I had a total ankle replacement done 1 week ago at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. Here's my story.
I am a very active person. My passions include hiking, Disc Golf and skiing. I used to run but I stopped that a few years ago. Hiking continued and 2020 COVID lockdown made a lot of time available for 4-5 long hikes a week. For a number of years now I've noticed pain in my left ankle when running or hiking but it was never much worse than the regular pain I have in my hips, knees and other ankle. I have psoriatic arthritis so I'm pretty accustomed to mild to sometimes flaring moderate pain in various places. I've never let it slow me down. Advil was my friend and then graduating to Celebrex in the last few years.
Fairly out of the blue last December the pain in my left ankle became severe. It had me hobbling around the house, using a railing on stairs, and it made hiking, skiing, etc impossible. Whenever I dorsiflexed it felt like a knife was being jabbed into my ankle. I saw my rheumatologist and eventually two orthopedic surgeons and all agreed that the x-rays and CT scans showed clearly that I had end-stage severe arthritis. This was all extremely stunning and depressing for me. I went from hiking 20 or more miles a week and playing Disc Golf on other days to having trouble walking around my house in a pretty short period of time..
One early intervention I tried was a hard plastic custom molded brace (AFO). It did not eliminate pain but at least it prevented me from aggravating the ankle by bending it too much. It allowed me to go for 45 minute street walks and to play Disc Golf but it was not a long term solution. In April I decided to get the TAR in July (I am a teacher and that timing would minimize missed work). At the time I got a cortisone shot to get me through the 3 months. Wow the shot temporarily restored my old life. For those months i could once again move up and down stairs with ease, do light hikes without the brace, play disc golf without pain etc. It actually made me frequently question (my poor wife had to hear about it all every day) whether I should get the surgery. But, discussions with a couple of different doctors helped me realize that the cortisone boost was temporary and the underlying structure of my ankle remained horrendous. I might have been able to get through another year on the current shot and then a second but the best timing for me to do this and get it done is now.
So, in a 2.5 hour surgery on July 23 I had a Wright Infinity device implanted via the Prophecy 3-D guiding system that uses images from a standing CT scan to optimally align the new ankle parts. Currently I am in a heavily wrapped splint/cast. I go into HSS in another week to have that removed. I am looking forward to that! I will be non-weight bearing until week 6. Hoping to be back on the trails next spring.
I am a very active person. My passions include hiking, Disc Golf and skiing. I used to run but I stopped that a few years ago. Hiking continued and 2020 COVID lockdown made a lot of time available for 4-5 long hikes a week. For a number of years now I've noticed pain in my left ankle when running or hiking but it was never much worse than the regular pain I have in my hips, knees and other ankle. I have psoriatic arthritis so I'm pretty accustomed to mild to sometimes flaring moderate pain in various places. I've never let it slow me down. Advil was my friend and then graduating to Celebrex in the last few years.
Fairly out of the blue last December the pain in my left ankle became severe. It had me hobbling around the house, using a railing on stairs, and it made hiking, skiing, etc impossible. Whenever I dorsiflexed it felt like a knife was being jabbed into my ankle. I saw my rheumatologist and eventually two orthopedic surgeons and all agreed that the x-rays and CT scans showed clearly that I had end-stage severe arthritis. This was all extremely stunning and depressing for me. I went from hiking 20 or more miles a week and playing Disc Golf on other days to having trouble walking around my house in a pretty short period of time..
One early intervention I tried was a hard plastic custom molded brace (AFO). It did not eliminate pain but at least it prevented me from aggravating the ankle by bending it too much. It allowed me to go for 45 minute street walks and to play Disc Golf but it was not a long term solution. In April I decided to get the TAR in July (I am a teacher and that timing would minimize missed work). At the time I got a cortisone shot to get me through the 3 months. Wow the shot temporarily restored my old life. For those months i could once again move up and down stairs with ease, do light hikes without the brace, play disc golf without pain etc. It actually made me frequently question (my poor wife had to hear about it all every day) whether I should get the surgery. But, discussions with a couple of different doctors helped me realize that the cortisone boost was temporary and the underlying structure of my ankle remained horrendous. I might have been able to get through another year on the current shot and then a second but the best timing for me to do this and get it done is now.
So, in a 2.5 hour surgery on July 23 I had a Wright Infinity device implanted via the Prophecy 3-D guiding system that uses images from a standing CT scan to optimally align the new ankle parts. Currently I am in a heavily wrapped splint/cast. I go into HSS in another week to have that removed. I am looking forward to that! I will be non-weight bearing until week 6. Hoping to be back on the trails next spring.
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