Been a few weeks since I’ve updated - not many landmarks, just continuous but slow improvement. I had a follow up with my surgeon last week who seemed to think everything looks ok. He preferred that I use a heel lift for the time being, so I’ve done that for the last week but I’m now totally comfortable without one. My scar is definitely hypertrophic and the skin around the heel is very sensitive still. I recently got silicone strips so hopefully that helps with both issues.
Last night, I finally got 100% ROM with passive dorsiflexion on a straight leg. All along, I’ve had a pain on the inside of my ankle bone that feels like bruising when I dorsiflex as hard as I can. I still have that pain, but I have much more flexibility before it kicks in. My surgeon thinks it’s latent stiffness that will go away as I rehab more. I can now touch my knee to the wall with my foot about .5 inches away from it, a big improvement vs just a few weeks ago when I couldn’t come close to touching while my foot was against the wall. Still a long way to go before I’m as flexible as my good leg.
My Graston sessions with my sports chiro are usually painful, but I do feel like it has softened up the scar tissue a bit. It’s still thick and hopefully that improves with more treatment and time.
My calf is getting stronger, but it’s really slow and frustrating. Standing bilateral heel raises are no problem, but my eccentric and single leg raises are still being done on a leg press. It feels like my strength recovery is slow, but I don’t have any real benchmark to compare. If I walk with short steps I can do it limp-free, but if I walk at the pace I’m used to (I live in NYC so I’m definitely a speed walker), there is still a slight hitch in my step. Mentally, there are good and bad days. The bad ones are tough bc you start to feel like you’ll never walk normally again, let alone get back to high level athletics. But I refuse to let myself get too down - I know it’s part of the process and it’s a challenge to overcome.
Thank you to the people here for their words of encouragement - it definitely helps me keep a positive mindset!
2 responses so far ↓
Manny // Feb 11th 2016 at 5:26 pm
Glad to know you are improving, Jay! Just remember we are all different and our recovery times can differ.
Good luck!……… Manny
Kevin // Feb 14th 2016 at 1:27 am
Hey Jay,
Sounds like you are doing great from where I am. I am at week 10 (post surgery) and still in the walking boot. As a fellow athlete who is used to playing hockey and keeping up with my 2 boys I share your frustration…this is a long haul but take a look back at how far you have come already!
Hang in there…and I will drop you a line when I finally get to try walking at week 12 with my PT.
Kevin
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