May
04
2010
eschao
I completed my last PT session last Thurs. It was a momentous occasion after going every week for nearly 3-4 months. I felt an extra burst of energy during my last session and was so excited to finish up, that I brought some cookies for the PT.
After last PT session
I am more or less normal in using my right foot, but there’s still a psychological barrier of not wanting to push myself too much. These were some of the accomplishments / exercises that I did:
- Single leg lifts - my right foot can be raised as much as my other foot — ~ 3 inches
- Total gym single leg lifts
- Hopping on the agility ladder (see below) on the ground - I’ve been doing this for a while, it was really helpful at first, but now its mostly cardio-vascular exercise for me
- Stair master
- Practicing jumping 1 foot off both feet — this is the one exercise where I can still feel a noticeable difference between the 2 feet — it is a much more explosive exercise, so will require more practice
- Hopping on 2 feet - side to side, front to back
- Agility Ladder
I will be seeing my doctor this week, so hopefully, he’ll confirm that I’m OK and ready to do any exercise. I’ve tried to still continue stretching because my right foot still feels more stiff than the other foot.
Thank you for all your support!
Tags: agility ladder, Physical Therapy
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
