Setting the date

I had originally set the date of my Total Ankle Replacement for sometime in the first week of January 2011.  Unfortunately, I had to have a hysterectomy on December 8, 2010 and had to be away from my job a month, so that meant the ankle surgery would have to be postponed.
When I got back to work in the first week of January 2011, I called Dr. Royer's office and scheduled a new surgery date.  It was to be May 4, 2011.  I remember writing the date down on the whiteboard in my office "Jan's Surgery May 4th" so it would be a constant reminder that the date was set. 

Meanwhile, I did research into Total Ankle Replacements and support groups and found one.  It is called Blessed Ankles and there are alot of nice people who have had their own experiences in this.  The constant message I heard in this group were the famous words "toes above nose" immediately after surgery.  I would come to hear this alot in the upcoming months.

I'll back up a bit and tell you a little bit about the ankle/foot orthosis brace that I wore for many months, just to be able to walk.  It was pretty lightweight, but got hot in the summer because it covered my entire leg in the back and came up to the knee. Also, I had to get two pairs of shoes.  I wore a size 8 on my "good" foot and a size 9 on the foot with the leg brace.  Knowing that this was going to be temporary - even several months ago, I only bought two pairs of tennis shoes.  One white pair, one gray pair.  And I wore these shoes over and over and over.  What I would give to be able to wear normal feminine shoes again!  Every now and then I would wear a pair of flip flops to actually see painted toenails but they were off within a few hours.  I was simply hurting too much without the brace. I was embarrassed to wear shorts and capri pants because of that awful brace showing, so I wore long pants.  Always.

The last two weeks before my surgery, I trained everyone in "what I do" at work, because it would be at least 4-6 weeks before I would return.  Finally, I was ready for my life-changing surgery.