Surgery Eve...

So here we are...the eve of my ankle reconstruction surgery.  I got a call from the hospital this afternoon assigning my surgery arrival time of 8:30 am tomorrow, Tuesday, January 15th.

8 months of suffering from this nagging running injury will all be over tomorrow.  Unfortunately, it will be much worse recovering from the surgery and having to re-learn how to walk again, but the surgery gives me hope.  I will definitely be able to return to a moderately active lifestyle and hey, I may even be able to run again.  I try to stay focused on what my life could look like a year from now: being able to start each day without having to figure out how to complete my daily schedule with the least amount of walking and standing, not having to match my professional clothes to tennis shoes, returning to competing in triathlons, and having elite level fitness.

Surgery Procedures

Left hindfoot posterior tibial tendon debridement and repair (cut out the bad portion of the tendon)

Flexor digitorum longus tendon transfer (transfer the tendon that flexes the little toes to the posterior tibial tendon site)

Medial displacement calcaneal osteotomy (saw off my heel bone and reattach it to the correct position with a titanium screw through my heel)

Autogenous platelet rich plasma treatment (harvest some of my blood, spin it down to concentrate the platelets, and inject it into my newly transferred tendon to promote tissue regeneration and faster recovery)

Possible: gastrocnemius recession (lengthen my calf), lateral column lengthening (add an extra bone to assist with rebuilding a normal arch)

Wish me luck!

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I gotta go.  Final surgery prep is calling my name.  I have to shower with sterile soap and go stuff as much food and water in until midnight, because I won't be able to eat or drink after that.