My road to a full recovery…

It has now been 108 days since I slid on that damn rock and fractured my ankle. As those of you have sustained an injury like this know, the road to recovery is pretty long and much to my surprise, very difficult. First it was learning how to hobble with the walker without a cast. Then re-learning the whole thing with the cast and taking a shower on a chair with the cast (that’s a whole other story!) And finally PT and walking with a cane and then walking without a cane again.

Each stage came with its own set of frustrations and difficulties. I had plenty of days where I firmly believed that I would not be hiking for many, many months. The constant pain and long days of sitting around with my dog, cat and rabbit sometimes proved to be more detrimental than I would like to admit. Actually, having the animals around did make things more entertaining.

So what’s happening now? I have been riding my stationary bike with the thought that I will be able to go for a hike, albeit a short one, on the first day of November. Of course that all depends on my recovery continuing on the same path it has been for weeks now. I have also been stretching every day for at least 15-20 minutes just to try and stay limber in anticipation of that first hike. Never underestimate the power of stretching! Even though I have always stretched before and after hikes, the extra time really has made a difference. I am a now a believer!

Do I expect that first hike to be a great one? Or even a good one? Probably not. With that said, it will just be nice to get back out into the woods. More on that later.

Happy Hiking!!!