Posted on September 16th, 2009 by mrbrown
Hello all.
Took my first crutch-free steps this morning after getting FWB permission from my surgeon yesterday. Although I only went a very awkward 8 feet, it was as satisfying as a long walk on the beach. It seemed like only last week that I thought this day would never arrive. Oh yeah, that was last week.
After seeing my surgeon, I began putting some weight on my injured leg while still using both crutches. I then moved on to, slowly and with the help of the wall, using only one crutch. After a few minutes of this I was able to get around with only the single crutch. What a good feeling to be able to carry something in your hand from one room to the next. I figured that was pretty good for the day and went to bed. Upon waking I threw on the boot and decided instead of grabbing the crutch and making a big deal( like I’m doing now) out of having to take that first FWB step, I would just try and baby step my way a few feet to the couch. I made it!!! HOLY SHIT I just walked for the first time in two months!!!
Since this morning I’ve been hobbling around the apartment and then went about 50 yards to the local cafe and back. So far, so good. I have discomfort pretty much everywhere except for my AT, which is sort of funny, but I’ll gladly deal with any of it as long as I feel secure putting weight down on my ankle.
So if all continues to go well, ten more days with heel support in the boot; then ten days in the boot without support; and then two shoes and PT. If in the meantime the DVT in my calf clears itself up that would be pretty cool too.
I hope this helps anyone in the early weeks of this ATR mess . Stay patient. Eventually those crutches will just be another thing taking up space in the closet.
Good Luck.
Gregg
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Posted on August 21st, 2009 by mrbrown
Hello everyone. Back on July 14th after a decent night of drinking while on vacation, I decided to shake off the hangover by playing tennis for the first time in 15 years. After about 20 minutes of just lobbying the ball back and forth–POP.
Had my surgery two weeks later. Opted for an orthopedic surgeon over the podiatrist I had originally seen based on a comparison of how many times they had performed the procedure. A few 100 times vs 3. It’s now three weeks post-op: 10 days in a splint, now in a FP aircast and hope to be partial weight bearing in another three weeks. The real pain lasted only a couple of days. I would definitely suggest taking the prescribed amount of painkillers. There is no point in being stingy with them. Had one major flop on the crutches so far(GO SLOW!!! SNEAKERS ONLY!!!) luckily without doing any damage.
So far, so good except prior to the surgery I had an ultrasound performed and they found a blood clot in a small vein in my calf which due to its connection to the main artery in my leg awarded it the diagnosis of a Deep Vein Thrombosis. My surgeon wasn’t too concerned but he put me on a self-injected blood-thinner called Lovenox. The whole self-injecting thing has been an interesting experience for my wife and I. Lets just say it’s sort of an unnatural thing to do. Within a few days though it just becomes one of those things thats just a daily( now twice daily) annoyance.
10 days after the surgery I returned to see my surgeon and get another ultrasound. The surgeon was happy. The radiologist was not. The blood clot is still there. He doubled the dosage of Lovenox. Usually I’m the type of guy who likes to remain blissfully ignorant of all things medical and previous to this whole ATR experience I didn’t know a thing about blood clots. Now I’ve got pulmonary embolism ringing in my head every time my leg gets a little twitch. Unfortunately all anyone seems to say about it is just take the blood-thinners and try not to think about it.
Maybe I’ll go for a run to try and take my mind off it.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Mr. Brown
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Posted on August 21st, 2009 by mrbrown
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