4 AUG 2015 - Rupture + 8 weeks
I had a nice surprise at PT yesterday. My therapist pointed at my cam walker boot and said “I think it is time to get rid of that.”
8 weeks post-injury, non-op, and very pleased to reach this milestone!
I will still use the boot if I need to get somewhere in a hurry, since I walk like a 110 year old man with a bum leg in two shoes… but it feels great to finally do it! (And drive my car again… so nice to be mobile again and I think the car missed me a bit.)
Even though I am thrilled to reach this transition, I am still very tentative with walking without the boot. When I feel the tension in the AT as I walk, I waver between wondering if I am being a wuss for not allowing a bit more ‘pull’ on it and wondering if I am pulling on it too much. I have not encountered any pain yet, and it seems to get easier to walk as the day goes on and it gets ‘warmed up’. I’ll take it slow, and continue to revel in this new level of freedom.
For two weeks leading up to this milestone, I was on a vacation and walking 4-7 miles a day and removing a layer of my heel lift every 2 days or so. While that was not always great for my heel, the AT was fine throughout and I had started to walk a little in our hotel rooms and stand in the shower. The combination of lots of walking in the boot and a little indoor walking without it seems to have strengthened my injured leg a fair bit. One might even accuse the calf of my injured leg of being somewhat “toned” (though it is still a chicken-leg compared to the opposite leg).
Probably worthy of mention: during week 8, I adjusted my boot so that it would allow up to 10 degrees of plantar flexion motion (range: up to 10 down, zero up). After a couple days, I increased it to 20 degrees. Has anyone else tried this technique? I like the feeling of getting some motion in the ankle and calf instead of having it immobilized. Clearly, I would not do this during the earlier weeks when the fixed angle facilitated healing the AT at the correct length.
Happy healing, everyone!
-Evan
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See also:
- R+33 Weeks - nearly normal again (January 24th, 2016)
- R+20 weeks: video progress update (October 30th, 2015)
- R+20 weeks, starting to run again (October 25th, 2015)
- Flirting with normalcy @ 19 weeks (October 17th, 2015)
- Wear and tear (October 5th, 2015)
August 5th, 2015 at 9:56 pm
Congrats well done. I seem to be following the way you are doing it myself. I am about 3 weeks behind you but look at your healing as the closest to my own.
Can you say next week you are totally healed and running marathons and I will be the same in 4 weeks? ;-P
August 7th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Good work Evan! Congrats on your continued progress.
August 8th, 2015 at 5:07 am
Thanks, Bob! Every milestone feels good, but walking barefoot (however slowly) is a huge one. I hope all is going well with you!
August 8th, 2015 at 5:22 am
Thanks, Matt. I’ll keep you posted, but might be a tad off the requested pace.
I asked my German PT when I should be able to start jogging, and I think that she thought I intended to do it right away. Her eyes grew wide, and then she laughed and said “I think you need to wait at least one more month”. I’m not rushing, but the idea that I might be able to shuffle along a little that soon was enticing. At this point, I will be glad to start walking with a normal foot roll!
August 10th, 2015 at 3:55 pm
Congrats Evan!
August 11th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
Thanks, Gents!