Speedy Recovery

I went to the doctor today and had my leg unwrapped for the first time. The leg was pretty bruised, though that has subsided some the last two days. The incisions are healing very well, the doctor was happy with my pain level, and I was cleared to hit the elliptical and stationary bike (I'm assuming he said stationary because he doesn't want me crashing me road or mountain bike). I worked on bending my knee the last two days, and it's now able to bend within about an inch of where it's supposed to.

The incisions are all vertical. What that does is allow me to bend me knee and ankle without pulling at the healing wounds. All three incisions are closed with staples. The top incision where the titanium IM rod was inserted just below my knee cap and slightly to the inside of center is an inch and a half at most and closed with 6 staples. The other incision near my knee about an inch lower and half an inch further inside. This one was used to insert a screw that holds the rod stable in my bone. The incision is between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch and closed with 3 staples. The final incision was made just above my ankle and further inside to drain the excess bone marrow, blood, etc. It's less than half and inch and closed with 3 more staples. The doctor used a 9 mm rod, the smallest diameter available, because my bone was actually in very good health; it was dense so no bigger rod would fit.

The x-rays are pretty sweet. You can see the rod all the way down the bone, including the screw that holds it in place. The bone is more hollow near the bottom so you can see the pockets not filled by the rod. These are still filled with bone marrow.