Oct
27
2009
eschao
My wife was pleasantly surprised today saying to me, “I weighed myself today and I seem to have lost 5+ pounds”. It was then that I realized, that all my screams for help, to fetch water, to carry my stuff, … have helped her lose weight during this period. So I told my wife that I’ll be sure to continue to be bossy afterwards to help her stay fit (just kidding) 
Last night was my first night sleep with the new CAM boot on and I did not sleep well. At night, I had put the velcros on the boot all snug — I was thinking that this would protect the wound and the tendon more.
However, I tossed and turned during the night and did not sleep well, because my foot got too hot in the boot — the compression sock they gave me did not help. At one point, my foot even felt a bit numb :( Finally, I decided to take off the boot, and redo the velcos much more loosely. However, my spouse did not appreciate the loud velcro sounds in the middle of the night waking her up.
So I guess ATR is a good diet plan but not a good sleeping pill.
Oct
26
2009
eschao
Today was the 2nd doctor visit after the surgery. They removed my cast. The nurse had this saw like device that cut the hard part of the cast off. I didn’t spend too much time with the doctor, since this was another doctor in the office — I will try to schedule something when my doctor gets back from time off. I was afraid the nurse might accidentally cut too deep and cut into my skin, especially when she ran the saw along the area where the incision was; however, all turned out safe and fine. She then slowly cut and removed all the padding. The nurse briefly looked at the would to see if it was ok, and then gave me the CAM boot. The CAM boot was set at a maximum of 0 degrees (foot at right angle to lower limb) … and it could flex down about 45 degrees.
Two feet and injury after cast removal
The boot makes me feel like a robot because it has some dials and metal parts to it — I thought it might look a little less intimating.
CAM Boot
A few hours later, we went to our first physical therapy (PT) session. The PT was friendly and walked me back to the room, where she proceeded to ask a number of background questions … how did you get the injury, how often do you exercise, do you stretch (i.e., should have stretched more 
) , what are your goals.
She then proceeded to look at the wound to see if it was OK and take measurements of the movement in both the good and injured foot. Then the PT rubbed the incision area to loosen up the scar tissue … I guess this helps in the healing. After that the PT did some passive movement of my foot to see where it was at in terms of flexibility and strength and to start working the foot. She said that I was at the right pace (I think from the flexibility) … I was thinking that I may be a bit faster on the recovery.
At the end of the session, she put a compression sock on the injury to help with the swelling and she gave me a sheet with some exercises I can do daily.
Tags: CAM boot, Physical Therapy
Oct
15
2009
eschao
Has anyone ever had problems with condensation on your cast? The doctor said that I should keep water away from the cast; that if I got water on the cast, then I would need to go in for another cast.
I was wondering if anyone had any problems using ice on the cast, given that the ice packs could lead to condensation on the cooled cast.
New Cast
Tags: Cast, Ice
Oct
13
2009
eschao
Today was my first post-op visit to see the doctor. The overall visit is took about 1 hour. They took off the prior surgery cast by cutting off the lining and then removing the cast. It hurt a little bit taking off the hard part of the cast as, they need to squeeze the leg out from the hard part of the cast.
Post Op First Visit
The doctor looked at the wound to see if it healed properly and the nurse cleaned the wound with alcohol — no pain — so the wound should be sealed well. Then the doctor flexed the foot to see the range of motion on the tendon, he was able to nearly put the foot at 90 degrees for the new cast. Doctor appeared pleased with the wound healing and the movement of the foot at this stage.
The next visit will be in 2 weeks, when the cast gets taken off and I get a boot. It’ll be NWB for a week or so … and PT will start right when I get the new boot.
Nurse inspecting the wound
Tags: Post Op First Visit
Oct
09
2009
eschao
Yesterday, we got a good backpack to carry around all the things that I can’t carry with my hands … cellphone, pens, books, writing pads … even laptop. The one I got is shown in the picture. Anyone else find anything else helpful in carrying and moving things around? The worst thing is to spend 15 mins climbing up the stairs, only to find out that I forgot a book or water.
I have been taking xtra strength tylenol at night for a pain killing. It seems to work, though sometimes I wake up at night and can feel a bit of pain.
I think I may have stretched something in my right shoulder a bit, could have been from the crutches or from leaning too much on the right shoulder when trying to get up.
Backpack to help me out
Tags: backpack, pain killer, shoulder
Oct
07
2009
eschao
I’ll try to use Tylenol tonight instead of Norco. I have only needed the pain killers at night, so hopefully I can go through the night with just OTC painkillers. During the day the pain only comes, when I stand up and the pain rushes to the foot and the feeling of throbbing occurs. Not sure if there’s away around that.
Tree on a sunny fall day
Today was a sunny fall day, it was beautiful outside with the sun and the fall leaves on the ground. Last night I went out for the first time since the surgery to the library to get new dvds and today, a friend came over for lunch — a nice way to break up the week.
Thanks for the advice on the crutches, I’ll look into cycle gloves. For now I’ve wrapped towels around the handles to at least spread out the weight over a broader surface area — seems to help. Anyone ever use a roll-a-bout?
Tags: crutches, pain killers, roll-a-bout
Oct
06
2009
eschao
Second day at home alone, and today it is very dreary with rain off and on all day. Hopefully, I’ll be off the painkillers soon.
Does anyone know how to use the crutches so that they don’t hurt your palms as much? They tell you not to lean on the crutches with your arm pits, however, when you put all your weight on your hands, your palms end up hurting alot after a few minutes of hopping around.
Oct
05
2009
eschao
Trusty crutches
Last night was one of those times when I have slow digestion — in other words my stomach feels full all the time. It could be partly from the pain killers, but it does happen to me occasionally.
The problem with the ATR is that I need to keep my right foot elevated (RICE - rest, ice, compression and elevation) , which means that the most comfortable position usually is to lay down. However, laying down makes digestion slower (without the help of gravity) … thus the problem yesterday. However, by morning, I felt alot better. I guess I need to be more careful with what and how much I eat.
Oct
04
2009
eschao
Today is the first day that I went outside after surgery. In the late morning, my wife and I went out our front door and then walked around our front, and then up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. It was refreshing to be outside, especially today as the it was a beautiful sunny fall day. The leaves are turning colors where half the leaves on a given tree are no longer green.
Had the first chance in probably a few years to watch a whole football game (well at least until it was clear who the winner was) the Bears beat the Lions!
Question: Do other people have back problems as a result of laying down on all the time? What do you do to prevent those problems? I find that my back is getting sore after a night of sleep. I have temporarily tried to lay on the floor where there should be more support for my back.
Tags: back problems
Oct
03
2009
eschao
Today is the 2nd day after the surgery and I am getting adjusted to somethings, but there is still some adjustment …
1) I think I may have the pain meds figured out, if I take the meds and then take a nap for 1-2 hours and not eat, then the nausea seems to pass while I am sleeping. I have been able to eat alot better today.
2) Its hard to find the perfect position for my right foot, when I am sleeping or sitting on the couch. I find I am always switching positions with my foot whenever I am laying down or sitting down. This especially occurs when I sleep … no matter what position, there is always some part of the cast that seems to be pushing on the wound (which I believe is on the outside right side of my right foot).
3) Took my first post-surgery bath. We bought these cast covers from Curad @ Walgreens and they seem to work pretty good. It also helps to have the chair and now a shower head that is more portable.
http://www.curadusa.com/products/specialty/castprotectors.asp
Post-surgery half cast
