Update on Me

OK, I haven't done an update on my condition for a while, so here goes...

From my standpoint, everything is feeling a lot better. I'm getting around rather easily with the brace, even driving causes no problems (and I've done drives of over 45 minutes in the past week). When the brace comes off at night, I'm starting to regain a semblance of a normal gait (though I'm also using this situation as an opportunity to tweak my gait, since I always walked a bit shuffle-y in the past; I could tell this by the fact that the heels of my shoes wore out more quickly than everything else), and there's been no problem getting into bed, pretty much since the Colorado trip (I've even experimented with a few different sleeping positions lately; I'd been sleeping exclusively on my back to elevate the injured limb at night, but I'm not normally a back-sleeper, so I've tried to get back to something more normal for me).

I should also mention that there's been very little pain lately, even though I went off the painkiller a week and a half ago (it was causing the ankle on the injured leg to swell, and it seemed a good idea not to take this painkiller indefinitely in the first place). I'll feel some occasional soreness around the kneecap on occasion, but nothing that lasts for long.

This still does not stack up with what my doctor saw on the most recent MRI, so I'm looking forward to showing him the improvement I've made when I see him again one week from today. My goal is to ward off surgery if at all possible, and hopefully, my improved condition will be the tipping point in that matter.

I also had a nice talk with the financial person at the doctor's office earlier in the week, and she explained a lot of things that had been bothering me since I received that whopping explanation of "benefits" from my insurance company last week. (Among other things, they'll go to bat for me in fighting the complete denial of the brace. And It also appears that this company may not exactly be meeting my needs; we'll see.)

Otherwise, life is pretty much back to normal, or at least as much as it can be. I'm still very careful (almost to the point of paranoia?) when I'm going down stairs or walking through crowds (I try to avoid the middle school hallways between classes at all costs), and it still takes longer to get places, but I think I'm managing pretty well.

That's the latest. I have a gig tonight, and, as I found out at the college concert last week, I can be on my feet for long periods of time with no issues. It's always fun to play, and the money's a bonus.

I'll have more next week after I see the doctor, and possibly some random thoughts between now and then.