. I probably won't live that long, so that shouldn't be a problem!
What it all boils down to is that what the insurance company will authorize will pretty much determine which way we go. I had already wrapped my head around the ankle fusion/no bending concept, so I'm OK either way. It would be great to have an ankle that would bend like an ankle is supposed to do. But if not.....oh well. There are much worse things. I just want it not to hurt all day every day the way it does now!
After I left Charlotte, I headed west on I-85 to Gastonia, then turned north toward Hickory so I could get back on I-40 and head home. When I got to I-40, instead of turning west (the direction of home), I went east to the next exit........there's a Starbucks there, and I REALLY wanted a cup of coffee......quad venti non-fat latte, to be precise! Well, that GPS (I call her Bernadette.....don't know why, it just seems an appropriate name) really got her knickers in a twist over that. The entire two miles to my "Starbucks exit", I heard her say.....over and over and over and over....."Recalculating, Recalculating, Recalculating." So, you guessed it, I turned that thing off!! I knew the way home!
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