Entries from December 2008 ↓

I am now at 8 weeks post op, and have had two blissful booted weeks. One late night, I groggily got out of bed, and thumped into the kids room to check on a two year old, and realized I hadn’t worn the boot. Since then I realized there are a lot of things I can do now, and it’s all a question of whether or not I should. Inspired by stories of fanatics golfing at 3 weeks post op, here’s my list of bad ideas.

• Walk a mile and a half across town (in the snow) with a boot and just one crutch? Tried that when the busses were snowed in. My bad heel really hurt for a few days after that.
• Play ping pong, with boot, no crutch? Yep, tried that. It is a bad idea. It’s too easy to get caught up in the game and stomp on the foot.
• Sledding? The crutches make great rudders.
• Skiing? I did not try it, but chased my four year old around when he went skiing. That was the worst idea of them all, as the uneven snow is the best Achilles breaker around. Also, a wet boot is stinky and hard to dry out.
• Bicycling, with boot on? Definitely a bad idea, but I rode around the block. I did not put the two year old in the bike seat for this trip. It is horribly tempting to start biking again for exercise and transportation. I can’t drive for quite some time since I did my right foot, vehicle 1 is a clutch and motor vehicle 2 is a heavy motorcycle.
• Working out? I’ve been continuing upper body workouts since a few days post op. Glad I have been.
• Stomping around the house without the boot? I discovered that it’s actually more comfortable to cook without the boot on, and just limp around. I can’t go as fast, but it actually hurts less.

So, am I a re-rupture waiting to happen?

I have been searching for statistics on re-rupture causes. So far, the only study I’ve found pointed out that all re-ruptures (x percent of 80 people tracked) occurred in patients under the age of 30. I’m over 30, but wondering if I am acting like I’m under 30. Or, if I were under 30, would I be doing all of the above, and more, and not pause to think about it?

A few practical tips on life in the boot

Walk straight and as normal as possible. Do not walk with your leg sideways, even if it seems like you can’t get over the front of the boot. On the insistence of my PT, I figured out how to walk with foot straight forward. For a week or two, I needed a crutch to get over the toe, but it felt better and moves me faster than going sideways.

Wool socks in winter. I pity those who must where a boot in summer.

Physical Therapy is worth it. Try at least 2, they’ll have different things to say.

You only need to where the boot when you are going to walk. I am fast at taking mine off and putting it on. If I’m going to sit down for 3 minutes or more, it is off. This avoids cramps, airs out the boot, and feels much better. Don’t walk bootless until your doc tells you, by any means, but don’t where that cast a minute a day more than you have to!

I’m 5 days in the boot and having far too much fun with my partial weight bearing status. I am embarrassed to admit that it took a full 2 days to discover that it is much easier to walk sideways in a boot than straight forward. Now, I frequently move sideways rather than trying the clomp - stop - slide that the boot seems to require.

Does anyone have any videos of graceful movement in a boot?  

Things that suprised me with the boot: I can easily move around without crutches, and it doesn’t actually hurt. I do start to hurt if I go without crutches for more than 15 minutes. I knew in theory about the atrophy, but I swear that that beanstalk is NOT MY CALF.  

Well, after 8 weeks of waiting for surgeons and the body to do their thing, it feels like I’m on the road to recovery and making progress at last.  I’m looking forward to bulking that calf back up. Physical Therapy starts tomorrow …

In the meantime, i’m going to go enjoy yet another cast-free ablution. 

* In case you don’t know what a boot is, it is a removable rigid boot that immobilizes my ankle at 90 degrees. You can also walk in it. Those are the joyous key pieces of information: you can remove and you can walk in it.  My boot is an FP Walker Aircast Foam Pneumatic. 

Boot boot boot boot! It’s possible I may have my hopes up too high. I have my 6 week check up tomorrow and really want out of the cast. The time for the boot is here!!!  

Getting careless though … I was a very good patient until this weekend. I was changing my pants with no chair neaby. I did not notice I was standing on my cast until I had my pants half on. That may be dangerous, but the cast seems to provide good support. Anyway, since then, I’m getting more and more casual. You’ll frequently hear me and my cast thudding around tight spots on the cast, rather than hopping or doing the one foot sashay.   I’ll be good if I get a boot, I promise

Questions

Obviously, I’m tired of being careful and limitted mobility. Common folks - scare me back into common sense. I’m rereading all the re-rupture stories.  

Do I have a good chance of being PWB or FWB tomorrow with boot at 6 weeks post op? Feels like it. I’m debating commuting with the knee scooter or crutches tomorrow. If I’ll be PWB after the appointment, I’ll take crutches. 

How to find the right physical therapist? 

Physical therapy starting soon. So far, I’ve established the following criteria. Anything else I should look for? 

• Location, location, location. I work in a downtown area, and have 3 choices in hobbling distance. 
• They’ve handled achilles repair before. They are willing to listen to my long term health goals.
• But I don’t have a clue how to establish that they are competent.