any ankle arthroscopy survivors out there?

I just had arthroscopy done on my ankle on 23 November just before Thanksgiving. Apparantly I broke it more than 10 years ago (I remember a bad sprain in high school lacrosse maybe?) and have been running on bone chips ever since.

Dr. Holt removed the bone chips, smoothed the broken area and drilled some holes in the bone near the break to cause some bleeding (key to actually healing he says).

He also suggested (and I agreed after some research) that the break and many years of subsequent sprains had damaged the ligaments that stabilize my ankle; and if I was serious about triathlon as a lifetime sport I should have a Brostrom proceedure done to tighten the ankle back up and prevent further injury.

So, we did that as well and it definately will impact my response to your question of healing.

The recovery for the operation was 48 hours non-weight bearing then a walking boot for 6 weeks (13 days left for me). Pain management was pretty agressive for the first 48 hours as well, but after that has consisted of Ibuprofen and ice on the back of the knee. I was told I could walk on it as much as I could tolerate the pain and use crutches otherwise. I ditched the crutches on day 5 and hobbled for the remainder of  the first 2 weeks when the exterior stitches came out. That seemed to help a bunch and I'm now walking comfortably if not a little slow (can't flex my ankle ).

Now... I'd say that the vast majority of my recovery time is due to the Brostrom procedure and not the arthroscopy done between my Talus and Tibia. That part was a little tender for a few weeks, but hasn't bothered me at all since.

Take the anti-inflammatory drugs, ice and elevate as often as possible and you'll do just fine. I'd worry more about the general anesthetic part myself... but I just hate being put out.