Steel toe shoes with a soft cast question

Posted on October 2nd, 2014 by mbow4502

Trying to get back to work after being placed in a walking boot. One item HR is hitting me up on is having to wear steel toe shoes as a requirement of the job. Has anyone modified a walking boot to allow this? I was thinking of cutting out the liner around the foot, wearing the shoe and foaming it up as needed to make a tight fit and strap it in. Any ideas? Is there a product out there that does this already? Thanks

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Three week update

Posted on September 20th, 2014 by mbow4502

Went in for my three week check up.  I received another fiberglass cast with a smaller rubber wedge under my heel.  I am led to believe next week will be another cast with no wedge.  If all goes well, I’ll be in a walking boot around the five week point.  The incision appears to be healing nicely, it looks much better and not so scary.  I can say I look forward to giving my left calf and foot a very thorough, but gentle scrubbing.

I have pretty much said the hell with the crutches as of yesterday.  I just hobble around and take it slow and easy keeping all the weight on the heel.  If I get tired, I just find a bench and rest a few minutes before moving along.  Pain is slight to none at all, but I can tell if I have been standing too long.

A few thoughts looking back based on what I lived through.  I wish I would have gotten a decent foldable wheel chair to use from post surgery up to end of the third week.  Crutches are okay for covering up to about 40 yards, after that a wheelchair is a clear winner.  My object here is to try and get around as easy as I can without reinjuring my Achilles and prevent further damage to shoulders and wrists.  There are no prizes for long distance crutching as far as I know.  I did end up with two good rubs on the inside of each wrist.  I started using sweat bands and they helped to keep the rub off the skin although a bit late.

I did end up getting the iwalk and think it is pretty slick.  Watching their online videos is worth the time.  Due to being at the end of a 8,000 mile supply line here in S.Korea, sometimes it takes ten days for items to get here.  Three days after I received it I found I could hobble around fairly well and didn’t really bother with it anymore.  There is a learning curve with it, learning to relax while wearing the device and trusting it felt like the major hurdles to clear to get really comfortable on it.

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First Post

Posted on September 11th, 2014 by mbow4502

Here for the obvious reason, ATR on left side.  Injury happened while pushing a wheeled air conditioning unit.  Never really had any problems or indications that I had issues with my AT till it popped.  Since I work in South Korea, I had the experience of getting the surgery done in a Korean hospital.  Compared to what I’ve read here, I had a longer stay in the hospital after the operation at five days.  I suspect they wanted to keep an eye on it to check for infection.

Currently a day shy of two weeks post op.  Just had the stitches pulled out and a second cast put on, toes a little bit more towards the shin than the first one.  Doc says I can start putting some weight on it only on the heal.  Looks like two or three more weeks of casts till I get a boot.

Here is what I have observed over my two short weeks dealing with this.  Ice and elevation of your foot are your friends.  I think it is important to keep the swelling down especially in the beginning to get the healing process going.  I vividly recall the first time I went to take a leak and lowered my foot off the mattress, the blood flowed down and it throbbed pretty good.  I have been using a wheeled desk chair to scoot around the house, depending on what I’m doing, I either kneel on it with the bad leg or sit and scoot along backwards.  It seems to work well.  A re-attack on the ice, get double the amount you think you need.  I rotated three sets of ice packs, always had a fresh cold one.  Try and stay hydrated, simple to do and good for you.  Eat well.  Figure out how to get a shower.  I put a plastic stool in the shower and use a trash bag and athletic tape.  Bag is good for one use as they get ripped when taking it off.  Try and set yourself up for a good nights sleep, the better you sleep, the better the healing process works.

This blog has really helped me out and I’m glad I found it.  I now know a little better what is in store for me in the coming weeks and months.      

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  • normofthenorth | October 14th, 2014 | 11:26 am

    Instructions on the Main Page. It starts with an email. Within a couple if days, your new blog (”Hello World!”) will appear near the top of the list of blog posts on the main page.

  • heeling | October 13th, 2014 | 3:56 pm

    I’m trying to work out how to post a blog too! Can anyone help?

  • slyder13 | October 13th, 2014 | 2:56 pm

    How do I post a blog. I’m new at this…Says i need to go to the dashboard and use the orange pen…I can’t find the orange pen????

  • slyder13 | October 13th, 2014 | 2:51 pm

    I would try to get a waiver. Can you lift much anyhow? The waiver would stipulate that you can’t live anyting heavy. OSHA requires one to evaluate the exposure in order to have to wear “safety toe” shoes. I don’t think modifiing anything would make your boot meet the ASTM safety toe shoe tests. Wearing safety toe shoes in normal manner would be the only way they were tested and only way the manufacture of the shoe says they are proven to protect your toes. See if the safety person would write up a waiver outlining your lifting restrictons etc. in order to get you back to work

  • normofthenorth | October 4th, 2014 | 11:45 pm

    If you really understand the forces on the boot and on your ankle, calf, and AT, you may well be able to kludge something together that will satisfy your Doctor AND your leg! But if you use typical engineering-style “simplifying assumptions” that are too simple for your leg, you may wish you’d just taken another few weeks off work.

  • mbow4502 | October 3rd, 2014 | 1:18 am

    Steel toe safety shoes are a requirement to work out on the flightline. I am a systems guy and most of my job entails running cables and hooking up a laptop. During normal day to day activities I am not working with heavy objects, but they are in the area, hence the requirement. My brace is the Bledsoe Flatform, a foot bed with two bars that go either side of he calf, my steel toe shoes are low quarters that look like a hiking shoe. What I am interested in doing is cutting the liner out where the foot is and leave the section that wraps around the calf. I would put on the shoe and strap it on to the brace. Functionally the brace will be doing its job and the only difference might be my foot is a little bit higher off the platform due to the sole of my shoe. As I play this out, I will probably have to get a note from the doctor saying this is acceptable to satisfy an HR requirement.

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  • normofthenorth | October 2nd, 2014 | 9:43 am

    Re: Is there a product out there that does this already? Maybe. Search online, you may get lucky. I’d be a little worried about the hazards that necessitate the steel toes, and what they might do to your injured leg. Maybe a size 14 S-T boot would fit over your ortho boot? If your ortho boot is fixed (not hinged), then it’s not very different from a stiff high construction boot. Probably the biggest difference is the sole, which is usually rounded like a rocker on an ortho boot, so you can roll from heel to toe without any flex. There are products for sale that have similar soles, including Vaco’s EvenUp and their removable boot soles…
    Of course none of this is as safe as staying home until you’re in 2 shoes, then using your own ST boots (my first choice). And I’m guessing you’re not looking for your OS’s blessings on your plans?

  • herewegoagain | September 20th, 2014 | 5:48 pm

    Sounds like you are doing well- yes as soon as you get a boot the first shower and getting to wash the leg is the best.
    Crutches really can be frustrating, they so often seem to get in the way and definitely leave some sore spots on the upper body. The downside of not using them is that it is very tough not to limp!
    I ruptured for the first time over 15 years ago and hobbled around in a cast. By the time I was out of the casts I had a limp that was far worse than it needed to be. Learning to walk without a limp is not that easy.
    This time around I am in a boot, FWB and could easily ditch the crutches. I am happily hanging on to them (often just 1) and walking slowly and as smoothly as I can in the hope I will skip a lot of extra PT work after the boot is off.
    You are so right there is a learning curve, not just with aids like the Iwalk, but with the whole recovery marathon. All the best!

  • mbow4502 | September 12th, 2014 | 10:09 pm

    Thanks David. Yep, five days in a Korean hospital, good and bad to things to say about it. First the good. I had an IV for most of the time so staying hydrated was a non issue. This also made drugs easier to administer, anticoagulant, antibiotics, and my favorite, Fentanyl (only two days post op) for the pain. I have to say if anything else bad was lurking around inside my body, it was dealt with. Didn’t have to worry about meals, three squares a day, but it was all Korean food, kimchi, rice, veg with soup. Had 24 hour nurse care if needed. I didn’t really require much attention and they were always popping in to take blood, check blood pressure anyways. In retrospect, since I live by myself, hanging out in the hospital for a stay wasn’t so bad of a situation.
    On to the bad, one of the side effects of the pain killer is that it stops up the digestive track. To put it mildly, I was full of it, enough said. After five days, six if you count admission and pre-op, of Korean food, I never wanted a pizza so bad. Six days in any hospital is enough to tax anybody, I was beyond ready to checkout.
    A few other comments. Korean

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  • davidk | September 12th, 2014 | 3:18 pm

    Wow!–5 DAYS in the hospital for ATR surgery? In the U.S., you’re in and out same day–I was in and out in 5 HOURS! Nonetheless, it sounds as if you’re on a fast, modern recovery protocol, so that’s good. Also, FYI, they do make re-usable shower bags to cover leg casts–they have a flexible, but secure rubber ring at the top of the bag–and they work quite well (about $20 USD). -David