The Great.... Delay.

No adventure is complete without a snafu or two, right?

In February I had foolishly said that the only thing that could stop my trip now was covid--and then Italy lifted their restriction for a covid test as of March 1. So I thought I was in the clear. Ready to go!

Arrived in Calgary on March 2 to spend a week with family before heading off across the Atlantic. On the Saturday we went to Drumheller to see my grandpa Bud, Aunty Rae, and cousin Brianna. And of course we had to also go to the Royal Tyrrell Museum to see the dinosaurs--awesome as always!

The next morning--March 6--I thought I would go for a nice 5km walk to Starbucks and back. I put on my music and headed out. It was a beautiful, crisp morning for a walk, but the sidewalks had patches of ice covered in snow. I knew this, but wasn't thinking about it. Not three doors down from my mom's house, I slipped on a very slick patch of ice. My right foot went out first, and then my left. As it was going, I felt something twist on the left side of my leg. I landed on my butt, and then... PAIN. All down the left side of my lower leg and foot. I wasn't sure if it was an ankle sprain or break or what, but it was intense. Sat on my butt in the snow and called my mom, who came out and drove me to the ER.

I sat in Rockyview General Hospital for 5.5 hours(!). It was a terrible experience from beginning to end, and I won't bore you with the details. Broken distal fibula (ankle). High risk of blood clots, so no flight to Italy. One VERY unhappy camper.

After all was said and done I saw two different orthopaedic surgeons who gave me completely opposite advice. One said that I should bear weight as much as I could tolerate, and the other said that I should not bear weight AT ALL. In any case, I was sent home with a boot and crutches. What to do when two doctors give you opposing advice?

My solution has been simply to listen to my body and do what feels good. So I've been going by feel... moving forward when it feels ok, backing off when it doesn't.
As I write this, I'm nearly to the end of week 4 and things are getting better. I can do 2,500-3,000 steps per day, and walk 1km. There is still a small amount of swelling and soft tissue pain, but not much. I don't have full range of motion but that will come.

The pros:
- Since this happened in Calgary while staying at my mom's house, I've been able to stay with mom and Tom, and they have taken exceptionally good care of me. Without that, I would have been in a much more stressful situation.
- I was able to change my flights to April without any extra charges.
- My recovery seems to be ahead of schedule, from what I have read and the people I've talked to.

- I have been able to see more friends and family than originally planned, since I've been in town longer.

The cons:
- I lost my first month AirBnb since it was too late to get any money back with the cancelation.
- I'm definitely putting on weight from sitting around all the time, getting fed treats. :D
- I'm not sure how long it'll be before I can run again, and now I have two bum ankles instead of one.
- I want to be in Italy, not Calgary!!

Anyway, enough whining. Here are some pics from my stay in Cow-town. :)