Week 17-18: “Hey Mom, you almost walk like normal.”
That’s right, people, my ever so discerning daughters have declared that gimpy has left the house! Limp free, baby! Well, let me clarify that to limp free when wearing good shoes (I’m stealing your material, Ekiaer.) I still hobble around a bit when barefoot or wearing certain shoes. (I’m not quite sure why.) It’s taken a long time but as my strength has improved, my limp seems to have miraculously disappeared (Trin and Micah–you were right!) Along with the limp, my constant worry about my achilles has been diminishing as well. I’m still careful mind you–I just don’t think about it much at all during the course of the day.
These last few weeks I’ve been practicing restraint and it’s a lot harder than it sounds. Take my hill days, for example. I walk up the dam with no problems whatsoever so naturally I think to myself it will be twice as good for me if I walk it twice. I notice a little discomfort half way up and ignore it but by the top, it’s a little sore. It’s a lot more sore as I walk down hill and boy am I happy to see the car. Fast forward to the next day and my achilles is tight and a little swollen–hello ice pack. This has been the ongoing scenario and I was getting a little tired of it. So I thought about it, read a few posts (Yaswak comes to mind) and I decide to try a more conservative approach. This past week, I forced myself to walk the same hill route five times before increasing. (The only thing that I am allowing myself to increase as I see fit is walking on the flats–but honestly, I get so bored that I rarely want to walk further anyway.) This method of slow progress seems to have worked because I doubled the hill without any ill effects the next day. More progress with less regress–I’m sold!
I can see how the milestones become fewer and farther between as we mosey on down recovery road. I notice little improvements here and there–I’ve been able to stand and pedal on the spin bike for 30 seconds at a time now. I’m up to four per session now–adding one every week. It doesn’t hurt but it definitely takes effort. While I haven’t really noticed much quad weakness (on the bad side) in general, I definitely do notice it here. My left quad is WAY weaker and gets a little jittery after 30 seconds of standing. It’s a little frustrating but I’m hopeful that with consistent work, the strength/endurance will come back.
I’ve been keeping up with the band exercises and heel lifts ad nauseum. Not much is new in that department. I was planning on scheduling my fourth and final PT appointment last week but I forgot to call. Now I’m kind of wondering whether I should bother or not. I’m not sure that it is worth the co-pay plus it takes an hour out of my morning–one and a half including drive time 
Perhaps I will flip a coin! My next milestone will be to try some skating. I never got around to it after my dog incident. I laced them up and skated around the driveway a bit but found my balance a little lacking and the push offs giving me a little trouble. I’d like to give it another go this week. It would be a nice thing to add into the routine for some variety.
It’s slow going around here but I’m still plugging away. I hope all of you are doing the same! Here’s my picture. I know it looks the same but I think it is getting a little bigger. I measured it and was closer to 13″ than it was before. I could have sworn my other calf was 13 but that one now seems to be 13.5″ (a crucial measurement for boot shoppers.) Still a long way to go but at least I’m headed in the right direction 
September 5th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
Hi Kelly
I’m glad you’re learning restraint. It’s the hardest lesson I’ve learned in the last 15 weeks; not sure I’ve fully converted, but after pushing it too much last week, I’ve suffered. I spoke to my physio and she agreed that taking things easy for a while and listening to my body was the way to go (wish she’d said that before she gave me the single leg heel drops!)
I can’t believe how much this has affected my balance.
looking really good
It’s great to see you progressing so well and an inspiration to me because I’m about 3 weeks behind you - in time, but not in healing! Hoping to progress as well as you in the next few weeks, though not sure I’ll be on skates at any time, lol
September 5th, 2013 at 5:23 pm
Awesome! Really happy to hear about your progress and hope the skating goes well. Thanks for the update and always including pictures!
September 5th, 2013 at 7:39 pm
@pamg: lol! Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it. I was getting tired of kicking myself for pushing too hard–it’s much less painful when you work smarter. Good luck with your recovery too!
@eye: Thanks! Great to hear from you. Honestly, I’m just happy to be ambulatory and functional. I will report back on the skating. May give it a go tomorrow if time permits and if I can find the knee pads and wrist guards. I’m a little nervous!
September 5th, 2013 at 8:08 pm
Hi KG,
It’s good to hear you are still progressing so well. The body differently let you know when you over do it. On the other hand, we need to try new things or we will never progress. Isn’t recovery grand….
Take care,
September 6th, 2013 at 8:35 am
I glad to hear your offspring have stopped mocking you! Mine haven’t got bored of that yet
Glad you are making progress!!
Have a great weekend, more sunshine forecast?
September 6th, 2013 at 11:28 am
Hi Kellygirl. Its always great to read your updates thanks. Your good calf may indeed be larger than it was,its compensating for the weakling twin across the way! I hope that your winter boot collection still fits otherwise you may have to go shopping (That would be a shame).
September 6th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
@Brokendad: Thank you. Absoutely–you have to push a little bit to know what is possible. Recovery is definitely never boring!
Yes, it’s too darn hot these days. Longingly awaiting fall!
@spacemonkey: Thanks! Lol! I’m happy the mocking has slowed down–I think they are realizing that I’m a little more agile and they can no longer dart away/ward off the finger flick
@micah: Thanks! Yes, I’m afraid my bad leg is going to be playing catch up forever. Lol: re the boot shopping. I will say that this injury made me clear out my shoe cabinet–I got rid of several pairs of shoes that were just not that comfortable or not cute enough to risk an injury!
September 6th, 2013 at 1:37 pm
Kellgirl - I am always inspired by your progress and love the shoe pix! Congratulations. I am one month from injury today and can see gradual strengthening. Keep climbing those hills! (gradually)
September 6th, 2013 at 9:36 pm
@Sally: Thanks! Glad to hear that you are healing well too. I have no doubt that you will be doing burpees again in no time–actually, I bet you have already figured out how to modify those and are probably doing them in the boot
September 7th, 2013 at 9:20 am
So excited that you are skating. That sounds like huge progress.
September 10th, 2013 at 3:32 am
Well done Kelly. Kids are the biggest critics of all so you must be getting back to normal.