5) After a total of six months, they will assess the function of the ankle.  If the healing has not gone well, they will consider fusing the ankle into a permanent, non-moving position.  If the healing has gone well, they will perform another surgery to remove the small pieces of bone that never attached to the mass of the talus.  Dr. Carbonell will fill in parts of the talus that are missing with living bone from a bone bank using something called the “OATS” procedure.

That night, I watched the inaugural ball with my Mom and one of the many sweet nurses from my floor.  It was the first time since entering the hospital that I felt like I could forget that I had a major problem and just enjoy the moment.  That was nice.