So...it's official. I need to be at the hospital for my ankle replacement surgery at 5:30 AM tomorrow! I'm a little freaked out at this point. They will cut out my crappy ankle and replace it with a shiny metal one. Well, I'm guessing it's shiny. If levers are considered simple machines, I will official have a machine implanted in me. I will be a cyborg.

I'll be heavily hepped up on goof balls for a few weeks. No idea when I'll be able to get back online. Have fun X-winging while I'm out!

Best of luck and look forward to trolling metal detectors!

It's okay you need to be over 10% to be classified a cyborg.

It's okay you need to be over 10% to be classified a cyborg.

Not true! I want to be a cyborg and you can't take that away from me.

We have the technology.... Better. Faster. Stronger.

You'll be back.... Hasta la vista maybe!

Enjoy the "Get through metal detector free" card they give you. Well... ok, maybe not free persay ... But you do get a card that says you have metal joint replacements.

Having a feedback response is usually what makes some kind of implant qualify as "cybernetic" and the implantee as a cyborg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg

So artificial bones alone probably wouldn't qualify, but a cochlear implant would.

Nah, it is more of a wolverine, adamantite skeleton sort of thing.

Remember, it wasn't Logan's skeleton that made him a mutant - it was his healing ability that allowed him to live through the infusion process, and once he had the skeleton, well, his was that much more bad ass.

That sorta makes you tougher than him, since you're getting a bone replacement without his regenerative powers. Good on ya mate.

It's okay if you get angry can now blame it on the new ancle and cyberpsychosis!

Just think of all teh stuff you be able to do now!

Get well!

Get well soon!

Holy crap! They have interwebz in the hospital?!?!? Also, I'm actually conscious? After the first 4 surgeries I was a zombie. I'm actually awake. Well, for short stints at a time. When I hit the button for more pain meds I take a nap.

Watching Capt America 2, as well. Ugh, meds make me naseous.

If you just give us the interlink frequency on your new implant, we'll have you up and around in no time...

or more precisely, your semi-conscious body being dragged down the hall by your cybernetic ankle while you dry heave.

Holy crap! They have interwebz in the hospital?!?!? Also, I'm actually conscious? After the first 4 surgeries I was a zombie. I'm actually awake. Well, for short stints at a time. When I hit the button for more pain meds I take a nap.

Watching Capt America 2, as well. Ugh, meds make me naseous.

Don't forget to drink lots of water! Those meds will constipate you big time. I gave birth to a brick after my surgery.

Get well soon! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Yep. Lots of water. This is my 5th surgery on this ankle, so not the first time around the block. I am much more conscious than the p;revious times, though. I was a zombie for a ocuple weeks after the others. Now I am typing and functioning pretty well. Pretty odd.

Leaving the hospital late today due to family scheduleing. Should be leaving here around 10pm. They messed the pain meds up this morning and I was in a heap of pain. Mind erasing pain. Got it under control, though, and doing much better. Still sleeping about half of each hour.

Best of luck, Mr Roboto. Get well soon.

PS: You can sit and play X-wing at the same time

Cyborg huh, so what is your faction; Criminal or Shaper?

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Ok, so more awake than before. Stuck in front of tv. Bought Deus Ex for Xbox 360 and having fun with that. Gotta love the save feature.

Oh, man, I bet there is another article I missed. Last thing that was new was the K-wing article. Any other news since then? Any word on a release for anything?

No x-wing news today I expect next news will be gencon.

As someone who had extensive spinal injury in the army and some pretty 'aggressive' surgery on it I can sympathise fella. You don't appreciate mobility properly until you don't have it.

Just take it slow, i pushed myself to get well too quick and built up scar tissue that pushed on my nerves almost as badly as the wound and its taken bloody years to come off the oxycodene

What i can recommend (because i healed stupidly fast when i did this) is quitting drinking, smoking, caffeine, chocolate and processed foods.

Just eat a lot of fruit, fresh meat and veg, decaf tea and coffee etc and *lots* of water.

Thanks Gade.

This isn't my first or even second surgery. In 2007, my wife asked me to install those storage shelves that hang from the roof of the garage. So, I had moved things around and was looking for studs. I was coming down the ladder when it started to wobble and it was going to fall. I was only three feet off the ground, but I looked over and I was going to fall with my face into a rack with rakes, shovels, and other pointy things. So, I just hopped off. I was only 3 feet off the ground.

Well, I landed funny and my foot was at a 90 degree angle from my leg. It was horrible. Ambulance came and took me to the hospital. I had surgery and all that. A couple of weeks later, my foot was still badly swollen, but they took the stitches out. It caused a large open wound infection that was truly horrible. It smelled bad. They think that this infection is what caused the severe trauma arthritis.

A year later and it was still very painful. I needed to have my ankle partially fused to stop the movement in my ankle. That's what was causing the pain. So, the second surgery put 3 screws into my foot. Another round of months on crutches and then a "boot". Months of physical therapy...again.

There is only a 5%-10% chance of failure of this operation. I'm lucky to fit into that category. The third surgery removed the three screws, added two new ones, and then added a bone graft to make sure it stuck. Right before I went under, I talked to the pain doc and worried about the bone graft. He looked at my info and said if I can handle the subtailor fusion then I was fine. My surgery is one of the most painful and the only thing worse was knee reconstruction. So...months of all the rest of it.

The fourth surgery was because it still hurt. They believed it was bone fragments, so they cut me open to clear them out. More crutches, boot, and physical therapy.

At this point, I can't move my foot left and right as the ankle was fused. I gained 35 pounds. My quality of life dropped. This was the new reality.

Four years later and my wife says it's worse. I go to the doc and find out that that the arthritis has spread to the rest of my ankle. My options are 1) total ankle fusion. 2) amputation 3) total ankle replacement. I ruled out the first as I didn't see how my life could get better that way. I was thinking about option 3, but did spend some time thinking about amputation. I mean, how many surgeries would I need? I was ready to just cut it off. I went with ankle replacement.

So, they cut out my ankle. They removed my bone ankle. They put in a metal one instead. I'm quite happy to remove the old one.

As for eating, I had started a new diet before the surgery. I had already lost 20 pounds and was half way to target weight. I'm eating healthy and doing well with that aspect. Drinking, of course, has stopped. I do have a cup of coffee every morning for the past few days, but that's it.

Well on the bright side, atleast you can say, "Resistance, is futile".