Broken Ankle, Illustrated

Greetings!

So for those of you who don't know, I broke my ankle on May 22 when I was still at Cornell. I was planning to spend a little over a month there to work at my job (I'm a tour guide) and hang out. I was walking down the big hill that Cornell is on to the Commons, the downtown area, rather quickly and I slipped and broke my ankle. Hence the previous entry complaining about how I have been sitting around at home not doing much of anything.

I do wish I had a better story. Perhaps I'll use the one that Oliver suggested -- I was actually fighting a rhino.

I've had a few stages of foot accessories over the past month and I need practice with this picture uploading thing, so now you will reap the benefit of viewing the various stages of my healing.


Ok, picture numero uno. I wore the cast for three weeks, which isn't a terribly long time at all. For the most part, wearing the cast actually felt good because it was constant pressure and padding and I didn't have to worry about how I held my foot, as it was pretty firmly staying in the same position no matter what. The walking part attaches with velcro to the cast. It sort of looks like a moon boot -- I felt a bit like an astronaut. Showering with this thing was the worst part, but I won't go into that.

My foot once the cast came off. Beautiful, no? You can't tell from the picture, but it was about 3/4 as wide as my other foot... weird.

And here's my new, excellent walking boot. The bottom is not level -- it's at an incline to help me walk and so far it has been decent. I don't need crutches anymore, which is a huge plus. I feel mobile with this thing, which is huge. The hardest part about crutches is you can't carry anything and you have to constantly think about the stair situation wherever you go. This is so much nicer. It's removable, too, so showering is no longer an issue. Hallelujah.

My doctor thinks I'm crazy, but I'm going to China. He didn't say I couldn't, but he does think it's going to be a bit of a pain. Well, obviously -- wearing an enormous boot wherever we go in 100 degree, humid weather is not a walk in the park. But going is something I really want to do, and I think the trip itinerary is flexible enough where I won't have problems. The bulk of the trip is spent teaching, not touring around, and teaching doesn't involve much walking. Typically. Well, we'll see. I'm hopeful. And I'm going!