.....or Not

Not sure what to make of my doctor's visit yesterday afternoon. On the one hand, he said it looked good and definitely showed signs of healing. On the other, the crack is still quite visible and he wants me on crutches for four more weeks. He also wants me to get a bone stimulator, which I'm all for as long as my insurance will cover it.

At this point, I'm pretty frustrated. I had no delusions that I was going to be released to run or even to walk without a boot. However, based on the way things have looked and felt for over a week now, I was pretty hopeful that I would be told I could come off the crutches. To be honest, I'm not so sure I can't. I mean I have no swelling and have no pain, so I don't get it. True, I could still see the crack in the x-rays (though it did appear there was a good bit of calcification and "fill-in" to me). However, if it was still all that vulnerable, shouldn't there be swelling and shouldn't it hurt, at least a little, when I put weight on it?

In any event, my current plan is to behave for at least another couple weeks. I do plan on putting a little more weight on it here and there (I've done good about keeping it 100% off the past 5-6 weeks), but I'll stay on the crutches most of the time. Beyond that, I'm just going to play it by ear. Bone is living tissue, and in that respect I've always heard it's like most everything else in the body. It needs a little stress in order to grow strong. Honestly, if I didn't know what was there, I'd have tried to run by now. After all, no swelling and no pain on weight bearing would seem to indicate it would be ok. I'm sure I would find out different quickly, but I'm just not convinced I need to be totally non weight bearing for four more weeks.

Ok, there's the update. Lance is about to take off on the Prologue of the TDF, and the Pre Classic will be on just after that, so time to chill on the couch (and I mean that literally as I'll likely have an ice pack on my foot). Happy 4th all!