Bad News

First some good news... I finished my twelve miles yesterday, ending up in North Seattle. I may post a longer blog about that later.

I went to see the Chiropractor today, and we went over the x-rays of my right ankle. Nothing wrong in the bones (my heelspur pain doesn't even have a visible bone spur, thank goodness). We then checked the ankle itself again, and discovered that a certain muscle near a bunch of connecting muscles and bones is a bit swollen. Enough to worry about, but not enough to panic over. After a few more tests and movement, the chiropractor thinks I may have strained the muscle. His advice is to stay off my feet as much as possible for the next three days... no more 12 miles walks this week, or even one mile if I can help it... then get the physical therapist to look at it more closely when I see her on Thursday. He also suggested ice massages during my down time. That's when you fill a paper cup about half-full of water, then freeze it, then tear off the top and massage your muscles with the ice.

After I finished the appointment and started home, I thought, "Well, I can't walk for a few days... I haven't donated blood in ages. Maybe I should go do that." And I did. As usual after donating blood, I feel really good. It's strange how good it feels to get rid of a little blood every once in awhile.

In any case, I'm not going to stay on schedule this week. I may try the exercise bike if it doesn't aggravate the muscle, and I'll go swimming on Wednesday as usual. But no walkies until I've chatted with the PT. If it's just a little muscle strain, I'll be back to the full schedule in no time.