Biking and Lunges and Treadmills, oh my!
July 16, 2009
Well it’s been quite awhile since I’ve last updated. I’m approaching the 4 month mark since my accident/surgery, and I’ve made a few milestones. About 2 weeks ago was my first successful attempt at walking tip-toed, and as my reward my therapist suggested we begin running the following week. Since then I’ve been running a bit longer every session, and I’m now allowed to run on my own- as long as it’s on even ground, I don’t go very long/far, and I’m super careful. Woohoo!
My limp is almost non-existent now, which tells me my strength is coming back too. I still feel a little weak when I wake up in the morning or if I’m walking around barefoot a lot, but in my running shoes I can’t even tell the difference. I can get through my PT pretty easily, not too sore anymore, just a little tired. Maybe I can make that 5k after all! (just to clarify- summer goes until september 21, exactly 6 months from my accident!)
Now that I’m feeling that my achilles is pretty trustworthy, I’m more confident in my job search. I don’t have to worry about finding a company that will let me do office work until I’m ready to go in the field, because I finally feel ready to go straight to field work. I was even worried before about interviewing, and what I would wear on my feet with professional attire, seeing as I had strict orders for running-shoes-only . Well, seeing as I wore a new pair of wedge heels this weekend with no repercussions, (another milestone!) I feel pretty comfortable in that department too.
The only thing I worry about in the coming months is getting the scar tissue worked through. I’m still getting deep tissue massages every PT session, but since I’m back to running (my original goal) I don’t know how much longer they’ll keep me around. This saddens me! I love my little british threpist! He only looks small and weak… but man does he do a good job of workin that scar tissue!
July 25th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Wow this is the most optimistic of the blogs that i’ve read, regarding timelines toward physical exercise. I had heard (and read) that it was close to 9 months before it could be resumed, but if you’re running at 4 months then that really brightens my day. I just had surgery July 22 and it’s been a bummer.
I know everyone heals differently, but if there’s a chance I could be healthy (relatively speaking) by New Years, that woudld be fantastic. Thanks for posting your progress; it’s really brightened my day :). Now back to Vicodin LOL!
July 26th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
When I first had my surgery I was just as bummed as anyone else about having to stick it out on crutches for at least 6 weeks. My first few days after the surgery I was in bed most of the time, but after that I was moving around a lot. I still had classes and a social life to keep up with, so I wasn’t going to let a little ATR stop me! Haha, but really I had my down moments, but just think of it one day at a time (sounds cliche, but seriously) and you’ll be walking before you know it.
I think the biggest thing that helped me was as soon as I got my boot I worked on flexing my foot up and down in the boot, and any time I took my boot off I did a tiny bit of resistance work. I worked with my athletic trainer at school doing a lot of stretching and icing to keep swelling down. I think getting flexibility back early is a great help, my trainer and doctor definitely noticed and it helped assure them I was ready to walk again. Work hard at PT and you’ll be running soon after!
But for now- enjoy the relaxation! Stay positive and things WILL get better!