Of Sydney and Ankle Oddities

What a week! Tuesday saw me head up to Sydney for the day to fix parts of a poor neglected network before it completely crumbled. The work I needed to do went smoothly and without a hitch... it was just a bummer that it was in Sydney!

Now it's not a Melbourne-Sydney thing - I really do not like Sydney. I quite passionately dislike the place... and to top it all off this client has sites in Surry Hills and Castle Hill, so I have to drive in Sydney as well. Yuk! Not a pleasant experience - especially without a GPS!

There are a couple of things Sydney does have going for it, however. You can happily go about 20kms above the speed limit without anyone really caring; and when you need to change lanes or merge into traffic, drivers politely make room for you (that never happens in Melbourne!) On the flip side, your flights always seem to circle the airport for ages waiting to land; the roads are way too narrow; there are way too many one-way streets; and you can't turn right anywhere. Oh, and it is nice to return to Melbourne and have all the taxis yellow once again ;-)

And now for something completely different...

One thing that has bothered me for my entire life has been my right ankle. Pain. It stopped me doing activity of an impact nature back in school, and it's trying it's best to stop me training at the gym right now. The problem? Initially, Tarsal Coalition. I have 2 coalitions in each foot/ankle, and had surgery on one of the coalitions in my right ankle when I was 11 years old. They took out a 1cm cube of bone! Anyway, the surgeon did a very good job of the surgery (apparently) but a piss-poor job of post-op care, leaving me with a pinched nerve and osteoarthritis (not sure if I can blame the surgeon for the OA, but I can damn well try!)

Over the years I have had numerous cortisone injections (OUCH!!!!), pretty much all the nerve blocks you care to mention, physios, osteos, natropaths, accupuncture, myotherapy, and the list goes on... Nothing has helped much or for long. I have been doing some research on my own over the past few days instead of wasting my time on quacks (with my experinces relating to my ankle and endometriosis et al I really have little time for the medical profession!)

The results: textbook case of tarsal coalition combined with oseteoarthritis.

Armed with this knowledge, I can devise a plan of attack... which I have done & am editing as needed as I go along. Main things I have learnt and have put into practice that have really helped - at least one 20min session on my new TENS machine per day; a proper ASO ankle brace (not support) that I can wear all day; apply heat before an exercise session; apply ice after an exercise session. This 4 simple things have made the world of difference so far - and it is very early days!