Delay

I was supposed to have surgery this Friday to remove one screw. After that surgery I was to start walking, and then return to work. I planned to go back to work before Thanksgiving so I could have Christmas off this year to spend with my fiance and his family. That is all down the shitter.

My doctor looked at my x-rays and, although I am healing quite well, he decided that since the ligament was completely torn at the beginning taking the screw out at eight weeks after surgery is too soon. He wants to wait at least 10 weeks, putting my surgery on November 28, the Monday after Thanksgiving.

I now have two more weeks of non-weight bearing. I get to pay $75/week to go to physical therapy to wiggle my ankle around without actually exercising. Since the $25/per visit PT copay doesn't count toward my out-of-pocket expenses I'm starting to wonder if I should significantly cut down on my visits until I can actually accomplish something like weight-bearing.

My FMLA (and therefore my job security) extends until December 28, which is about a month longer than I had thought, so that's good. What isn't good is that I'm now on half pay. My last check was for about $600. For two weeks. Over those two weeks I had to pay $150 for PT. That's a big chunk of my measly paycheck. I also have medical bills up the ying-yang. Luckily the hospital will set up an interest-free payment plan. My landlords will not. Neither will my credit cards, or Sallie Mae. This is very bad. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up for without having to put a hold on my student loans or something. On the up side I'm not spending any money on clothes, shoes, or anything that comes from a large store like the grocery. The bad side is that I have no winter clothes or healthy food.

I guess the moral of the story is I'm grumpy. And I can't be too pissed off because the alternative to waiting is even worse: re-doing the original surgery and starting all over. If they take out the screw too soon and I start putting weight on it there's a danger that the syndesmosis could spread again, and the only solution is alas, not more cowbell. It's surgery. Again.

Slightly more uplifting post to come later.