99 days later

Up and out at early o'clock. Train to Manchester Airport, jet to Newquay and hire-car to Truro. Five fairly relaxed hours door to door. Reading, podcasts and coffee, a good way to travel.
Sadly the jet does a quick turn around, so it's impossible to avoid an overnight stay, but Truro looks lovely with some impressive buildings and granite pavements.

Back in Cornwall to see Mr P the surgeon, very good, a bit disappointing and ultimately something of an anti-climax. He's very pleased with how the operation has gone (fragment removal, joint surface repairs and subsequent range of movement) , and is confident that the majority of the pain I'm now experiencing is soft tissue - both pre-existing chronic damage and the more recent surgical trauma. His expert opinion is that it will be another 6-9 months of rehabilitation and conditioning before we know if it's been a success. Realistically I know that's exactly the advice he gave me going in, but it's still hard to hear.*
Mr P reckons I might have gotten another couple of years if I'd soldiered on, but then I'd have needed a full ankle fusion - so really this is the best roll of the dice. He thinks we can probably do the next consult by telephone, and that I'm now going to be in the hands of the physio. I see a lot more standing on one leg in my future.

*edit; because of some of the lovely comments & mssgs I feel I should add: I've had a lifetime of people saying "this'll take 4hours" and then I've done it in 3. This will take weeks and then it's taken me days. I've been competitive for 4 decades. But Mr P has allowed for that in his comments, he only did this very rare op because I have a chance. So any frustration I express is of my own creation.