7/18 - 8 weeks 2 days post op - two shoes?
So last time my good doc told me “put some weight on it”, (in the boot) but never really said to go full bore, but also didn’t say I couldn’t. After about a week with crutches PWB, I ordered the Evenup Shoe Balancer. Man I wish I woulda ordered that thing right away. It made it so much easier with crutches, I recommend it. I was in between on sizes and went down a size, based on their recommendation. Good choice, kept it nice and tight.
After a round or two of PT, my therapist said that I should FWB and that while it’s in the boot, I really can’t do any more damage. So I started walking on it, using the heel of course. So walk I did - around the house, up some stairs down to the end of the block and then - around the block twice. The hardest thing was not locking my leg to step. I watched RyanB’s video and just forced myself to push that knee/shin forward. I just had to learn to “trust the boot” and once I did, I started getting faster. I could now carry things in each hand!!! Oh the little joys.
So today I went back to the doctor and he asked how I’m doing and I told him well with little pain. He asked how much weight bearing I’ve done and my response was “all of it.” He said “good” and then said something scary - start using only two shoes! What, no way - not with that little thin popsicle stick down there. He said go slow, 2 crutches and make sure I’m pushing a little bit forward with it, not just short stepping on the heel. WOW! Seriously? So what did I do - I put my boot back on and walked out of the doctor’s office. I really had no way of carrying it out, but when I got home I decided to give it a go. Very slowly I walked around the house, two-crutching everywhere. Very little pressure moving forward and already I can feel it in my calf. He said at 3 months we’re gonna start pushing it a bit more, but for now, that’s where I’m at.
So I got the green light to soak it, swim and wean off crutches. Now I got big plans. I’m gonna soak myself in a bath, maybe find a hot tub. What I’m really looking forward to is getting a cooler full of ice and dunking my entire foot in there, up to my calf. First things first, I’m going fishing.
I so hated the idea of returning to crutches when I went from boot to 2 shoes — it’s listed as an option in bit.ly/UWOProtocol , which I was following — that I never considered it. Instead I just went FWB in 2 shoes, but with a way shorter stride when walking past “that” foot, because it (naturally) didn’t want to carry my weight while DFlexing. But gradually and relatively quickly, my stride got longer and more symmetrical — until I hit the “frustrating plateau” where I just had a little “dip-limp” at the end of “that” stride. Finally, that went away, too.
This post was a fun read and educational. I had never heard of the evenup before. I wear a higher heel on my good leg.
I really hate my crutches and thought of using them 1 second longer than I have to would make me sad.
Glad to hear you making great progress. Happy Healing.
Congrats on the two shoes! That’s great news. You are going to be like me pretty soon, trying to unlearn how to walk while pushing the knee forward–I think that’s part of my problem in two shoes right now. Enjoy the freedom of the naked leg and fish on!
I am always looking at other people’s tiny little Achilles and think really how does it not snap?!
Well done on getting to 2-shoes!
I hear your reservations! It’s now time to keep the faith. I’m about 2 1/2 weeks behind you op wise, so I’ll be following your success stories in the coming weeks as I approach your stage.
Well done
Glad to hear you are in the two shoe club. I have been in the club just shy of three weeks and it does get easier.
Good luck
I cant wait til i feel two shoes again!!! im still in the aircast. After my cast was removed, my foot was pointed so far down that 5 wedges had to be put in. I was told to remove one a week but I’ve been bad and goin ahead of schedule with removing them but it feels good so I don’t think I’m doing any harm…. Thoughts?
Also my incision is starting to get all dry and crusty with the scabbing. I’m wondering how long until its ok to rub vitamin e cream or ointment on it? It’s fully closed up now I think but still has a bunch of scabbing. I just posted what it looks like on my blog! Any help or advice on treatment of scarring would be amazing!
Happy healing to all!
http://achillesrecoverylog.blogspot.com
@skim: Maybe Deb will chime in but check out her “scar error” post. I would ask the Dr before applying anything. http://achillesblog.com/debuff/2013/05/29/hello-world/
Skim, I had a really hard, crusty foot. The incisions (I have 4) were sealed. So I thought it would help to put some botanic hand cream with vitamin E on it. Unfortunately, it caused one of the little staple hole areas to fill with pus. Who knows- it might have happened anyways. So I had a surface infection that took about 10 days to clear with antibiotics. As uncomfortable as it feels, don’t put any kind of ointment on your incisions yet. I was able to take a bath after the cast came off at 5 weeks which helped soften the old dead skin so I could scrub it off. Take care- it will get better soon.
Thanks everyone!!