1st Post op appointment!!!
HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!! Here in Chicago its sunny and 70, and my appt went great!
The last few days I’ve been a little worried bc my incision has been burning. My swelling went down and the splint was rubbing it. It was fine, got the splint off and the air felt oh so refreshing!!! I turned my leg over and was surprised at the Frankenstein-ish look of my leg. No swelling in the ankle, but my foot looks like a tennis ball!! He gave me the alcohol wipe and it was the most heavenly feeling! I watched as the nurse cut and pull out my stitches and put on the dressing. I was told that i could shower and get it wet…. I’m a little apprehensive about doing so, any suggestions? I got put on my “robo-boot” but am still NWB. I go back in 2 weeks to start PT and a begin putting weight on it. If the next two weeks go as fast as the last two, Im gonna be ok!!! So im feeling good. Got back to the gym on Monday and feeling great! Hope all of you are doi
March 18th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
What kinda “robo-boot”? The VacoCast is the only one that I think deserves that name — cause it looks like The Terminator!
Details, please, details!!
March 19th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Congrats on move to a “Boot”. Yes the weather has been nice here in Illinois.
I have been able to walk outside…but also break out my motorcycle too. Let’s hope the Spring weather is here to stay.
Good Luck with your recovery…keep posting.
March 19th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Fashan - Tell us, tell us what kind of boot you’ve got! Like Norm, I’m so curious about it. I’m also getting one next week and can’t wait!
Happy healing!
March 19th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I am in an unhinged walking boot. nothing special. It comes to the top of the calf. Black, hard plastic bottom– Its a beauty…. not sure if Im supposed to wear it to bed tho. its kind of annoying! I feel alot more comfortable and protected in it.
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March 19th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Well I looked at that VacoCast and you are right Norm it does! But no, mine is just the normal black unhinged one. Its robo-like enough for me, along with my hands free crutch i look like i’m part woman part machine!!!
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March 20th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
everyone - I’ve got the Vaco Cast. Pretty impressive piece of equipment. Does anyone else out there have it to compare notes?
It seems like it works just as well without creating the vacuum and feels a whole lot more comfortable.
March 20th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
I was wondering about sleeping with the boot on or off too. My doc said off is fine and he suggested an ace bandage wrap as a reminder. I guess this could be a problem if you are sleep walker or if you sleep with a kicker. I have found that it is tough to get back into the boot in the morning. I guess the tendon tightens back up? I am 5 weeks post surgery and in the boot for a week.
March 20th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
So faydra and fayshan21 are the same person, right?
In addition to the obvious reasons to sleep in the boot in the early weeks — you might get kicked or tangled in the sheets, you might have to get up to go to the washroom and forget, you might walk in your sleep — there’s another one: For at least PART of the time you’re in your boot, your booted position is going to be different from the position your ankle would take just by itself. This is especially so when heel lifts start coming out, either all at once or one at a time. Those moves are literally a stretch for your AT and your calf muscle, and the boot helps accomplish that stretch, and helps keep you from losing it, and tightening up again.
Some people who got permission to sleep without the boot went back after one night, because their calf-and-AT had tightened up overnight (back toward dorsiflexion or equinus or ballerina position, all the same). So getting back into the boot in the morning was uncomfortable or even painful, “a stretch”. (That’s what notsorad is finding, I think.)
The UWO-study protocol, which a few of us here are now following, calls for 24/7 boot until 8 weeks, except for bathing and physio and exercise. I think I actually started sleeping bootless a bit earlier, after my foot got comfortable with no heel lifts, in neutral position. Also after my Physio said it was time.
Notsorad, there are other ways of keeping your ankle flexed while you sleep, but wearing the boot is probably the simplest. If you try leaving it off every 4 or 5 nights, you’ll know when the time comes when you don’t need it overnight.
Gunner, I was wondering about the comfort of the “Vaco” system. The good news is that sucking the air out of the ceramic beads while the boot is on, freezes the whole thing in position so they fit perfectly. (Same tech is used on some ski boots.)
The bad news is that it makes that “cushion” very hard and not at all “cushion-like”! There may be a way to suck gently or partially, so it still has some “give” to it. Hard to know from here, since I’ve only seen the Vaco in pictures and videos! (Having all the beads fall down to the bottom doesn’t sound great.)
faydra, all the boots are about the same for the first few weeks, when you wouldn’t release the hinge on a hinged boot anyway. The interesting difference comes after you’ve been FWB for maybe a week or so, when you’d be OK to let a hinged boot (like the Vaco or the MC Walker) actually hinge, toe down, while it still protects you from flexing toe up. I think that’s a great “step” in-between a hinged FWB boot and two shoes, which is otherwise a Very Big (and scary and risky) step along this path or ours. The hinge gives you a ROM while you walk, and makes your booted walk more like “real” walking, even before your calf is strong enough to help much.
Most of the Orthos don’t seem to prescribe boots with hinges, maybe because those boots cost quite a bit more than the simpler fixed ones.