Oct 27 2009
The ATR diet for your spouse
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.
3 responses so far
I had a terrible time sleeping with the boot. My surgeon had told me that he would make me a night splint, but things didn’t work out (schedule issues). I tried a commercially available night splint that is marketed towards people with plantar fasciitis (Futuro), but that wasn’t any better. The good news: this is just another phase that will come to an end. Good luck.
The loss in weight is down to you losing your muscles. I lost around 8 pounds in the first 2 weeks after my injury. Trying to keep it off until I return to active life is hard!
Thanks for the laugh, eschao. I’ll be sure to tell my girlfriend the benefits of her nursing me.
Today’s my first CAM walker day, so I’ll see how my sleeping goes.
I’m hoping to sleep without the boot but with cooler nights, maybe just leave a light blanket covering the foot so you still keep some heat in but not enough to get too hot, and other benefit is it doesn’t put pressure on your foot like a heavier blanket if you did turn the foot a bit.
I’ve been sleeping with my achilles foot elevated by 1 or 2 pillows while in the cast and have found I don’t seem to toss/turn while sleeping (perhaps it’s subconscious?). Some ideas to try if you like.
Good luck!
B