My Ankle

Well, it's been a few weeks since I mentioned that there might be a problem with my ankle. I thought I had a stress fracture, but it looks like it's something a little worse than that. It's called Osteochondritis Dissecans (abbreviated OCD). It commonly occurs in children and teenagers, but I'm one of the lucky few that has it as an adult. Basically, OCD is a localized injury affecting the surface of the joint that involves a separation of a segment of cartilage and the underlying bone. There are four phases to this injury with phase 4 being the worst and luckly I'm still in phase 1. They are hopeful that I will not need surgery; however, there is a 50% chance that I will. Right now they have me in a boot for 8 weeks, possibly crutches for 2 weeks if the pain doesn't go away by Friday. If my condition doesn't worsen the recovery will probably take anywhere from three to six months. Although, if things do not improve the recovery could last as long as nine or twelve months. That means no running for me. Also the doctor said no biking, swimming or anything that puts additional pressure on the leg. For my cardio the only thing he suggested I could do are the bikes at the gym that use your arms instead of your legs. Now, that sounds like fun. Oh, and just incase you forgot, Doug's gone until the end of April. Perfect timing wouldn't you say? As military wives I think all of our responses are "Isn't it always that way."