I like boots, but this is ridiculous…

Went to my lifting class today and did most of the things standing up in the boot this time, rather than on my knees or skipping the exercise altogether.  Was finally able to do some deadlifts and deadrows.  My back was still in pretty strong shape, thanks to those &%$#ing crutches, may they burn in hell.  But my poor little hamstrings have lost all their sparkle.  Nice-n-sore today, and it actually feels marvelous.

Life without crutches makes all the difference.  So keep your heads up, you NWB-ers.  Good thinks are coming!

Spent all weekend FWB and it felt terrific.  Went to a party at my friends farm Saturday.  As long as I sat down regularly to give my good leg a break, I was fine walking/standing on the booted leg.  Went to the grocery store and actually bought what I wanted… knowing that I can actually cook now that I can stand.  I’ve been buying food I can wolf and toss for a month now and getting real eggs was a thrill.

 For those waiting desperately to weight bear, I’m AMAZED at how quickly my leg adjusted to walking and bearing weight.  It felt weird, but not painful, to walk.  It still does, particularly in the morning when I just begin.  Found the shoes that are the right height to counter the boot, and walking became much less awkward.  Must go slow and steady, as I feel like I could really hurt my knee if I push it.  I’ve also felt a twinge in my lower back at night, which can almost certainly be attributed to the slight difference in the height of my legs w/the boot.  I try to stretch my back in the morning and at night to baby it through this booted phase of recovery.  I can tell my leg is getting some strength back as it adjusts to walking again.

 Anyway, feels great not to have to get someone else to carry my coffee, and to go to the copier all by myself… 

Ran errands today and didn’t even put my crutches in the car.  Feels great to be weight bearing, though I’ll admit to some soreness in my leg.  Not PAIN, per se, just soreness.  Elevation, a little ice at night pretty much keeps me comfortable on that count.

Been doing ankle circles, toe points and flexes, and the alphabet 3-4 times a day and noticing increased ROM and more fluidity in the motion.  Yay!  Off to the gym to do 10-15 minutes on the bike.  If I can work up to half an hour by week 6, I’ll be quite happy.  I miss sweating.  Weird.  Did 5 minutes on the bike on Thursday.  When I stopped pushing with my good leg, I found that my ATR leg had been doing virtually none of the work.  God sooo weak so fast.  Crazy.

My friend the pig farmer is having the annual Swinefest pig-roast tonight, and I may even participate in horseshoes.  We’ll see…

Met with the Doc yesterday who pronounced me “healing nicely”.  Seemed unsuprised that I had been PWB already and told me to use the next 4 weeks to progress to FWB.  In my mind, that means next week, but I’ll try to keep it slow and steady.  He also said that the boot for maybe another 4 weeks after THAT.  Ick.  I wanna be a cool kid in the two shoes club before that, so I’m going to have to use my expensive education to exert powers of persuasion on him to let me loose a little earlier than that.

Was unable to make an appointment during the prescribed week, so I suggested the receptionist bump me up a week, which she did.  Mu-HA-HA!!!  While making that appointment, I stopped the doc to see if it was ok if I did some stationary cycling, and he said no problem, just low resistance without even batting an eye. 

It occurs to me that no doctor is going to OFFER UP the idea of any kind of strain.  It’s sooo on the patient to ask and research and be their own advocate.  My doctor is a super nice guy, but there was no reason for him to say, in the office, “you should do some cardio, its good for you, why don’t you cycle?”  I’m so grateful for this site and the brain-trust we have.  I never would have thought to ask that otherwise.

 So keep posting, my ATR friends.  It’s already made a huge difference in my sanity, and now my fitness!