Permanent Cast -- 11/27/00 Twelve days after my injury (eleven after the operation), I was scheduled to have a permanent cast put on. My parents took me to see Dr. Maruyama. The waiting area was very crowded (the Dr. is a member of an orthopedic specialists group), but I got serviced rather quickly. Jay was all business when he saw me. Took off my temporary cast, inspected my sutures from the operation, then efficiently put on the new cast. He first surrounded my leg with a Gore-tex lining. Then he wet what looked like some Ace bandages and wrapped it around the Gore-tex. Apparently, this wrap has the "cast plaster" already on, and the water was used as a catalyst so that it could harden. Jay kept my foot extended out again to ease the strain on the ligament, then quickly wrapped from my toes to my upper calf. In less than 15 minutes, I had a hardened cast, good to go. It was heavier and longer, but seemed more comfortable (not as tight as the temp). He mentioned a couple of things that sort of blew me away. One was that this cast could and should be gotten wet everyday. The theory behind this is that the covered skin gets a chance to be rinsed and flushed out, facilitating the skin healing process. I could even go swimming in it--pool water only, though. But the other thing he said was that I could schedule to have it removed on January 3rd. That would be six weeks to the day after the injury. That seems relatively short, considering the type of injury. I know that there will be a lot more time needed for rehab to get it "back to normal." However, the short cast time was definitely good news. Actually, I can't wait to start stretching it. I thought about having people sign the cast, but my wife coaxed me out of it. "You gotta look professional for work," she reasoned. She's right, of course. Maybe just before I take it off. :-)