Making Progress
Posted on April 10th, 2011 by billb44
Got the cast removed on Thursday. Dr says things look great and that since my foot is already at the angle the he wants that I can do the first month of PT at home since it will just be some light stretching. I’ll be in boot for up to 4 months. Good news is that I”m full weight bearing and weaning off of crutches. Today was first day almost completely without them. I still keep them around when I’m out of the boot since I can’t push off at all yet.
This is painfully slow but for the first time, I feel as if I’m making some progress.
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And if you install the ATR Timeline Widget, we’ll also get a quick update on your dates, which leg, where you are, etc.
I hope your “up to 4 months” ends up like those “save up to 75% off” sales in some stores!
Your Doc’s right that there are no big studies on long-delayed ATR surgery, but all the big studies that HAVE been done (mostly on “normal” ATRs) show that slow conservative immobilization is neutral (aka useless) or negative (aka harmful). Many or most surgeons still over-immobilize (and over-NWB), because it’s so easy to imagine that longer babying will be helpful, even if the evidence consistently shows the opposite. Harrumph!!
At least at FWB, you can carry stuff around, even if your choice of footwear is way limited! I don’t suppose you were lucky enough to get a HINGED boot? Either way, make sure your uninjured side is “built up” as high as your boot side, so you don’t destroy your hips and knees and spine walking off-kilter for “up to 4 months”.
I ruptured my achilles on the 3rd Feb playing netball for the first time in 2 years. Went to a physiotherapist the next morning who told me it was a torn muscle. I then spent 8 weeks exercising and limping before going to my doctor who diagnosed a ruptured achilles immediately. Then came an ultrasound and MRI. Diagnosis of a 4.7cm injured area…. Surgey on my 56th birthday the 27th April. It is day 13 and just had bandages removed this morning. Wound is healing well and my black adjustable boot has been adjusted closer to a right angle and I am allowed to flex my foot within that boundary ( pointed to nearly normal) and weight bear only on my toes not through the heel! Crutches and partial weight bearing for the next 4 weeks is the plan. But then I need a built up shoe. Am I right in thinking I need a pair of flats that are firmly attached to my foot not slip ons? Coping well with it all as the end is now in sight… after a small amount of time spent cursing my ex physio!
Sue, you should start a blog page of your own, so we don’t have to keep meeting in the alleys behind other people’s houses!
And if you install the ATR Timeline Widget, we’ll also get a quick update on your dates, which leg, where you are, etc.
Yes, fire that PT!
Your “weight bear only on my toes not through the heel” sounds weird to me. Without a boot, you would ONLY be able to bear weight on your heel. With a boot, its rigidity allows you to bear weight on your toes, by transferring the stress your AT would normally bear, to your shin. But your heel should be just as capable of WB as your toes. What many of us started doing around 2 weeks post-whatever, PWB, is “rehearsing” our gait, but (a) in the boot and (b) with the crutches still taking most of our weight when the injured leg is doing the walking.
Slip-ons could be scary, or not. Many of us loved wearing Crocs when we first got into 2 shoes, because the squishy gel was so friendly to our sensitive soles and heel-bottoms. People with wounds also have to be careful not to rub them the wrong way, with their shoes. And while you’re in the boot, building up your other foot so it’s as “elevated” as your booted foot is very important for the rest of your body.