Til Daddy Takes the T-bird Away…
Well, I drove a bit with my husband last Sunday, he decided I could safely drive and so last Monday & Thursday I drove to and from Physical Therapy. Tuesday & Thursday I drove to the pool and back (and had great swims). I had signed up to take a continuing ed class on Friday & drove to and from that. Saturday & Sunday my husband & I did some shopping and other errands, I drove us around for those, too–probably close to 130 miles last week… It’s great to be driving again, to have that much more freedom, and I have had no trouble at all with it.
Saturday & Sunday I wore 2-shoes all day, not open-back ones, and that went fine…I walked all around 2 grocery stores (pushing the shopping cart for a little stability), and I have had no pain and only a small increase in swelling (I have a bit of swelling in my foot all the time). I am slow in walking, but my gait is fairly even, with a slight tendency to rotate the “bad” foot laterally as I step forward.
My PT has said she feels I am safe in 2-shoes, but on Thursday and again this morning counseled me to wear the boot to my MD appointment today…she says my orthopedist is quite conservative and would want to be the one who tells me when it’s OK to go to shoes… This morning she measured my active assisted dorsiflexion at 30 degrees and active flexion at 19 degrees. Active plantarflexion was 30 degrees.
I took my PT’s advice regarding the boot, did not mention that I have been driving for the past week, and my visit to the orthodoc went very well indeed. He says I can (officially) drive, wear 2-shoes and continue PT to work on my gait & strength. Best of all, I can plan to go back to work on February 27th! (That last is particularly good, as it will keep me from having to pay almost $2k for insurance coverage for the month of Feb. I ran out of sick leave about a month ago, so have no money coming in right now.)
I am feeling very positive about my progress, and feeling positive about the future. I plan to swim every day this week, and have been working on getting my exercise bike moved here (to my mother’s house, where I am living these days) so I can use that daily also.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:55 pm
Glad to hear things are progressing along so well. Driving with this injury gave me new found appreciation for how important it could be to morale. Behind the wheel was the one place I wasn’t affected by the injury… I had full mobility and was “equal” (for a change) with everybody else.
When I started driving (lefty, @10 days post surgery), the only car compatible with my splint (automatic transmission, big roomy footwell) was a fast muscle car… that probably multiplied the benefit
January 30th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Glad to hear things are going well and that you will get to go back to work. Swimming has helped me so much, I think. I’m glad you are able to get to the pool.
January 31st, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Thanks for the encouragement, Ryan & Millie!
I am really happy about being able to drive again. I had been using the community/public transportation service for disabled folks since my surgery. It is a great service, but not very convenient to use—reservations for rides must be made 24 hours in advance, the pickup times can be an hour or more early/late and you can end up riding on the bus up to 2 hours before getting to your destination. A couple weeks ago, I left home at 8:20 for a 10:30 PT appointment and didn’t get home til 1:30!
It’s better than having to depend on friends for rides all the time, but being able to drive is best of all…I like being able to go where I want to go, when I want to go, and on the spur of the moment…
I swam again today, and got a 20-swim pass. I hope to swim every weekday until I return to work, and then continue on Thursdays and Fridays after that…
My foot is pretty sore today–did a lot of balance work at PT yesterday, and the foot was swollen & sensitive last night…