TWO SHOES - Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking . . .
I cant believe that it has taken me 3 weeks to log back on here and post this, to my fellow bloggers and readers I am sorry. Seems that once the boot is off and I’m in two shoes, life takes over again, especially once the freedom to drive is restored.
I went to the Dr. 3 weeks ago (10 weeks post op to the day) and he took me out of the boot and put me in two shoes and like a mother bird threw me out of the nest to fly. What he actually said/yelled was “WALK WITHOUT A LIMP” and then he turned to my wife and told her to smack me when she saw me limping. Real nice, right! 
So there I was, bootless, crutch-less and in a pair of 10 year old sneakers shuffling around praying that I could get to my PT appointment have them really work on me so I don’t get black and blue from being smacked around by my wife.
Fast forward to today. I gauge my recovery not on how I feel at the end of the day but how I walk when I wake up in the morning. If I can get out of bed and within 3 or 4 steps not limp and not feel any ankle pain (more on that later) then I know I’m doing well.
ANKLE PAIN:
Prior to my injury I had bad ankles, so it goes to reason I would still have them post-op which I do. Being in a splint/cast/boot for 10 weeks didn’t help my ankle either and now I find that my discomfort is not in my Achilles, which my PT says is progressing well, but in the ankle. Now I have to stretch the ligaments in my ankle around the top to allow me greater dorsiflexion.
HEEL LIFTS:
Started those at home last week and my PT has told me to continue to do them with both feet but to shift my weight over my right foot to strengthen my calf muscles. I anticipate going to one foot heel lifts within a week.
WEDGE:
My Therapist gave me one of these to stretch. It’s just a wooden wedge that you put against the wall and step on to stretch out your Achilles. I think of it as a torture device but I know the more I use it the better I will feel. I have it in my office right now so that every 90 minutes I get up and walk around and stretch.
Hope all is going well with everyone else and I promise to be online a little more now that I seem to have caught up on 10 weeks of captivity in 3 weeks time.
The first few steps in the morning are a good gauge of “did I do too much? “. I wish I could blame all my morning aches on the achilles. Did you ask your PT to help you with your ankle strength/ discomfort?
Careful what you wish for, BD! For many of us, developing aches & pains & stiffness that is NOT from the ATR is a welcome milestone!
Actually my PT does adjust my ankle and help with the stretches and I feel so much better every time I go. I don’t have pain, its just stiffness and my gauge is how many steps can I take to get rid of the stiffness and end the limp each morning.
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