Weeks 7 and 8
Lots of progress the last two weeks:
- I moved Vacocast to 5 degrees on June 7, then decided to move it to 0 degrees one day early on June 8. I was working from home that day and the following day I had to be up an about quite a bit and in the office. I decided a day at home would be a better transition. I didn’t have any problems and have been at 0 since then.
- The move to 0 meant ditching the wedge sole. I had tried the flat sole at 5 degrees but it wasn’t very comfortable. The toes still being pointed down put weight more on my forefoot and I was more comfortable with the wedge sole. Once I went to the flat sole I could get out of the hiking boot + evenup which was great because we were having 90 degree weather (hot for Portland!). I was able to wear ventilated athletic shoes and finally have even leg lengths. My gait also improved from where I was at with the wedge sole and 10 degrees.
- On June 9 I had a check in appointment with my OS. I saw my third different resident since the operation. He seemed to not really know what was going on and answered most of my questions of “let’s get you to the physical therapist and see what they say.”
- On June 10 I was supposed to have my first PT appointment. They called the night before at 4:30 and said the therapist was going to unexpectedly be unavailable and my appointment was cancelled. Initially they couldn’t get me in for 2 weeks but I called back in 2 days later and they were able to get me in one week earlier.
- I am FWB in the boot and my range/speed of walking are improving. It isn’t the smoothest walk but having both hands available is great! It improves a bit each day but I can’t really get up to full speed with good form.
- With more abilities comes more responsibilities around the house. I have been doing most of the cleaning, this weekend I cut and edged the grass for my first time in 2 months, went grocery shopping by myself for more than just one or two items, and many other “normal” tasks around the house.
- I was able to see the physical therapist for the first time on the 16th. She did an initial evaluation and gave me theraband exercises for homework. Next time I am to bring a shoe for my injured foot and if everything looks good I will try walking out of the boot.
So far no setbacks, which is great. We had to cancel a trip to Europe in June after this happened and my wife really wants to get a vacation in before she goes back to teaching in the fall. We bought tickets for the middle of August so that gives me a goal to shoot for. We typically do lots of walking on our vacations so I am a bit nervous but I will be at week 16 when we leave so if I don’t have any setbacks it should be okay.
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The great thing about the recovery process of this injury if you have no setbacks and work daily on flexibility, at 3 months forward, MAJOR progress can be made with your PT as long as you keep your Ortho in the loop. Don’t over do it, but consider taking a comfortable boot and crutches with you,along with crutch pads or, get a knee scooter. This should not stop you from traveling, but see you Ortho for sure.