Posted on October 22nd, 2009 by bubble
I’ve been off-line for a couple of weeks entertaining visitors from Australia, also taking a trip to Boston and Maine (very fun!). All things are well in the land of Achilles Heel recovery and I am finally not thinking about my foot all the time. In fact one afternoon during our trip my hubby asked if I was going to do some PT today. This was quite a surprise to me as I had not thought about my injury at all during the day, I replied back to him with a ‘oh yeah, I forgot that I have that whole Achilles thing’, a good sign of progress. There is life after the injury.
So I suggested to my PT yesterday that I was feeling about ready to go for a run. He thought that was a good idea and said that I was to take it very easy, jog for 50 meters and walk for 50 meters (well he probably said yards but I still think metric) and do that no more than 8 times during your first attempt and then 10, 12, etc and stop if there is any pain. After that he lay me down on the leg press machine and with some resistance he told me to push back till my knees were only slightly bent and then start running. I felt kind of silly at the start but after I got into it I was amazed at how I could almost completely run on my toes, only needing to put my heel down slightly. This was a good sign for me as I’m still struggling to do a single leg calf raise.
The other thing that I asked as about squats and he said that was not a problem if I ‘take it easy’. Good news as this can mean that I can go back to full participating in body pump.
That is about all from me for now … happy recovering everyone!
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Posted on October 4th, 2009 by bubble
On one of the few remaining sunny days that we will see in Seattle for the year, my husband and I went for a very slow and flat stroll around Seward Park (2.5 miles). After about 2 miles I was quite tired and depressed about how much I have lost since my injury… it also didn’t help that he kept reminding me about how this park marks the half way point in the Seattle marathon.
Hubby was doing his best to remind me of how much of a struggle (if not impossible) the walk would have been 4 weeks ago.
So now I’m trying to look on the bright side of life … in fact I’m actually looking forward to my next birthday because I keep thinking about how much I will be able to do when I finally get to the celebrations (it’s not till Jan).
Tomorrow it will be 10 weeks since my injury … I’ve managed to head out and enjoy watching my teams play again (the first couple of weeks it was just frustrating and depressing). I’m still doing PT but have dropped back to only once per week, mainly due to the lack of time, besides apart from the ultra-sound and the electro-stimulation I can pretty much do everything at home in my own time. My PT has added a couple of new exercises, here are the details for those that are interested:
- 3×3o seconds standing on the injured leg on a foam mat and trying to find balance
- leg press with a slight calf raise at the end (trying to simulate a jump)
I’m heading back to PT on Tuesday armed with a bunch of questions … basically about what I can do without causing too much damage (i.e. aqua-aerobics, squats, driving range, roller-blading) … and also to ask when I could think about walking up hills (not hiking but just strolling to the shops and back would be nice).
Hope you are all doing well in recovery land!
3 Comments »
Posted on September 19th, 2009 by bubble
On Wednesday I spoke to my PT about driving and the need to press down on my clutch foot. He told me to practice for a few days just pumping the clutch 20-30 times and see how things feel. Today, I took my first drive since my injury. Everything went well but I did notice it was a little tough to hold the clutch down while stuck at the traffic lights.
As a side note, my PT did say that if this injury occurred on my right foot that I wouldn’t be able to drive for a couple more weeks yet as he would not trust my ability to do an emergency brake.
I’ve been six days in the two-shoes and things are going well. I have quite a bit of discomfort on the bottom on my heel, kind of like I’m stepping on a rock. I’ll ask my PT about it on Monday and in the meantime I’ve added another heel lift which seems to be making a bit of difference.
The only other pain is in the knee of my injured foot. I think that this might be due the modified style of walking that I did whilst in the boot. Alternatively, it could be due to the massage that my PT gave me when I mentioned a little bit of knee pain. Basically he held my knee cap inwards for quite some time and afterwards I was in more pain than before he massaged it. I’m thinking that my knee pain may be somewhat responsible for limp whilst walking.
That is all for me for now… not much else going on just reading (Wicked by Gregory Maguire) and waiting…
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Posted on September 14th, 2009 by bubble
Add me to the club of those that went into 2 shoes today (see photo below). I was expecting a little bit more ceremony from my PT but all he said was to put some shoes on and walk around for a bit. I was then expecting him to tell me to get back in the boot before heading out onto the streets. I’ve still got a bit of a limp and have been seriously warned about tackling any hills but other than that I feel great.
After five PT sessions here is where I am at:
- Standing on the bad leg (with no shoe) for 30 seconds three times daily, increase the duration by 10 seconds per day.
- 30x Reverse towel stretches three times daily (with bent and straight knee) with pointed toes and adding a little bit of resistance with my arms
- 30x very light calf raises, up to three times daily
And just as a update on the stuff that I’m still doing from my first PT session:
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As much swimming as I like. No power kicks and no pushing off the wall.
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6 minutes on a reclined exercise bike up to three times per day, slowly increasing the duration by one minute each day.
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30x straight leg light calf stretch with a towel, up to three times daily (basically wrap a towel around your foot and pull back lightly).
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30x bent leg light calf stretch with a towel, up to three times daily.
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30x towel scrunches (i.e. trying to scrunch a towel and lift it between your toes), up to three times daily.
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Then for strengthening of my knee and hip I do 30x front and side leg lifts, up to three times daily.
11 Comments »
Posted on September 12th, 2009 by bubble
After a great swim last night, I was feeling pretty good about my foot this morning until I looked over the notes from my surgeon for week six.
So I’ve still got about 15 degrees to go before my ROM matches that of my right foot and I’ve been told that I should wait another two weeks before I think about wearing a left shoe.
Getting frustrated now!
I’ve been doing a bit of walking in the boot and am keen to get rid of it as is giving me quite a bit of knee and hip pain due to the added leg length in the boot.
3 Comments »
Posted on September 10th, 2009 by bubble
Best of luck to you and hopefully next year I will be able to join you. I’m predicting that I will be in a grumpy mood this Sunday knowing what I would have been doing, at least the forecast is calling for a sunny Seattle day.
Stay safe and run well!
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Posted on September 7th, 2009 by bubble
I’m finally done with all the casts and into the boot. I was very glad to be able to give my foot a good soak in the bath. So from there I’m to spend the next two weeks PWB in the boot and then after that ditch the crutches and be full weight bearing in the boot for another two weeks before heading back to the surgeon to hopefully walk out wearing two shoes.
I also got the green light to start some PT and have had two sessions so far. It is great to get some work done on all the scar tissue and the skin is very tight around the scar. So far I’ve been focusing on ROM exercises and not worrying about any strengthening (I think that comes in the second week of PT). So here is what I’ve been doing:
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As much swimming as I like. No power kicks and no pushing off the wall, but it feels great to be back in the water.
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6 minutes on a reclined exercise bike up to three times per day, slowly increasing the duration by 1-2 minutes each day.
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30x straight leg light calf stretch with a towel, up to three times daily (basically wrap a towel around your foot and pull back lightly).
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To get me ready for FWB, 30x rocking weight onto left/injured leg.
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30x bent leg light calf stretch with a towel, up to three times daily.
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30x towel scrunches (i.e. trying to scrunch a towel and lift it between your toes), up to three times daily. This is a great exercise and I’m starting to see a lot of progress here.
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Then for strengthening of my knee and hip I do 30x front and side leg lifts, up to three times daily.
My PT stressed that we are only working on ROM so none of the above should cause me any pain.
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Posted on September 2nd, 2009 by bubble
I saw this in our local paper the other day and thought that I would pass it along given that I have read some discussions about driving in ‘the boot’.
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/red/news/56609102.html
I’ll update the comments if I hear any more about what action is being taken regarding how ‘the boot’ contributed to the incident.
2 Comments »
Posted on September 1st, 2009 by bubble
Here is my third and final cast, it is nice to finally see my toes again after they were pointed down for so long. The surgeon is telling me to bring the boot to my next session and only one more week of couch time before I can start some PT. No pain, very little swelling but I’m still getting some tingling in the first 2 toes… surgeon tells me that is no cause for concern but added a little more padding to the top of my foot before putting the cast on, we will see if that makes any difference.
I’m still smiling and actually quite proud of how patient I have been through this whole experience.
2 Comments »
Posted on September 1st, 2009 by bubble
So I went offline last week as I had family visiting from Australia. We had a great week and I have my knee scooter (see picture below) to thank. I would suggest that anyone who needs to be on crutches for more than a week pick up one of these beauties. Luckily the rental cost was covered by my insurance but if I did have to pay myself it would only be $160/month, very worth it in my opinion. If you do get one just watch for the static build up or you will be giving everyone you touch electric shocks.
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Stick at it. There is light at the end of that tunnel.