Alrighty then – surgery!

I’m going to be chopped open on Friday, January 13. In theory the nice doctor will make me very sleepy, slice me open, stitch up what is torn/shredded/awry, then stitch me back together. I will wake up, start taking lots of pain meds, and commence EIGHT FREAKING WEEKS on crutches.

I saw my fourth doc, Lee Firestone, right after Thanksgiving. He’s a 2:47 marathoner (at Boston, no less) and was someone I finally felt “got it” and got why being active is important to me. He also commented that Doc #1 (from October) “doesn’t have the best bedside manner”*) * is a raging asshole and I would not let him near me with a surgical knife for $2m cash. Well. Maybe $2m.). After reading my history and my two MRIs, he also concurred that the next best thing is surgery. This is the same answer I got two months ago; the difference is I actually feel comfortable with this guy, and am not too worried about him cutting me open. What I *am* worried about is the recovery. I made the mistake of googling “peroneal brevis surgery” – and this is gonna stink. I also can’t take regular pain meds, like Advil (pesky bleeding ulcer business in ’03 means I can never take Advil again) so I will probably be a Vicodin addict by the end of this.

Fortunately my boss is being awesome (though she doesn’t have much of a choice). I’m going to live with my parents for two weeks, and then come home when they go on a trip. Then the real shenanigans will begin – because how will I walk Miss Turkey when I am on crutches? I will have the dogwalker come 2x a day, but I definitely cannot afford 4x a day. I’m thinking of creative ideas, and friends have also generously offered to stop by. I’m also making a list of things to do while hobbled, such as:

• Scrapbook from Ironman 2006
• Scrapbook from Slovenia 2005 (yeah, a little old)
• Rosetta Stone spanish
• 93 movies on my Netflix queue
• Read all my magazines from 2011
• etc

I am really most concerned about getting so so so out of shape. I won’t be able to drive, so I won’t be able to GET to the pool, where I’d be able to do water running. I won’t start PT until week 4, so until then I think I will try to do pushups and core work. I’ve been following Sweaty Emily (in fact, stalking her blog led me to Dr. F, as we appear to have the same standards and expectations of caregivers…you know, like they understand athletes and aren’t dicks) and she survived crutches for 6 (?) weeks with her spirit largely in tact, so I hope to take her example.