Mar 10 2010
Feet are on the ground
Well, at least one foot and one boot, but I must say it feels mighty nice to be Partial Weight Bearing. First thing I did after getting back home, was take a shower. A real shower, not one involving plastic covers, open shower curtains and leg hanging out of the tub. Still using the chair, but that’s not really all that bad!
I’ve got the nice spaghetti leg calf going, but it’s not quite as bad as I thought. Doc said I can do some very limited ROM for the next few weeks. Says I’ll have to wear the boot for 6 weeks and in about 4 weeks I can start strength training. He did say I could go swimming right away if I wanted. Might have to give that a try! Right now looking forward to the next step two weeks from now - losing the crutches.
Congrats! The first real shower was the first happy day after my surgery. You’re lucky to have a chair though, I was way too lazy to bother buying one and spent several weeks sitting on the ground in the tub!
I’m over 7 weeks post-op now, and my bad calf is now 4cm smaller in diameter than my good which looks ridiculous. My PT tells me I’ll get it back no problem though. I have to stare at it every day and wonder how something could change so drastically in such short time, I think it’s actually pretty cool to tell the truth : )
Take your time ditching those crutches. I’m in that process right now, I’m FWB but I still take one crutch along with me outside of the house (I’m also in the boot). It’s a bit daunting yet exciting taking the first few steps. At first it was difficult not to revert back to hopping on 2 crutches because they had become my comfort zone. After a couple of days, however, I could have burned one of them and it wouldn’t have made a difference to me. Once the ball gets rolling it becomes easier, but I’ve also been told frequently to slow down and not to push it too hard. So just take your time and let things fall into place as they will.
One area where I think you can be about as aggressive and daring as you like, is walking around in a boot, FWB. Many of us have discomfort or pain at this step, but (a) if you’re lucky and you don’t, or (b) after you’re past the discomfort or pain, then I’d say go for it, or even “go nuts”! If you overdo, you’ll be whipped and want to rest, and maybe put your foot up. But that’s not a threat to your AT.
There are lots of areas where going too far, too fast, is scary and risky, but I don’t think clomping around in a boot is one of them.
I wouldn’t “work through the pain” to rush to FWB if your foot hurts, but if it doesn’t, the exercise (and the freedom and mobility) will do you good!
Personally, I never got into the 1-crutch thing, though I did use a cane for a day or two. But it wasn’t really for support as much as (a) defending my space against people who might run into me and (b) giving me a bit more stability on ice and snow, just in case. (I had my boot in a plastic bag to keep it clean, and that made it very slippery!)
Congrats, jgigs! The hot shower without a plastic bag sounds great! I should wait for another 2 weeks to have that liberty.
Yesterday I saw my bad calf at the clinic before they put me in a new cast. As you said, the difference between the bad and good calf looked really ridiculous! I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw them.
Have you taken your photos in a boot? If you have, please post some here.
The day I could take a shower was one of the best days ever. We have a endless hot water heater at our home, so you can believe it was a very very long shower.
Glad to hear you are all squeaky clean and all seems to be going well for you.
Keep us posted.