I’ll have this cast on until January 29th which will be 6 weeks from my surgery. I am pretty happy that I am over halfway through my non-weight bearing stage.

I was supposed to receive another cast after this one that was going to set the angle of my foot closer to 0 degrees in preparation for the CAM boot, but thankfully I won’t need it. I went to the website for the VACOped boot and downloaded their pdf and brought it into my docs office. He had never seen it before, but liked it and thought it would be a good option for me. I called VACOped’s Massachusetts office and they gave me a dealer here in LA. To make this fairly boring story a bit shorter, I’ll get fitted for the VACOped at my next doctors visit at the end of the month.

I guess this is another example of the benefits of being a pro-active patient.

These pictures are two weeks post surgery. Before I had the splint removed I was a bit worried about some pain that I was having. I had a stinging sensation and it felt like something was poking me. Once I saw the scar though I was relieved to see no redness or swelling that would indicate an infection. My doc poked around the wound which was not painful and said that the pain was probably a result of things healing up and not to worry about it.

So this is how I am as I enter into 2009. Next Tuesday I go in to have my stitches removed and my first cast put on. The protocol my doctor is following is as follows: 6 weeks non-weight bearing, 6 weeks in a walking cast, and 6 weeks in a cam boot. I know that this isn’t as agressive as some, but I am fine with it. I am not so worried about healing fast, but rather healing well, and if that takes time then it takes time.

One thing that I didn’t do though that I wished I had was tie on a short rope around the handles of doors. It is a bit difficult to close a door behind you that you have to pull shut when you are in a wheel chair.

I am starting to get a bit of cabin fever sitting around the house, which from what I have read is a very common experience. The doc told me to be really careful, so I have been waiting to head out and about until the cast is put on and I have a bit more protection around my ankle. I am scheduled to get the cast on Dec. 30th. My late Christmas present, Yipee! (sarcasm should be read into the blog at this point).

I know that I am fortunate to have some people around me that can help me out. Not having someone to lean on with this injury would add a whole other layer of suffering. I feel for all of you out there who are struggling through your recovery alone. You are in my prayers.

Before my surgery my anesthesiologist came in to do a block on my left leg. I was told that this would numb my leg for 12 to 24 hours to help me get through the worst of the pain post-surgery. To get the block I had to have a big needle inject some stuff deep in around a main nerve in my leg. Surprisingly this wasn’t that painful, but things would soon change.

After the block I was wheeled into the OR where I asked if it was ok that I still felt things in my leg. He gave me a test where he proceeded to poke me all over the leg with a needle which I felt, and then followed up by saying, “well sometimes it takes time.” Then I got the general and it was lights out.

When I came to I was in excruciating pain. The block completely failed, so they gave me morphine. When that failed to alleviate the pain they gave me the strongest stuff they had (still not sure what it was) which brought my pain level down from a 10 to an 8. The pain came on in waves peaking at a 10 and then dropping down to a 4. At that time I couldn’t even sit in a wheel chair let alone use a pair of crutches so they admitted me. This was around 6:00pm.

Between 6:00 and midnight they continued with the pain meds until midnight when I was finally able to get about an hour of sleep after they gave me another dose of morphine. When I woke up the pain was down a few levels and the waves and stopped. Since then it has gotten progressively better.

This is my third surgery. I have had a ruptured appendix and a hernia operation, and this by far was the most painful post-op recovery I have ever had. I am so happy it is behind me.

I never did ask how long I would need to wait to hear back from his office but, I guess I should have asked. All of this is a new experience and thus I don’t know what I need to ask about or how things are going to take place. I think that the lesson I have learned is that ask about everything, and don’t expect that you are going to remember everything when you get into the office. When I get to the doctors office I get so absorbed into what they are telling me, I often forget to ask the questions I wanted answers too.

The other thing that I have noticed is that the front desk in the doctors office is like a firewall. I think that they would rather have their limbs cut off before they would actually connect you with your doctor. At least this has been my experience. They are more than willing to take down a note and it seems will tell you just about anything as long as you agree not to talk to your doctor at that moment. I suppose doctors do get a large amount of tedious phone calls, but come on, can’t you just relay a quick question and get the answer back to me?

Anyway, so I am still waiting. I plan on calling the office tomorrow because the surgery co-ordinator is supposed to be working that day. Also, I am getting more accustomed to the crutches. I was sore as all get out the other day, using muscles that have been in hibernation since my birth. Those muscles are starting to complain a bit less and I am getting around a bit better. They better get used to it, because they have a bunch more weeks ahead of the same ole same ole!

I was able to put weight on my bad foot and hobble around slowly without any pain so I wasn’t using my crutches. However, he told me that by walking on that foot I was potentially causing the surgery to become more difficult because by walking the ends of the tendons would continue to pull away from each other. So I am back on crutches. The worst part is that I will have these stupid things into February.

I also did not realize how immobile I was going to be directly after surgery. Until I get the cast on about 10 days post-surgery I won’t be able to move much at all. Although I guess I probably won’t want to move around to much anyway.

I almost forgot to mention when my surgery is going to be. The doc said sometime between now and 12 days from now. I wish it was right now. I want to get this thing started so I can be done with it.

I found a specialist to check me out and maybe do the surgery. He doesn’t have much experience, which initially gave me some concern, but then I figured that he probably  was more up to date on recent treatments for atr and it isn’t like its heart surgery.

For those that are interested. I have almost no pain and I am not taking anything at the moment. I am walking around, slowly, but still walking around and that doesn’t hurt as well. I can also move my foot in all directions without pain, but there is some stiffness. There is some swelling around the back of the heel and ankle, but I wouldn’t call it a large amount of swelling. I have had ankle sprains that hurt way more than this. I don’t really have any swelling in my calf, but it is a bit sensitive to pressure. If I push on it, it does hurt, not a lot about a 4 out of 10.

I see the specialist this coming Tuesday, which will be 11 days after the rupture.