You need to call and talk with your doctor ASAP. He will no doupt want to see and examine your ankle, do some xrays and see what's going on. Sounds like you will also need some professionally done physical therapy. Guidance as to the correct exercises to do, how much to do and when to do them. Swelling of your ankle is an idication of several different things and only your doctor can tell you what they are. The fact that by evening your ankle is swollen and "throbbing in pain" says that something is not right. Could be too much pressure on the ankle to soon, not the correct exercises being done, additional damage to the bones from walking to quickly on it, and it could be that some or any of the hardware is coming out of the bone. Remember that the ankle takes much of the weight of your body on it every time you stand on it. If it isn't healed enough when you put full weight on it, you can rebrake or hairline fracture the bones again. As for the plate hurting in cold weather, that's not uncommon to happen. It may be possible in a few months to a year, to have the plate removed, but it's too soone to do so right now, I would think. Talk to your doctor about all these problems ASAP, before anything gets worse. You should explain to him/her about your finances and see if your charges can be reduced. The same goes for physical therapy. There should be some arrangements you can make to lower the cost quite a bit, based on no insurance. It's worth a try, because it sounds like you will need some. Good luck

If you really want to use an aversive I would try it with the "no" Ginny -- then after a few times try the "no" without the bottle. Try to wean off the bottle so that you only need the word. Your aim is to teach her that "no" means "stop whatever you're doing." You won't always have the bottle with you, after all. So the "no" comes first, and the squirt only comes if she doesn't move away. Cats have extremely sensitive senses of smell, perhaps even stronger than dogs. You can certainly try using different things on your pants legs. You might find that something as simple as lemon or vanilla discorages the behavior. But like having the bottle with you at all times, this is an inconvenience. Have you considered using clicker training to put the behavior on cue? That way you could cue it when you wnated it and cue him not to do it when you don't want it. You would both win that way. Plus, you'd be teaching with reward, not punishment. Plus, you'd be learning skills that would help you with traiing your other two cats as well, and you and your kitties would all have a lot of fun training times together.

marie-ndcal I am seeing a orthopedic Dr tomorrow but not the one who did my knee. I am going to one about 1 hr. from us & has been recommended by my reg. Dr. I am sure it has started to heal but the pain has gotten worse over the past 3 weeks. I will do whatever has to be done but I hope it is not surgery.

Thank you, Cattyles. So sweet of you! Jane recently moved AM to another server so the pictures could be larger. She asked me to update my photos, so almost all of them were recently retaken. DD1 now uses the Shabby Chic room, so most of that is stored. DD2 took the sofa for her MBR sitting area. I'll probably get DD1 to sell the RASC and other bedding on ebay. I really don't need and it's silly to store when someone else could enjoy. Lynn, she made the reins from leather jewelry cording. Perfect touch, wouldn't be the same w/o it. I just took a vase DD2 bought 9 years ago, but has been stored the last 6. Always a chance drilling hole could break, but it wasn't an expensive vase and will make a cute lamp for her MBR sitting area. I also have several lamps in closets... I really should start selling things I don't use/haven't used/don't plan to use. We actually lease to an antique store and the owner has told me to bring whatever I want to put in his space. I need to make a list/take pictures to send him, making sure I'm not overstepping his offer and that there is room. But then I go back/forth on if/when we do move, what bedroom(s) do I want to not have in the next house. Don't want to get rid of something only to regret it later. I kept thinking DD1, DD2 or DS will want something. So far, not.