So, as I was saying, the Orthopedic surgeon was great. He gave us a lot of detail yesterday. And most importantly, he didn't pull any punches and was very to the point and up front. He explained that my recovery time, without surgery, would yield 6 weeks before I could put any significant pressure on my leg and even think about swimming or cycling. However, with the surgery, that time would be cut to 3 weeks before I could swim (individual results may vary), maybe cycle, and physical therapy would start after 2 weeks. My knee-jerk reaction was, of course, then why aren't we just doing the surgery!? But, my wife, the ever-logical one, jumped in stating that going into my ankle if the damage doesn't warrant it could very well be risking unnecessary complications. * heavy sigh* Anyway, as I wrote yesterday, an MRI was in order so the doc could make a fully informed decision.

So, I had the MRI last night (Friday). I have the DVD of the images, but I of course have no idea what the hell I'm looking at. The tech that did my MRI said he looked at them - I of course asked if it was truly a car wreck down in my ankle or what? His response: "...I'm on a low-res display, and there so much fluid in there that it's all fuzzy". Great.

Oh, and after he asked me what I did to myself, and how it happened, his retort was: "You should take up rowing".

I'm currently awaiting the Orthopedist to ring me up. He said he'd call on Friday night or Saturday after he reviewed the MRI, and we'd talk about options. In the meantime, the swelling in my ankle is out of control and there's really not any position now that is comfortable. My wife has dubbed it the ankle that ate New York

Ironically, my wife - JL goes Vegan - had a guest post from Matt Frazier, of No Meat Athlete who wrote about winter running tips on Friday morning. I think JL received his post via email shortly after I arrived in the ER.

Again, more to come.......