travel and rhum

I was in avid hiker a few years ago until on my biggest hike I attempted I slipped and fell into a river and broke my ankle. I was alone with my dog and a few miles in already, but really wanted to summit it. Adrenaline pushed me along another 2 miles and I couldn’t tell my ankle was broken, I thought I just sprained it (stupid me). I ended up turning back and adrenaline wore off with another mile left. I barely made it back to my car but made it and was able to drive the 2.5 hours back to my apartment before pulling myself up 3 flights of stairs. I wrapped the crap out of it and had it x-rayed at work the next day and it was broken. Luckily I didn’t need surgery (yet), but my ankles were already bad and my ortho doc suggested surgery in the near future.

2 years have passed now and my ankle still gives me issues. I’ve done some small hikes here and there, but nothing like the 4ks in the white mountains since. Not only is my ankle not the same, but I’m still nervous to hike again, especially alone. That being said, I’m getting the itch to hike again, but have also gained some serious weight since then.

How can I safely get back into my hobby again? And how do I fight the fear of hiking, especially across rivers? Any suggestions?