Today marks 16 weeks post op. I celebrated it with purchasing new boots for the winter  - comfy with no heels - but still a wonderful change after wearing running shoes 24/7 for the past month.

I feel great in the mornings, less and less stiff, and after a night’s rest for my heel ready to  exercise an hour or so. Charged with energy I can go about and do my activities (I am a home maker, so cleaning, washing windows, shopping, a lot on my feet), but by 2 pm the fatigue and heel pain sets in, and have to take a break.  Still, it is pretty good. My limp is barely noticeable in the morning, more pronounced by noon…. When I get little needle prick pains in the tendon is when I get shivers and stop. I wonder if that is the permanent stitch I feel?

My latest physio activities are holding a hand weight balancing on one foot, bending down, touching the ground, and lifting it up. Also walking on my toes, and a bit on heels. The lunges are getting better, but still  only bad foot forward.

My tendon is getting more flexible, I manage the stretch when I put my toe to the wall and gently touch my knee to the wall. The calves feel firmer, but there is still the 4cm or so difference between the two.

I am very hopeful that things are progressing well, will see the surgeon at 18 weeks  (that is when I re-ruptured first time).

This weekend I managed several fairly long walks ( 2.5K max) at a good speed without any serious discomfort and no swelling. I am impressed. Finally things are looking good. Of course I still limp a bit and sometimes lose a bit of balance, but I do not feel my tendon at all.

The latest PT exercise was passing the ball standing on one foot - quite fun, especially when the therapist purposefully misses, so I have to reach far to catch it. And I got to go on a tiny trampouline, too, just to remind myself what it feels like to bounce.

I am happy to report that my walking is improving a bit every day and though I get aches in the sole of my foot, the PT is happy with the progress.

So she added new exercises to my repertoire: I am doing squats not just by the wall but freely, with my feet apart in v shape, and lounges (standing by a counter for balance) with my bad foot forward. Also she wants me to put more weight on my bad foot while doing the heel raises, as much as I can, 60-70 %.

She said to strenghten my atropheid muscles I need to do lot of weight bearing exercises. And walk making sure to push off at each step. I hate the treadmill, prefer the park (or the shopping mall - I need to catch up with fashion after such a long time being away ;-D )