It's hard to pee in a thigh-high cast.

When I went to the doctor in a splint I never expected to leave in a thigh-high cast.

After my doctor reviewed the x-ray and CT scan* information I got the grim diagnosis. I have a tri-malleolar fracture and I tore the syndesmosis. Tri-malleolar means I broke my ankle in three places. The shin bone, called the Tibia, had a piece broken off the right side of the bone as well as a chunk broken off the back. The fibula is the small bone on the outside of the leg. I broke that one a little above the ankle in a diagonal-looking fracture and below the fracture the bone was totally shattered. The syndesmosis is the ligament between the two bones, and that was torn.

 

On the left is the CT scan* where you can see the triangular shaped piece of tibia no longer attached to the bottom of the bone. On the right of that photo is the fibula fracture. In the x-ray to the right you can see that triangular shaped piece of tibia again and the shattering of the tibia (where the bone looks really see-through).

The doctor gave me the bad news that I'd have to wait over a week for surgery because the swelling had to go down. I also had some fracture blisters which cannot be operated through. Fracture blisters are just how they sound- blisters on the skin caused by the soft-tissue damage of the injury.

 My foot is many colors. In the center is the giant fracture blisters and a few smaller ones.

I had a mild mental-breakdown at the doctor's office. I have a job which entails a lot of driving and standing and walking and carrying heavy things. I like my job. I'd like to keep it. My doctor, who is excellent at his job and very cold with infamously terrible bedside manner was very nice and gave me a few minutes to compose myself. That's how I knew I looked very, very sad.

More bad news- twisting the knee can move the syndesmosis (everything is connected, except my foot, of course). In order to protect the ligament I was put in a cast up to my mid-thigh.

Giant leg cast.

It turns out I enjoy bending my knee.


*This post originally erroneously called the CT scan an MRI. Turns out they're different things.