1st Post Op
Today I had my first post op appointment at 3 weeks and 1 day. I was so excited, like Christmas Day excited, to go to this appointment. Since my husband is out of town, I had to Uber it there and I didn’t want to miss it. So I ended up getting there like an hour early. That’s okay. I had my ipad and coffee.
They took me in and cut of the cast and cleaned me up. My doctor’s PA came in and went over the protocol for the next couple months. I got a boot today (yay!) with heel lifts. 2 weeks and 3 wedges NWB. Take a wedge out. 2 more weeks and slowly start putting a little weight on it. Take a wedge out. 2 more weeks increasing the weight. She wanted me to start physical therapy next week but explained it will really only be toe exercises and light flexing. Second week of December I got back to see the doc.
I got the sutures out and after 3 days I can shower without the plastic cover and let the water run over the incision. She said I don’t need to wear the boot to sleep but if I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (which I always do) I must put the boot on and use the crutches. Fine by me.
Even if I wanted to put weight on it now, I couldn’t. That achilles is so darn tight…it feels like a steel cable in there. I can’t even flex it to neutral position at this point. I know I’m over reacting but I have my serious doubts that I’ll ever walk normal again. But I know all of you have been through the same thing so it must be doable. I keep telling myself I just have to be patient. It’s going to take a long time.
I asked about exercise and they said anything upper body is fine but nothing else. No recumbent bike or rowing machine, which I was kind of hoping for. *sigh*. Well more chair aerobics it is.
I must say, ignoring the scar, I love my new smooth heel…no golf ball size deformity there anymore!
7 Responses to “1st Post Op”
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Just wanted to ask, why did they put you in a case first after surgery, then a placed in a boot. Did you have a heel spur or a tore Achilles?
Hope you have a speedy recovery. Take care
I think that’s standard protocol? The cast first and then a boot. Maybe others can chime in, but reading through others blogs it seems typical. I had both a haglund’s deformity that I was pondering getting removed and a ruptured Achilles. Before I had a chance to get the haglund’s removed I ruptured my achilles running. So I got two surgeries for the price of one!
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That’s great news Junebug! I have my first post-op appointment on Monday afternoon (I’ll be at 3 weeks and 3 days).
I think you’ll walk normal again
But yes, from all that I’ve read, including recovery stories, we have a long road ahead….patience and persistence will be key!
Yay you’re in the boot! Ask again about rowing since you can do that without putting any pressure on your foot. Either have it resting on the ground or suspended in the air as you row. Or just give it a try yourself. You can also do the recumbent bike with one foot but it’s hard! I actually didn’t ask when I started doing both. I just did it and made sure my foot got no weight on it.
And be prepared for a lot of dead skin rolling off when you can shower that foot! LOL! And yes you’ll be walking normally again eventually but it takes time!
And ask them about scar massage once all the scabs are off. That’s pretty important but if they didn’t tell you to ice behind the knee they may not mention scar massage either.
And your protocol is different from mine - LOL!
junebug, believe it or not, the weeks will go by, and your quality of life will improve as you get cleared for various things, like stationary bike, weight bearing, rowing, etc.
I’m still a long way from being “normal”, but the difference between now, and the early weeks is significant. You’ll get there!
When I was given permission to weight bear, I could barely step on it. That was on a Monday. By Friday, I had ditched the crutches. It gets better.
Thanks everyone! This puts my mind at ease a little bit. Tima, keep us posted on your first post-op visit. And be sure to take pictures of the incision…we all love that!