In the walking boot waiting it out (WEEK 8 post-op)
I have not written before because I could not bring myself to - so this blog starts (officially) a little late in the piece. Following my rupture, I had surgery and went through a 2-week period in a hard old-fashionable cast. Following this, I was in an aircast boot, non-weight-bearing (NWB) for another 3 weeks after which I was allowed to slowly start putting weight on it. It took a week for me to be able to hobble around the house without crutches. And what a moment that was! My first cup of coffee, made and carried by me!!!
So here I am in a my walking aircast boot, able to walk around the flat and the office and cook, clean and even bathe on my own, 3 weeks on. I have been blessed with a lot of help from my partner and my work colleagues. Being a cripple, you learn where the cripple-friendly restaurants are, if your local movie theater has a good working lift and friendly stuff (NOT the Reading Vue Cinema I am afraid, do avoid it if you are in the area), if the local cafes are helpful and understanding to your condition (yey for the Nero Cafe by the River in Reading).
You also learn who your friends are, the people who email and see you regularly and who make an effort to be supportive. It is an eye-opener and, as the cliche goes, it is not always the ones you expect. Most people are quite shocked when they realise just how little you can do while in a cast and how limited your life becomes.
Unfortunately, it is not as easy as trying to focus on something else, particularly during the non-weight bearing phase when you have to be completely focused on the leg so as not to put it on the ground and re-rupture it.
Things get easier practically & mentally from then on. I have had a great help during this troublesome time as I read on a blog about leg caddies as an alternative to crutches. If you live in the UK, you can rent them from Chris’s website (see a picture of me on it below). here .
If you are in the US, there are more options, just search for them on the internet.
It gets better once you become fully weight-bearing, even though it’s shocking at first just how hard everything is.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
you are so right about you learn who your friends are and who in your family you can count on. i like your post about fun activities. i’ve recently caught up on facebook,cleaned out my emails and caught up on several tv shows (i got hooked on the colony and top chef)-keep on healing!
September 15th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
I wish I would have had a leg caddy. I was going to get one until I found out they are over $300 here in the US, and about $135 to rent one for a month. I figured I’d just crutch it out.
I went into a boot today….having trouble with that weight bearing part…so any tips are appreciated. I don’t feel pain, but I’m tentative to go weight bearing after 6 weeks of a cast/splint.
September 15th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Hi Aaron, bummer that you had to do it all with crutches alone. Well done though, it must have been tough but you did it.
Weight-bearing will feel funny at first, but try to do it as much as possible and use whatever you have at your disposal for balance. It is good to try to get rid of the crutches as soon as you can, by using furniture etc to hang on to. I had a bit of heel pain at the beginning and stiffness (as the leg was not used to doing much), but that does go in a few days. The important thing to watch out for is: stairs, try to be very careful and do them one leg at a time, even in the boot; and uneven surfaces, use crutches or other support on strange surfaces. You don’t want to step “funny” or twist your leg in a weird position. However, around the home or office or your usual surroundings, you will be fine. The more you throw yourself into walking now, the better you will be in the long term. Your calf will get back to doing what it does best and your muscles will get a little workout too.
Good luck with everything, you have done wonderful until now and you will continue to do so I am sure!
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March 9th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
Thank you - I still remember that time even now…195 weeks post ATR! Good luck with your recovery!!!
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March 10th, 2014 at 1:00 am
For both of you, once you’re FWB, there’s a cute trick for walking down stairs “normally”, even if you’re in a fixed boot or in 2 shoes with no ROM and limited strength. I’ve outlined it in detail on my blog and elsewhere, but basically you plant your injured foot much farther forward on the step than you’re used to — so maybe half or even more of your foot is hanging out past the front of the step. It doesn’t feel true, but in this case you’re actually safer a bit farther forward, rather than farther back. Then when you step down with your uninjured foot, down to the step below where your injured foot is, your injured foot just “rolls” around the edge of the step. That “roll” takes the place of the extreme ankle dorsiflexion (fully weighted!) that “normal people” do when they walk down stairs. For some of us, giving up this simple “cheat” and going down stairs PERFECTLY normally was a challenge for a while, even after we could stride normally barefoot. But for the meantime, it’s a great way to walk down steps twice as fast and looking normal.
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