FINALLY…walking in 2 shoes again!
Since my last post 4 weeks ago, I’ve been traveling in Spain and England with my kids and grandkids. After many long days walking around Spain in my boot, I only had relatively minor achilles soreness/swelling, and fortunately it didn’t slow us down much. The boot gave me a feeling of security when on the many cobblestone old-town areas of Madrid, Seville, and Cadiz and when climbing up and down the hills and steps at the Alhambra in Granada. I even chanced going out barefoot and in flip-flops a few time on the Costa Del Sol beaches in Marbella!
Last Friday, the first day back from the Europe trip, my surgeon gave me the awesome news that I was ready to ditch the boot FOR GOOD and go into 2 shoes. He didn’t recommend wearing my favorite Vivo barefoot shoes for another few weeks, but surprisingly did say barefoot shoes may help with recovery later on. And, he FINALLY scheduled me for PT.
Two days ago, I had my first PT appointment (nearly 14 weeks after my ATR repair surgery), and have begun a new stretching and exercise PT regimen. My baseline ROM measurements were pretty good for just getting out of the boot. On the plus side, eversion ROM is the same on both good and bad ankles. However, plantar flexion ROM is about 5 degrees less, dorsiflexion ROM is about 8 degrees less, and inversion ROM is about 15 degrees less than the good ankle. Maybe walking around the house in bare feet since week 6, and Theraband stretches throughout the last 8 weeks (my docs do it yourself home PT plan), contributed to a decent initial level of flexibility for the injured ankle?
The BEST news though is that I can now go back to my old exercise routine!!!
So I’m back to 3-4 days of water aerobics, and 2 gym training sessions per week. The water aerobics classes are especially helpful, as I can do some minor jumping, heel lifts, and running in the water - things I can’t really do out of the water yet. Kicking in the pool also seems to help break up my scar tissue, and the hour long classes are a great core and cardio workout.
So while I can’t get back out on the soccer pitch just yet, walking around outside without a boot and getting back to my old exercise routine is a truly wonderful feeling!
Hoping that all of you out there are enjoying mini-successes on your own rehab marathons!
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