7 Days Out from Ankle Surgery

I'm 7 days out from my ankle surgery. Each day I feel better and better.

Today's the first day I felt good and had mental clarity to write about my experience.

A pothole and a fall in 2019

In your 20s, you feel invincible. Nothing can stop us except...a pothole.

I remember walking down the street from our old apartment in Adams Point. I must have gotten distracted, and eventually I tumbled over a mega pothole.

Although I didn't hurt anything that most people hurt (ankles, elbows, wrists), but my ankles took the brunt of the fall.

My right ankle healed, but my left ankle did not.

Honestly, I probably should have sued Oakland, but that time has passed. These are only things you think about afterward.

A bad foot for years

My left ankle has bothered me for a couple of years. Over time, it moved from soreness to more of a dull pain. I could power through for different sports since it's not a sharp pain. Soccer never phased me or Snowboarding.

But walking for over an hour in late 2024 / early 2025... brutal.

I went to Japan in February with my family, and after an hour and a half of walking, I would start limping. Not even an ankle brace could help me.

Eventually, I found myself with an ankle and foot surgeon for help figuring out what was wrong.

The power of modern medicine

The hidden Issues traditional X-rays couldn't find (2020)

I didn't remember until last year, but I actually had gotten an X-ray done in 2020 on my left ankle. I felt it off, and nothing really came out of the X-ray. I remember my doctor at the time in Oakland saying that my foot and ankle weren't broken.

I felt a bit crazy, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with my ankle.

The surgeon who cared (2025)

After I started limping in December, I eventually went to my primary doctor to get a referral to a specialist. I enjoy my primary care doctor a lot; he's also one of the key figures who pushed me to get healthy and lose more weight last year.

After I got my referral, I met my fellowship-trained ankle and foot surgeon, Dr. Craig KrCal.

Dr. KrCal loves ankles and helping his patients. He might love ankles more than I love payments. You can hear him more about him on a recent podcast below.

Dr. KrCal was really excited to dig in and figure out what was wrong so I could get back to life without pain.

After an initial consultation with multiple X-rays, including a super cool Live X-ray. It still wasn't super apparent what was wrong with my ankle, but we had a hunch!!

Dr. Craig KrCal ordered an MRI to dig deeper... On a Zoom call, we later reviewed the results.

Ankle Troubles

My ankle had three major issues (This is my layman's explanation)

1. My cartilage was deteriorated in a particular area of my ankle
2. There was a hole in my ankle that needed to be filled in
3. My tendon was damaged and needed reinforcement

My surgery focused on addressing these three key issues.

Dr. KrCal offered alternatives that weren't surgical such as physical therapy and a Cortisol shot. However, I chose to move forward with surgery since I don't believe physical therapy or a cortisol shot could help address these three interconnected issues.

The cortisol shot in particular (to help with pain) would provide a false sense of security (this is my opinion) and probably lead to a worse outcome for me.

Pre-Surgery Jitters

Like any rational person, I was a little nervous to get surgery. There's a lot to confront, and the road to recovery to 100% looks like 4-6 months for my situation.

Here was some things I had some jitters on.

#1 Leaving work at a time when everything is going really well

I've never really been out for leave before. Finix has been very supportive of my medical leave.

It's mostly been myself that I've had to battle. I had and still have some lingering feelings of missing out. We're humming at full speed, work is fun, and there are new challenges we're solving every day.

In talking with my surgeon, the first 4 weeks are crucial to the long-term recovery. Taking the time to elevate my foot, rest, and ice are key. In addition, prioritizing physical therapy is essential to a quick recovery.

I wasn't looking forward to being on leave, but I know it's important for long-term recovery and to help with healing the first few weeks.

#2 Becoming addicted to opioids

I've read many stories about people being addicted to opioids after a surgery. So this was something I was afraid of.

Part of this fear has come from listening to parts of Demon Copperhead by Barbara King which tackles opioids, poverty and resilience in Appalachia. I learned that many addictions start with minor injuries from workplace-related accidents when they are prescribed opioids.

Fortunately, Dr. Craig KrCal ordered a Nerve Block. It's common practice now to use nerve blocks to avoid prescribing potent addictive opioids to manage pain.

#3 Things going wrong

There are always risks in surgery, and that's just something we have to accept.

The Surgery

The staff at Kaiser Permanente were awesome. My surgery was in Richmond, CA. It's a smaller hospital, and everyone was friendly and knew each other. The power of lean teams!

My mom and sister flew in from San Diego to help Vero and me get ready for the Surgery.

The day felt surreal. I just finished attending our Senior Leadership Team meeting on Wednesday, the day before, and I was off to Surgery on Thursday, 04/24.

My setup was:

1. Get ready for surgery with the nurses
2. Nerve Block with the anesthesiologist
3. Multiple confirmations to go into the surgery
4. Surgery
5. Post-Surgery

Going into the operating room was pretty cool to see. It felt like a NASCAR/F1 Pit Stop. There was a big team supporting Dr. Craig KrCal. I was out in seconds once the anesthesia hit and woke up.

Post Surgery

Waking Up and Heading Home

I woke up and had a half split on my ankle. It hurt, but the nerve block helped with the pain.

I was wheelchaired out by a nurse and eventually got into the Subaru where my lovely wife, Vero, my mom, and my little sister Jenny helped me get home.

Praise the Nerve Block and Ice

Most of my time for the last 7 days has been lying down and elevating my foot. It's not glamorous, but it helps with the swelling and is generally the most comfortable position. The nerve block

Sitting isn't very comfortable with the cast, so that's also something I wasn't expecting. I had all these goals about trying to be productive, but I've just been trying to sleep, eat, and get rest to heal my ankle.

I've had to let go and try to be like this:

Gratitude for Family and Friends

Vero

My wife, Vero, has been amazing throughout this journey. I've needed help with almost every activity now that I only have one foot available. Vero's been tremendously helpful, kind, thoughtful, and supportive.

My Mom and Sister

My mom and sister came before the surgery to help. We reorganized a lot of our apartment to be ADA accessible. They were also very instrumental in helping the first few days, which were the hardest.

My mom and Vero bonded over pulling my nerve block out from my leg. That was an experience.

Community Support

I've had friends check in and ask how I'm doing, which is always great. I want to give a special shoutout to Jeanny, Justin, Alberto, and Brenda, who came on a Sunday night to help us build some Amazon packages to make my recovery more comfortable.

Usually, I'm building all the gadgets (I genuinely enjoy it), but I had to stay on the couch.

Looking forward to the road ahead

We're on Day 7 /180 days of the recovery. I feel great about where I am and excited for the future. I've read some tough journeys on /r/brokenankles and feel gratitude with all the family, workplace, and medical support I have.

I know one day I'll run Lake Merritt without feeling pain. We're getting closer to that now.

Part of the reason I also decided to have this surgery is that I'd like to one day play soccer with my future kids. Sometimes you have to invest in yourself to make that happen.

That's all for day 7!