Cast off!
It does sort of feel like that - I’m finally off on the the high seas of recovery. My cast came off and the stitches came out today, and it was nice to get reacquainted with my foot, although my calf was a sorry sight, all sunken and flabby.
I met with the Physician’s Assistant today, and she walked me through where I am and what to expect. It was music to my ears as she was encouraging early motion and exercises. I was prepared to make a case for an early mobilization protocol, but there was no need - she told me to feel my way through PWB to FWB over the next 4-6 weeks and gave me exercises to do.
The PA had been in my surgery and mentioned how well it had gone. "So it was a pretty clean rupture, then" I said, to which she responded "oh no, we had to do some braiding - it was pretty torn up." Oh well. It feels good and isn’t swollen, so I won’t complain, although that image of the frayed rope is coming back…
The scar "looked great" she said, although for me pretty much every scar looks absolutely wretched. Occupational hazard I guess if that’s what you do for a living.When I asked about wearing the boot at night she said I didn’t need to unless I was a violent sleeper or had to get up a lot. That surprised me a bit, and I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do. It still feels rather fragile to me, but then having that boot on doesn’t exactly make for a pleasant night’s sleep. Opinions welcome.
After coming home, I found I could walk around with a single crutch and the boot indoors without any pain. I take the boot off and keep the leg elevated as often as I can, although looking at that flaccid calf muscle makes me sad. Those fibers had been bulked up through miles and miles of running, cycling, cross-country skiing and skijumping. Boohoo.
Finally, I will attempt to attach an image of the scar. This is likely the only audience that will actually appreciate the picture. My family, friends and colleagues are threatening to put me on the spam list if I send them more.
Onwards!
Ya, family and friends usually get tired of ATR news long before we get tired of dishing it out!
2.5 wks post-op is still early times, but I don’t think there’s much risk of rerupturing in your sleep bootless even now. The risks are mostly (a) that your ankle may assume a more PF angle while you sleep, then dislike it when you stretch your AT and calf enough to get back into the booted position, and/or (b) that you’ll get up in the morning and stand up or walk (or crutch-walk and fall) bootless.
I’ve probably told the story of my “braided” ATR #1 already on my blog, but it’s a bit amusing (& I’m on a real keyboard), so:
After I woke up post-op after ATR #1, the Assistant Surgeon to my smart-ass OS stopped by on rounds. I asked him how the surgery had gone, and he said that my ruptured AT was the messiest he’d ever seen, like two horses’ tails. Later, when the smart-ass OS stopped by, I told him what his assistant had said, and asked him about it. First, he said “Remind me to tell that guy not to talk so much!” Then, when I asked him if my rupture was the messiest HE’d ever seen, he said “No, it was the SECOND messiest.” Then, after a dramatic pause, he said “Now ask me if that other guy ever walked again!” Watch out for smart-ass surgeons!
This guy also not only kept me in a series of casts for a month or two longer than any evidence would support, even back then (late 2001-02), he then had the nerve to keep me in the last one for an EXTRA week while he was away skiing in Aspen! His only concession to my protestations and online research was that I eventually became his first ATR patient to be put into a (hinged) boot. I THINK I got the boot instead of one or two more casts — at least I HOPE it wasn’t instead of 2 shoes!
There’s an old joke, that if all the Americans who say their ancestors came over on the Mayflower were really telling the truth, the boat would have sunk. I think the same is true of all the ATRs that are in the top few percentile of “messiness”, according to the reports from bloggers here. And the heart valve I had replaced was also one of the very most deteriorated and calcified ones my very experienced and senior heart surgeon had ever seen, etc., etc. It’s mostly harmless puffery, I think.
Nice that your surgeon’s assistant sees the benefit of early WB and mobility.
Obviously, I failed at uploading the image…
Your stories made me laugh Norm. But to be fair, we are all above average here…
Hi norm,
Is there not another one but more positively slanted, don’t all physios say , wow I can’t believe how much your calfs come on,
1.5 weeks since OR…can’t wait to get out of this cast!!
1.5 weeks since O.R., can’t wait to get out of this cast!!
Something to look forward to, indeed. Life in a boot is sooooo much better.
I saw the comment on sleeping in a boot and my Dr told me to sleep in the boot because I stretch and flex my legs while I sleep. I learned that the hard way while soft casted! OUCH! Have you taken yours off to sleep? If so any problems? This boot is killer to sleep in!
I have slept without the boot and it has worked well. If I need to get up I hobble to the bathroom bearing weight on my heel without any problems. I haven’t had any issues forgetting my achilles has been repaired, although I did have a dream about it - started running and then remembered that wasn’t a good idea…
I’m not an excessive “stretcher” so no issues there either. It’s nice to sleep without!
….I slept in my boot (all but two nights) for 6.5 weeks!!! It was annoying but once I pulled the corners of the sheet & blankets so they weren’t tucked in, it wasn’t much problem. I also put a pillow case OVER my boot and twisted the excess top and tucked it into the top of my boot. This way I didn’t get outside “sand, dirt, leaves, ….” inside the sheets!
Seems like a long time ago already, yet I’ve only been OUT of the boot and into two shoes for the past 4 weeks tomorrow!
We are off for our 7 day cruise this weekend, and I’m really nervous about the (sometimes) slippery decks, and me wanting to participate in all the sail away dancing, and so many other activiites that involve using both your feet / legs. I will be kickin’ in the pools, hot tubs and gettin my toes in the sand!!
….Keep your boot ON, just cover it and hope you get good sleep. I remember I was always so tired by bedtime and the thought of resting my entire leg / even elevated was a blessing to the end of the day. Oh, I elevated my leg in bed with the body pillow doubled over, worked well for me.
Happy HEALING y’all.
Hi sandi
Hope you fab hols, I’m going to take time out on my hols to do a proper blog, keep trying but only snatch 10 mins or so, anyhow got 10 days to learn, may even pop some pics on if I can get my head around it, I’m also going to take time out to try and rehab ill let you know my progress
I always covered my boot when I went OUT (usu in a shopping bag), not when I went to bed. Whatever…