12 Weeks – 2 shoes full time!
This week I went to my 12 weeks post-op visit with the surgeon. (Six weeks in casts and six weeks in a boot) He wanted me to wear my boot whenever I was outside for 12 weeks but I could wear shoes inside. I walked into his office in two shoes as there was no way I wanted to walk into the appointment in my boot. Seems silly but it was important to me. It was an uneventful, short visit and the surgeon seemed pleased with my recovery. He said that the fact that I am highly motivated to get back to “normal” was very important and had clearly speeded up my recovery, especially from the calf atrophy.
I’ve been wearing 2 shoes indoors for about five weeks now and have been doing PT for 4 weeks. My physical therapist is great and I’m so much stronger now than when I first started. He really makes me work and I also do the exercises at home as well. Calf strength and coordination are improving quickly and I’m feeling very positive.
The first six weeks in the casts were the hardest. Once I got into the boot and became FWB, everything was so much easier and better. Now that I’ve been in two shoes for a few days, it’s better yet. It sounds funny but as much as I hated the first six weeks in casts and on crutches, they are but a distant memory now.
Not much to report really, just steady improvement. I’m headed out for a nice long (careful) walk.
That’s it for now.
Keep healing.
September 4th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Good for you, but I bet the next guy gets immobilized for 18 weeks — or the next 4 dozen! Maybe we’ll meet some of them here. . .
September 4th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Hey Norm, Hopefully the next one will get a boot much sooner. The surgeon almost put me in a boot at three weeks but decided against it. Maybe the next person will get a boot earlier. When I showed the doc the UWO protocol at six weeks, he thought it was a good idea. So who knows, maybe he’ll be adopting earlier mobilization. I’d like to think so.
September 4th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I hope so. If you tell him it produced very good results, and/or steer him to the online reports, it might benefit the next folks.