my AT story

matthew,

You are singing my song…I carried one crutch with me forever at this point…even though the doc said pwb to nwb I didnt trust that train of thought…I am also doing the Thompson’s test constantly even though I am 11 wks out…slow and steady is the best course of action…wrap your ankle with an ace bandage at night if you dont feel comfortable without the boot…this is what i did, and it worked wonders…even though I am two shoes, fwb, I still wear the boot if I am going to be gone all day or do a lot of walking…pt and doc both said this mandatory….I still take a crutch with me in case i get tired or will be gone 12+ hrs…good luck to you and glad you can hobble a bit more now….

Matthew, You are doing great! Just keep pushing forward as you feel able. I only lasted about 2 days PWB and moved to mostly FWB and now walk quite a bit without the crutches and when my leg gets sore I’ll take a break and go back to crutches in the evening. I stopped wearing the boot at night and it is so much better. I just made sure no heavy covers were over my foot to get it twisted up. Now I sleep with one pillow under my bad leg. lying on my back and sleep pretty well. In the morning all the swelling is completely gone and the foot feels pretty good. I do start the morning with crutches until my leg starts to feel awake. Then walk as much as I can without crutches to get more strength back in my calf. I also remove my boot several times a day for ROM exercises which seems to really help. Best of luck on the journey.

Hi Matthew

Looks like I am at the same stage as you. I had my op on the 5th Feb and am now in the process of going from pwb to fwb.

Over the weekend, I have been walking up and down my street putting more and more weight on with the help of crutches - it’s just taking those 1st few steps without them that I haven’t got round to.

hopefully today or tomorrow I will have the courage to go fwb.

Bode, Robby, Matthew,

I assume your boots were also in an incline so when starting PWB you put pressure/weight on the toes first? Or try to put the sole down like a normal step (really awkward)?

Just not sure how/if I’m doing it right since my brain is telling me to be too cautious at the same time.

Robby: I am glad you wrote. I just found a post that i had to approve?? i guess it never got published. Sorry about that, I didn’t realize I had to approve anyones comment. Anyhow, yes look me up on FB Matthew Pasquinelli you’ll recognize my profile pic…trust me. That’s odd you, me and gahnalsearch all had the operation with-in a day. I was so scared to take that first step w/o the crutches. I think I stood there for about 2 minutes before I stepped. once you do it and realize you’re still ok, its gets much easier. I am looking foward to PT. when do you start yours?

Tron: I had no incline on my boot. I was kind of amazed, and kept thinking that the Doc overlooked something, since it seems that everyone had heel lifts or something in thier boot. My boot is rocked on the bottom so i started heel first. My heel HURT the first few days, then the pain moved to the arch of my foot and is now mostly gone when I walk FWB. Hope that helps.

Matthew: I went fwb yesterday right after I wrote my post on your blog and had the exact same experience as you - stood there or 2 mins thinking shall I? shall I not? will the achilles re-rupture etc etc. Well it didn’t and it felf great!! I had my first physio session last friday and have booked 6 more. I want to get all these in before the 19th April as my work are sending me away for a week on an intensive rehab course on the achilles. (I work in the UK fire service)
A great tip I have had from the physio is to freeze a bottle of water and use it to roll under your foot and to massage the calf. (Maybe ask your physio about it)

Tron: I have a slight incline on my boot

http://www.healthandcare.co.uk/foot-care/donjoy-mc-walker-motion-control.html

but no heel lifts. When I first started walking (yesterday) I went heel first.

My goal - To be able to walk by 1st May. Thats when I go on holiday to Oz!!

Thanks for your comment… never sure whether to respond to people in my blog, or theirs’. Anyway…

I hear you on not wanting to take the boot off to sleep. My doc hasn’t given me the clear to do that, but even when he does, not sure if I’ll want to.

Sounds like you are doing well with your getting ready to go FWB on Monday. Scary but exciting. Hope PT goes well today!

Robby: you know what my therapist told me was that if i have the boot on it is really hard to rerupture. now with the boot off at the stage we are at, yeah that is scary and easy to re-rupture. so basically i am sill treating the boot like a cast. (even though i took it off an hour or so ago and have been lying here bootless) and it is good to see you on facebook. I really like the Facebook. so much better than Myspace.