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[RC] question on tendon surgery for rider - Anderson, Kristie Lynn

Ok, so after at least 13 years of complaining of very weak ankles and all the 
associated problems, it seems i've finally found a dr. able to figure out 
what's wrong AND desire to fix it. 

The problem - I pretty much have no lateral support left in either ankle. 
Tendons/ligaments there are stretched, torn, or degenerate in some way, won't 
know until he gets in there how much damage there really is. They've been like 
that for ages, just got used to twisting an ankle once a week. The left one is 
currently the main problem, and i can ride my thinner bodied horses, but it's 
agonizing to ride my more rotund ones (i think it's a cruel joke that Trigger 
has managed to come through winter bordering on obese. I rode him for the first 
time last weekend after his first 75, and noticed large fat pockets behind his 
shoulders as I was tacking him up). Can actually walk it off nicely, so that I 
get off the horse to walk into camp and start out grade 4 or 5, am down to a 3 
when I do the trot out, and am sound before I leave out on my next loop. This 
started from a bad twist at Shore to Shore last year.

The fix - Dr. wants to fix both ankles, the left first. Says my options are 
donor tendons (which apparently even through their best efforts he cannot 
guarantee to be viral/fungal/etc free), or to use my own from somewhere where 
they are normal. If he uses my own tendon (the direction i'm planning on 
leaning), the plan is to remove a portion of the hamstring tendon on that leg, 
and use it to fashion what is needed to stabilize the ankle. Puts me out of 
commission for 6 weeks (which is cleverly planned to begin less than a week 
after my first 100 miler attempt giving me plenty of time to recover for Ft. 
Stanton), then wait for ful recovery to do the right ankle. 

The question - has anyone has a surgery similar to this? Apparently this guy is 
a great surgeon, but he doesn't seem to be too good at explaining what i can 
expect while rehabbing and such. He does work with a lot of athletes, but 
doesn't quite get endurance riders. Keeps giving me that "are you on crack?" 
look when I mention what I do.

Thanks for any help, and feel free to message privately so as not to clog the 
list.

Kris

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