Archive for April, 2012
Went to physio on Tuesday in a bit of a subdued frame of mind, felt that i had stalled out a bit and was getting frustrated. My PT suggested that we ramp things up a bit as my last wedge was due to come out and I was probably not feeling the love for my boot any more.
So, I did some bare foot walking on the bars in the physio gym, it felt great, the muscles in my foot working again and feeling some movement and circulation, difficult to descride but certainly good. I got a bit carried away and wandered up and down about 20 times.
Then, into two shoes and onto the recumbant bike where I found out just how much strength you lose in your calf by not using it much. I asked my PT to turn the resistance down, but it was already as low as it could go, so I did 4 minutes and burned 6 calories before stopping. As someone who usually cycles 50 to 60 miles a week I found this alarming.
Finally, I practiced walking smoothly in my shoes for a bit until I got a real bad cramp at the base of my calf muscle, so bad my PT had to massage it out, and I went back into my Aircast (no wedges) to go home.
The next day I awoke expecting the usual sort of day but my leg and foot felt amazing, good flexibility and ROM, no tightness in my achilles, just some swelling across the top of my foot. So, when I got to work I decided to 2 shoe it in the office for the day, brilliant, feels like a huge step forward.
I saw a post a few days ago about shoes, I have a 6 year old pair of Berghaus Trek Walking boots that I have been using, just the left one for the last 8 weeks but now I am in both during the day at work, they give great comfort and support to my ankle. So, courtesy of Amazon UK I managed to pick up a new pair on offer for wearing indoors at home for the next few months. They make me feel safe, supported and unlikely to go over on my weakened ankle, they work for me so just thought I would share that.
Anyway, hope everyone is groovy and looking forward to the weekend, here in the UK we ar suffering the raniest ‘drought’ I have ever known.
April 27th, 2012
Here I am at 8 weeks post op, things are going okay but some frustration is starting to kick in now, I have not been blogging for a week or so and have been catching up with how everyone is doing today. I guess I have been having an off week and trying to ignore my foot and boot, get on with some work and other activities and put it out of my mind. It is strange how this thing messes with your mind a little bit!
Focus was returned yesterday when I went to my 5th PT session. It went okay, down to one wedge in my aircast boot now, I am allowed to carefully wear shoes in the house and other ’safe’ places if I feel comfortable. My range of motion is good, I can flex up past 90 degrees now and it does not feel too tight but when walking without shoes it brings home the work that I have to do from this point forwards, which seems a bit scary. My PT says ‘now the real effort of rehab can begin’ and I can start to get some strength back into my leg and this is no understatement, my leg feels week and prone to damage, a strange feeling!
I guess on reflection I underestimated this element of the process, I thought that at 8 weeks I would feel more normal. Still, I am determined that after the next few weeks I can do some leisurely cycling on my bike to help with the process and next week at PT I have the all clear to do some cycling on the recumbant bike, but my PT wants me to do stretches every 2 hours to try to improve my ROM during this week.
I miss driving, my wife drives me everywhere and I am not a good passenger, at least that is what I have been told! I have a manual (stick shift) right hand drive car so have to be able to do an emergency stop before being given the all clear to drive, a few weeks to go yet I think. Still, with the cost of fuel here in the UK at the moment maybe this is not a bad thing.
That is all for now, happy healing to all.
April 20th, 2012
6 Weeks post op today, things are going okay. I had physio yesterday, my PT is pleased with my progress. On my last PT visit at 4.5 weeks I was told to start getting some more weight on the leg, this is easier said than done and is a scary prospect. So, I played with some weight transference and over last weekend I had some soreness around my AT, so I backed off for a few days.
My PT said that she might confiscate a crutch at yesterdays appointment if I had made no progress so Wednesday I did some 1 crutch walking around the office. The mental block that I had to overcome to put my weight on the leg was huge. In the end I was encouraged by my workmates at the office to give it a go with their assistance, and it went okay. Yesterday at my PT appointment I demonstrated my progress and requested another wedge out of my boot then did some walking in the gym with the bars, it felt okay.
Today, fed up with the weird feel of one crutch walking I tried some walking in the boot, and it feels good, no pains and although the pace is slow, it feels so great to be mobile without the sticks.
Vital statistics at this stage:
ROM: I can get to 5 degrees from flat with my leg straight and flat with leg flexed, side to side I can do about 15 degrees each way
CALF: It has not shrunk much but is a bit saggy, seated calf raises hurt my calf, but this feels good as it demonstrates a connection to my heal which is nice!
SWELLING: My toes and foot still have some swelling, my toes are about 20% bigger than my good toes.
SCAR: Dressing off now, it looks good, very narrow and a neat job. Finally I can have a bath, which feels amazing!! I will try to post a picture soon, need to find some instructions.
SLEEPING: I still sleep with the boot, tried without once, slept for 4 minutes before waking after flexing my foot in a panic, boot back on!!
I have some extra PT exercises which include stretching my knee as I am struggling to get it more mobile again, it gets better by the day though.
That is all for now, Happy Easter to all and more soon!
April 6th, 2012