Follow-up with ankle surgeon today. He said the leg looks good, he had expected a lot more swelling. There were incisions on both sides of the ankle, which I didn't realize, and currently my leg looks like a fresh Frankenstein creation, with the long rows of staples and discolored skin. These are gonna become some interesting scars. Might need two Viking tattoos to camouflage them.

Y'all, the doctor said it was one of the worst breaks he'd ever worked on. He couldn't believe I'd flown home with the leg like that and dealt with it for a week. He said he'd been taking crushed shards of bone out of the leg, and part of the fibula, he couldn't even get back into place; we just have to watch it and hope it heals itself. (He was not impressed with the Icelandic surgery. At all. His partner looked at the x-rays of the pins they put in there in Iceland and said What the hell is that??)

But the good news is, I do have an ankle again, and it will be okay with some physical therapy. I may develop arthritis in the ankle, but... eh, you know, arthritis happens to people who didn't fall down an Icelandic volcano too.

The doctor thanked me for having the best story he'd heard so far behind breaking an ankle. Most people just break themselves at home.

In case Jilli pops in, I saw this and thought she might be interested ... maybe as an overskirt to something.

Oooooh. That is a great skirt, and would make a good layering piece ...

Are you able to be at home and get up stairs? Is PT somewhere reasonably convenient or do they come to you?

My house is not laid out well for handicapped access, unfortunately. I'm staying with my sister for a while. We get along well and I like her house a lot, but I miss my kitties.

No plans have yet been made for PT. But I anticipate it'll be prescribed once the leg has healed and the cast is off.

Ideally, when the cast comes off there will be some ancient mystic rune from the spirit of the volcano marking you for some mysterious destiny.

I probably read deplorable fiction.

Ideally, when the cast comes off there will be some ancient mystic rune from the spirit of the volcano marking you for some mysterious destiny.

Or at least a coupon code for 30% off medical supplies.

I'll admit, Connie's sounds much more interesting.

You know it's a good story when the doctor thanks the patient.

This is such a small thing. The corners of one's mouth are not large at all. But I have angular cheilitis, cracked nasty itchy burning sores at the corners of my mouth. I've had it in the past, usually when my system is all run down from a cold and stress. A few days of applying tea tree oil clears it right up. It is usually a fungal infection, sometimes co-morbid with bacterial wackiness. It flared up again in the weeks after I took this job. Makes sense, right? I was wayyyyyy stressed out, and I got a cold. I hit it with tea tree oil again, this time that made it worse. Coconut oil and sea salt? Made it worse. Hydrogen peroxide? Worse. Store bought antifungal cream? Heaven help me, one application turned it bright red, by the third, it was triple the size. Dr. Google suggested that was an allergic reaction and to try benedryl cream or hydrocortisone cream. No improvement. Dr. Google suggests taking iron, Vitamin B, and calcium supplements. I do, and it calms down a bit. So I make a batch of colloidal silver, dab that on the corners of my mouth then cover with plain petroleum jelly.

Finally some relief. It gets better, disappears, and about a week after that I discontinue treatment. In January it flares up again, so I go back to the silver and Vasoline. It goes away then I can't find the same chewable B-complex that I had been using. But I figured it was not that big a deal. Nope. It comes back. Find a different brand of B, it eases. Then I run out of Calcium. It comes back with a vengeance. I lay in stock of calcium, it eases but does not go away. So I try the antifungal again. First application, bright red again. By the third application, it started bleeding. I don't react to that stuff anywhere else on my body, how can it be an allergic reaction? Back to home remedies. The silver is no longer doing the job, so this time I try olive oil with a few drops of every essential oil I have that has anti-fungal properties. This helps, but man oh man does that stuff taste nasty. Three weeks of treating it like that... the itch and redness and burning are coming back. I want to do harm to the thing on my face. I am out of patience. I am not going to spend $250 to see a doctor and not be helped.

Oh WindSparrow, that sounds so uncomfortable and distressing. Randomly, I have heard people use A&D ointment (diaper rash stuff) on that with success.

When I get a break from being angry about it, I may try the A&D. I know it's good stuff. Thanks.