First, I went to get new x-rays. The waiting room was packed. This put me in an anti-social mood. I really don't like being crowded. I began reading a magazine. Eventually, a woman spoke to me. So, I had to talk to her.

After I explained my injury, she told me that I'm crazy. She wasn't completely rude about it, but she didn't mince words. "Why on Earth would you even consider going back? What sort of person jumps out of a perfectly good airplane? Why would you risk your life?" The barrage continued. 

"Am I insane?" Fortunately, the x-ray technician came out with my x-rays before I could give this too much thought. 

I went to see my doctor. When I first met the ortho guy, he seemed bland and unfriendly. Strictly business. After four visits, he's lightened up considerably. He entered the room with a smile and greeted me with a handshake,

Together, we looked at my x-rays. The fracture was almost healed. Not 100%, but close. After we discussed the fracture, he moved on to the arthritis in my ankles. "What did you do to abuse your ankles?" He told me that I have one of the worst cases of ankle arthritis that he has ever seen. Apparently, severe ankle arthritis isn't very common. "What did I do? Where do I start?" 

10 years of dance, 3 years of drill team which produced an untreated (L) broken ankle, gymnastics, a 3 wheeler wreck which resulted in an untreated (R) broken ankle, tennis, broken (L) ankle roller blading (the x-ray of this revealed the original fracture), and did I mention that I'm a little clumsy? When I was in college, I sprained one ankle and then fell down the steps with my crutches and sprained the other one. I was trying to remember how many times I sprained my ankles. I think a dozen is probably an understatement.

"How much longer is this going to take?" He looked up at the ceiling and said something like ask him (God). I told him that if there is a God, he has more important things to worry about than me. "When can I jump?" He told me I wasn't completely healed yet, and I needed to build up some ankle strength."Four weeks?" was his I am not sure answer.

After further discussion, we agreed that four weeks would be appropriate. He said that I could come back and get cortisone injections for the arthritis. It would provide relief for about six months.