Yet Another Difference Between Men and Women

I had my post-surgery follow up appointment yesterday.  I was excited to see Dr. Doogie Howser and see how my recovery is going.

Stephen drove me to the appointment and came back into the exam room with me.  They x-rayed my foot to make sure the "stuff" they put in there is still in place and working properly (it was).  Then the nurse undid the bandages that were around my foot. 

When I saw my foot for the first time, I had several feelings: 
-First, my toe was very straight...straighter than I've ever seen a toe.  It made the rest of my toes look extremely curved to the right.  When Doogie came in later, he explained that as the toe relaxes into its final position, it will curve slightly to the right also.  So if a slight curve is ideal, we want to start the toe in a straight position.  That makes sense...I guess this guy DOES know what he's talking about!
-Second, my foot did not seem very swollen at all.  That made me happy because I knew swollen was bad.
-Finally, the incision was gross.  It wasn't bleeding or anything but the stitches made it look nasty and it was brownish yellowish from the disinfectant stuff they swab on it.  Looking at the incision immediately made my foot ache more intensely.  (I know, it was all in my head...but still it hurt when I looked at it!)

What happened next is why this post is named "Yet Another Difference Between Men and Women".  As soon as the bandages were off, Stephen stared intently at my foot.  I wasn't sure what he was thinking...his facial expression gave nothing away at first.  Then he got up out of the chair with his gaze never leaving my foot.  Like the trained photographer that he is, in one fluid movement, he pulled out his cell phone and started shooting pictures of my foot.  He got several angles of the incision before Doogie came into the room.  He announced that he would send them to me "for Facebook or your blog!!"  I scrunched up my face and said "no one wants to see that.  It's gross!"

So Doogie comes in and checks out my foot.  He immediately praises me for being a good patient.  He said that he could tell that I was diligent about keeping my foot elevated and keeping ice on it based on the fact that the swelling was so minimal.  YAY ME!  (You all know how much I love being told that I've done a good job!) 

I have been counting on the fact that I will be at the short end of the recovery timeframe ranges that he gave me.  Based on the minimal amount of swelling he saw at the appointment, I am definitely able to continue that expectation of the shorter recovery time.  So that means:

March 5th stitches out - can swim a day or 2 after that
first week of April - out of boot
mid April - can begin cycling again
first week of May - can begin running again

That also means that I will be able to sign up for a couple of triathlons this year!  I think I will be race ready (for a sprint) by late July or early August.  I am not going to sign up for anything until I see how the recovery goes once I'm able to start back into the actual training mode.  But I am very encouraged after the doctor visit that this recovery is off to the right start!!!