Last monday marked 4 months since surgery. I’m really excited about my recent progress and I feel like the one-hour-per-day rehab that I have been doing for the last couple of months is really beginning to pay off. To be more exact, I am 18 weeks. This is what I have achieved so far:

-I am able to walk almost normally. Sometimes I walk perfectly, but there are also times when I relapse into my regular slight limp if I am tired or sore etc.
-I can ride the stationary bike 
-I’m able to balance on one foot well
-I am able to do one-leg heel raises without aid (woohoo!)
-I can jog for about 15 to 25 steps at a time, at which point I suddenly have to stop and take a break before trying again
-I CAN JUMP! I have done some skip rope as well as hopping up one stair at a time, all with 2 foot take off.

Most of these were achieved in a short time, I was unable to do a one-leg heel raise about 2 weeks ago but now I am able to do that as well as the things listed below it. I have been working extremely hard at range of motion and strength ever since I was allowed to start and although it felt as if nothing was changing for a long time, my work is finally beginning to pay off and my slow slant of progress is now making a sharp turn upwards. It’s really exciting and encouraging for me to actually SEE some change.

This last weekend was my volleyball nationals which I was not quite prepared to play for and it was difficult to see my team lose in the quarter finals and end up 5th, but I know if I got out on that court something would have gone wrong. That was monday, and yesterday (tuesday) I began playing beach volleyball under the instruction of my PT. I didn’t try to jump but I was able to run around in the sand and play pretty well suprisingly. Today my whole leg from the calf down is extremely stiff and sore but that is the best kind of rehab I’ve done yet

The sand is pretty forgiving since it falls around my foot when I push through it and it’s a whole lot safer than running around on the indoor court (there is very low risk of rolling an ankle etc.). It was a great workout, good for strengthening. If you’re at a similar point as me I might recommend asking PT about getting into the sand, there’s so many good things about it including the fact that it’s a low impact surface for running/jumping and it helps out with ankle stability as well. I think in my case it’s also a good start to regaining some confidence in my game, of course at this point my reaction time is very slow and playing on the beach is a good way to ease back into it.

I will continue to gradually ease back into volleyball using the beach courts during the summer, and hopefully by september I will be able to play back on my high school team again. My current mindset is that hard work pays off eventually. I will get better!

Well progress is still going smoothly. However there is a small glitch I am wondering about. I am trying to do one legged heel lifts, and at this point if I use my arms to take off some of the weight (on a table or something) then I can do it. This is how I initially got to heel lifts with both feet and gradually used less of my arms until I was all legs. Every once in a while I’m doing this and I hear and feel a sort of “pop”. POP is not exactly the word I want to use to describe it, but it’s the most fitting. Maybe like a click or something, but closer to a pop. It isn’t really painful but I do lose some strength and I get pretty stiff for the rest of the day. Anyone got any tips or experience ?

Other than that things are going well. My walking strides are starting to smooth out at a regular walking speed, but as soon as I try to speed up I get more limpy. That would be because I don’t have the strength to push off yet. My AT is nice and loose again though, I can move it around with my fingers pretty nicely. It used to be hard as a rock! The scar looks great (for a scar) and my calf looks a lot healthier but still pretty disproportionate.