Surgery and Injury Recovery Update (Updated: Mar 19, 2014)

As folks following along in my last blog entry know, I broke my leg/ankle in December, which affected app updates and site updates for a while. I wanted to post a quick update on where I'm at with recovery for folks who've been asking.

Things have been healing slowly but surely. About a month ago, I was given permission to start putting a small amount of weight (30lbs or so) on the ankle, which has helped in regaining some flexibility. I've been doing physical therapy twice a week for the couple months. The pain is much better, flexibility is improving. All good things.

I've been able to sit at my desk again for extended periods without too much swelling/pain for a little over a month, which is why all apps have been up to date. I've also been doing some small site updates/tweaks (cleaned up the header, slightly better page loads), updating the PA.c installer, going through the app bug list, and started updating apps with outdated formats (AbiWord is the first). New apps have begun flowing again (LazPaint last week, another app is coming today or tomorrow). Dev tests of Apache OpenOffice and the new Opera are available. And I've been working on the Platform again (you'll notice more bugs and features checked off in the tracker each day... a new beta will be dropping in the next couple days).

Financially, I was fortunate to have insurance, as I always have due to my pre-existing condition. If I hadn't had insurance, my health bills would be over $40,000 ($35k for the hospital alone, excluding anesthesia, pain management, ambulance, physical therapy, and followups). With insurance, I'm at about $4,000 so far. A couple people have inquired about assisting with the this, so I have setup a donation page on my personal site for those who are interested.

My next followup with my surgeon is this coming Tuesday at which point we'll assess if the bone is healed enough to schedule my next surgery. That will involve removing the screws immobilizing the bones allowing the soft tissue to heal. And, hopefully, allowing me to begin working up to walking again after healing from that surgery. So, fingers crossed on that. The titanium plate and other screws will stay in permanently, as my first step on my journey to becoming Wolverine.

I wanted to thank everyone who is a part of PortableApps.com and our larger open source community for your support through this. It's been a big help in keeping my spirits up and keeping me working on rewarding software while recovering.

All the best,
John

Update March 19: I had my 3rd followup appointment with my surgeon last night and he's happy with my progress. He thinks the ligaments will be healed enough to remove the immobilization screws in another month, so we've scheduled my next surgery for mid-April. Until then, I can put a little more weight on it to help regain flexibility but still can't walk on it. And I'll continue with doing physical therapy twice a week. Work-wise, I'll still be able to sit at my desk for extended periods. Thanks again everyone for your well-wishes!