it finally rained late last night, however briefly, but that seemed to have stop the heat wave as a cool breeze moved into town. i woke up early, around 7am, after just 5 hours of sleep. i think i was nervous about my orthopedic appointment later in the afternoon.

when i arrived at the MGH yawkey center at 2:30pm, the waiting room was a lot more crowded than it was a few days ago. everyone looked at me like i just crashed a party. they could see from my frankenboot that i was definitely there on business.

a nurse finally called my name and led me to an examination room. minutes later my orthopedic specialist came in. he pulled up my foot x-rays and showed me the fractures. from a severity standpoint, what i had was relatively minor. these were just small cracks in my foot bones, no clean breaks, which meant no need for any surgery to implant supporting screws. had i not seen a doctor, the foot would've healed on its own; there might've been more callousing at the break points, but nothing too bad. the fracture in my lower metatarsal was clearly visible in the x-rays. the fracture in my cuboid was harder to see. what probably happened at the moment of impact was my tendon was pulled in such a way that it actually tore a bit of the cuboid bone, but then the bone snapped it back in place. in fact, the doctor was telling me that there were already signs of healing in both fractures.

for some reason the doctor had to bring in another specialist for a second opinion. maybe it's standard practice in orthopedics. the second doctor came in with the first doctor, and basically told me the same thing. this doctor seemed more optimistic about my recovery rate and said i should come back in 2 weeks to get some new x-rays done (the first doctor told me 4 weeks). after the second doctor left, the orthopedic technician came in, the same woman i saw on monday who fitted me for the frankenboot. this time she had something different, this thing called the aircast which looked like a ski boot (the xp walker model to be exact). i had to first put on a long-tube sock before putting my foot in the aircast. the technician strapped me in, explaining the steps as she went. although it looked unwieldy, the aircast was very comfortable to wear, like a super-cushioned boot. i could even put my full weight on it for the very first since the accident and not feel any pain. i started feeling better already.

i suppose in years past i would've actually had to get a real cast for my broken foot, so i was in awe over the advances in orthopedics. the "air" portion of the aircast involved strategic values located around the brace that i can inflate (or deflate) with a rubber pump. the thick rubber sole is contoured like the feet of a rocking chair so it makes it easier to walk. the aircast actually makes me stand an inch taller on my left side so it looks like i'm always leaning even when i stand. i thought it'd make me look awkward but i found the aircast to be pretty cool. i felt like an astronaut, and thought it'd be cool to have a matching pair that i could wear around for no reason after i'm all healed up. the aircast also makes me feel invincible, like i have a bionic leg, or it's a part of a superhero costume. i also loved the attention, which i pretended not to notice, casually reading and leaning.

so two weeks at the earliest, but probably more like a month before i can be normal again. even after the cast comes off, i still may have to wear an ankle support because there's a good chance the bones could break again if i should ever retwist my ankle. what is it about summer and drama? last year was the summer of the infinite parking tickets. if i could just have one uneventful summer! that's all i'm asking! at least this happened fairly early in the season, and if everything heals according to schedule, i still have july and august to get my motorcycle on.

returning to cambridge, i went to the garden to water my plants. i really do think i have one of the best plots: while more than 70% of the garden is in the shade in the late afternoon, my plot still had a lot of sun if you disregard the patch near the raspberry bushes. i then paid a visit to bruce to show him the new and improved frankenboot 2.0. i enjoyed a glass of cold water and we talked about medieval languages and baby einsteins. he gave me a penguin sticker for my cast, one of many i hope to get over the weeks.

back at home, i removed the brace and took a shower. my father came by with a food delivery, and i showed him how to put the brace back on. i fell asleep briefly on the couch, and later had some dinner.