It brought me to stitches...

Woo-Hoo! The day finally came for the removal of the 2 screws and 3 nails that were generously deposited in my leg during the first surgery after the accident. So, the day before I get a phone call from the hospital. They ask me if I would like to be put under with gas or just receive local anestesia. I thought "Kewl", I can watch the surgery, how hard can it be - deaden the leg, they pull a couple of screws and nail - Maybe I can practice my Spanish with the doctor!

The definition of "local" needed to be clarified. I get into the surgery room and they give a local starting in my back! For me a "local" would be as much as my right leg. For them, they consider a local being an epidural. So here I lay on the table, semi-gassed like a slug. Of course they decided to shoot me up 4 hours for a 1 hour surgery. I returned to the room - wide awake - unable to move. Boy did that feel funky.

But here's the kicker. They told me that I received 2 screws and 3 nails. The healing to date had been fantastic, as a result the removal process took longer than expected. I had asked for the screws and nails before the surgery. They gave me a small envelope with the inventory of only 1 nail, 1.5 screws and a washer. While I am not sure what that means, I figure it should be very interesting the next time I go through airport security.

I have ten more days with 6 stitches, several more weeks of therapy. Let the healing begin. Maybe in a couple of months I won't have as much of a "kankle". That is when your ankle is as big as your knee.