Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Lately:

*This was saved in my drafts and written probably in the summer of 2018. I want to start posting again and this write up seems to fill in some of the blanks.

 I've had two ankle surgeries since my last post. I guess the plan before the first surgery was to go all out. I was going to drop out of school and go back to skiing.

On December 22, 2018 I got the first surgery. It was called a Subchondroplasty and consisted of an injection of a material that mimics bone, helping heal the initial bone defect. The first surgery was done by one of the most acclaimed surgeons in Canada. The problem with working with this surgeon was that he may succumbed to a confirmation bias, as he and my radiologist both missed a soft tissue injury that I had mentioned the symptoms of several times. Everyone makes mistakes though.

After the first surgery I was back in Ottawa, seeing a new surgeon for follow up appointments. In a new CT scan, a bone fragment that the previous surgeon thought to be not worth removing showed up as a problem. I also started to research the possibility of a soft tissue injury. I self diagnosed and brought it up with my new surgeon. I was so goddam right about it. A tear in the Peroneal Brevis causing inter-sheath subluxation.

With pain from both the bone fragment and the tendon tear I decided to stay in school another year and get surgery with a long window for recovery.

I'm still waiting on my application for Carleton's Industrial Design program. If I don't get in I go back to BC and back to the drawing board. I think I will go to Emily Carr for their ID program. Allegedly it's inferior, but honestly I don't think I can stand living anywhere that there isn't mountains. The sushi here sucks.

This ordeal has left me with some frustration about healthcare. An evident problem is Canada's long wait times. Luckily, my second surgeon is less in demand and was able to perform 8 weeks after the diagnosis. The first surgeon took over 6 months though, during which my ankle deteriorated.

Followers