First post-surgery doctor appointment

I had my first post-surgery doctor appointment today. Before seeing Dr. Reach, however, another set of x-rays was taken, then my splint was cut off. My foot looked like it had been put through a blender, and it was shaking uncontrollably. There are four incisions. The two for the ankle arthroscopy needed only one stitch each. The one for the insertion of the titatinum implant needed three stitches. (I finally figured out the medical term for this, after Dr. Reach had referred to it about a dozen times during my numerous visits to his office. It's called an "arthroresis," and, by definition, it's an "'internal orthotic' designed to correct flexible flatfoot conditions in...adult individuals.") The one for the spring ligament repair needed about half a dozen. All stitches were removed, and this was more painful than the surgery.

Dr. Reach said that my foot and the x-rays (it shows the arthroresis) looked great. There was no blood, no swelling (a bit of bruising, but this is normal), just a bunch of incisions and markings. He also said that he'd like to see me back in three weeks (February 7th), when I might get a boot. He thinks that I might be able to start doing exercises well before the three month period expires. Originally, he thought I'd have to wait three months before doing any exercises.

We talked a bit about what he did on the day of the surgery. He couldn't tell the etiology of the injury, but said that it could have been from running. The injury is very rare, but it all revolved around the torn spring ligament (the osteochondral lesion and scar tissue). He assured me that this tear was my problem and that as a doctor it feels great to be able to see the problem and fix it; then tell the patient with certainty that everything will be ok.

Dr. Reach also told me that he just attended a conference about spring ligament tears, and that he showed pictures of my surgery and discussed the case.

Finally, my foot was cast in a neutral position and sligthly inverted. Dr. Reach seemed to think that it wasn't my understanding that I'd need a hard cast. He said, "The only thing holding together your spring ligament is a suture!!"