Week 3, 4 & 5 Post-Op
Other than one event these last weeks I have not had a whole lot to report so have lumped these last 3 weeks together and have finally caught up!
Week 3 - After seeing the surgeon, I was thrilled! I had the chance to get out of the house and I wanted more. I had Kevin take me to watch the kids swim and then that night we went to a friends house for dinner. During the week I was so tempted to go upstairs and check on the state of my kids rooms and grab a new selection of clothes from my closet. No one else was home so I thought why not. I parked my chair at the bottom of the stairs and scooched up on my bum. Once upstairs, I crawled and ‘crabbed walked’ around gathering my clothes and putting away the kids laundry and tidied up some toys. I made it back downstairs easily. Kevin came home and noticed the changes and gave me some grief. I guess he what right though. It’s not that I went upstairs, it’s the fact that I went up without anyone home. A couple of days later, I scooched up for a shower. Oh did that feel good! However, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I had to sit on the floor and I could barely reach the valve. Then it was slippery to boot. I think I can wait awhile before the next one. The next day I started to feel pain in my left calf. I didn’t think much of it until that night when I had trouble sleeping. My calf throbbed. Every time I moved, it hurt more. When I woke in the morning and had my legs down they really throbbed and were uncomfortable. Two days later I started to feel the same pain in my right calf. I started to worry about blood clots even though I was still on blood thinners but I only had 2 injections left. I called my family Dr and was able to get in the next day. I spent the better part of the day with my made legs elevated. My Dr wasn’t sure what was wrong but she extended my blood thinners for another 3 weeks and scheduled an ultrasound for the next day to check for blood clots. She also said I could take off the tapes which I did. The incisions looked good other than a couple of tapes stuck to a scab and pulled it off. It’s a little tender but I think it will heal. After the ultrasound the next day I finally heard. Good news. No bloodclots. Whew.
Week 4 - After another 2 days of keeping elevated the pain diminished. What the heck was that? During all this discomfort, I felt brave enough to take the boots off at night. For me, I always feel like I need to stretch my calf muscle especially at night. I have awoken several times to twinges in my achilles because I am stretching in my sleep. One night I had a dream that I ruptured my left one again just by stretching. I awoke to a weird feeling in my feet. I had no tightness or pain! I thought for sure I snapped them! This week I was able to take out another lift. One left and I feel no tension. When I am out of the boot, they still feel a little sloppy. Does this mean I’m healing long? or do I have too much time on my hands?
Week 5 - One more day and I’ve completed Week 5. Getting around nowadays is much easier. I have to admit that I cheat. I know, but really, I more or less stand to transfer to other furniture or I stand up to reach a shelf in the cupboard. I know this is more like 100% of my weight but I do it carefully and stay on my heels and try not to activate the achilles. I don’t do it much in the day, but it makes my quality of life so much better. I can actually do more for myself. I can definitely tell when I’ve used the achillies as I feel a bit of an ache and a burning sensation. I can take out a lift today. The last one! Also, I can put 50% of my weight. So the guilt of putting 100% is now only 50%! I really feel so much stronger this week that I am tempted to try crutches. Unfortunately, they are out in the van and we have about a foot of snow on the ground. I think given the previous incident, Kevin sensed this and left them out there! The countdown to see my surgeon is on. 1 more week and I pray I’ll be granted crutches or at the very least a walker!
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Congrats on making it this far with your sanity apparently intact. I found crawling a useful way of getting around, even though I was able to use crutches. I have to say I would be doing exactly the same as you, sneaking upstairs when no one is looking.
I’m sure you can get rubber bath mats (with rubber suction cups underneath) in Canada, I found it made me a lot safer in the bath and shower as I was much less likely to slip.
Keep going!
Thanks for the catch-up, Cheryl!
As you know, I’m not your Doc (or A Doc!), but if you’re pain-free standing on two booted feet at 5 weeks, that’s one week LATER than my fave most-trusted protocol calls for FWB “as tolerated”, so I don’t see the harm in standing and starting to walk carefully. Show your Doc the protocol and the study, in case he hasn’t seen them already (or thinks YOU haven’t!)
Twinges in the legs and feet are par for the course, as is a general feeling of “sloppiness” in the feet that haven’t been holding you up and balancing and walking. I think it’s too soon to even think about whether your healed AT lengths are perfect or not. Have you started “exercising” — wiggling your feet around boot-off, while seated? Sleeping bootless is close, but I started on exercise and PT at two weeks without any stitches, so it’s not obvious why you should go slower. (And your NEED is greater!)
Unfortunately, winter conditions in Calgary — including a foot of snow — are a serious hazard. If your Doc puts you on crutches (and I think I’d just skip them!), they’re AWFUL on snow.
Good luck, Watch Your Step, and Don’t Stop!!