Well Done You
25/11/2010
These where the words of my surgeon when he looked at my AT .
Great words and it brought a smile to my face .
Its been a long road to get to this point in my recovery
(knowing full well it will take a long time to get back to”normal”) ,
The first 6weeks in my case where the worst in the cast !!!!
The last 6 weeks have flown in , especially the last 3 ,since I started to be able to move without crutches . Still not back to work yet but have a lot of ROM in my ankle now and the AT itself doent hurt most times of the day . Buts its always there . Still havent got to the point where I dont think about it for longer than a few mins .
Just as a side note, the surgeon said that I should we swimming everyday if possible .
So now i have my next visit to my PT on Friday ,when he said he will step uo my rehab and push me a bit more ……..sonds scary but i have to trust him and when Im doing it, my body . Dont want to go too far too fast .
Off to get on my trampette now and do some bouncing !!!
Take care all .
Will fill in what extra exercises I get at Fridays visit .
PHIL
November 25th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Brilliant Phil, well done. Keep up the good work I’m so pleased for you.
November 25th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Well done you! What great words to hear. So pleased you’re making progress, I’ve found that I’ve come on leaps and bounds in the past couple of weeks and you seem to be as well.
I’ve been swimming three times this week, and each time my AT feels looser and more flexible. I’ve also been holding to the side with my back to the wall at the deep end and bicycling for about five minutes - that really helps.
November 25th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Nice work!
I’ve been swimming too, every second day.
Actually, i’ve been walking and doing exercises in the pool (lunges, calf raises etc in the shallow bit) and kicking with a flutter board and aqua jogging in the main pool. Both great for building up leg muscle. I do 1km in total which takes about 40minutes and building up as I reduce my walking in the pool time.
November 25th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
bronny & Teresa1,
I’m interested in the pool exercises, I am 6 weeks post op and have 2 weeks left in a cast.
What stage post op did you guys start with the pool excercises?
And have you done much physio?
My Doc was very adament today that AT excercises and stretches are much more important that the physio after my cast comes off.
November 25th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Great news, Phil. Do what your physio says UNLESS it doesn’t sound right. They’re just as human as the rest of us, and you don’t want to follow them blindly on a bad day!
peadarh, if you go in the pool casted, with a waterproof cast protector, and keep your foot floating (not on the bottom), it’s just exercise for the rest of your body, including the rest of that leg. Once you get out of the @$#%& cast — or now, if you were in a boot you could take off — you could do gentle walking-type exercises in deep water. Because chest-high water supports the vast majority of your body weight, you can do the equivalent of the gentle Theraband exercises that my fave protocol had me doing at 6 weeks post-non-op, while I was also FWB in my boot. But instead of sitting in a chair with a Theraband around your bare foot, you’d be WALKING NORMALLY, except for the deep water that makes it possible.
Exercises and stretches are a big part of what PTs do, and prescribe, though they usually do more, too. It sounds like your Doc is continuing to do some of the jobs that are often taken over by (much lower-paid) PTs. Me, I always fall back to the approach taken by the study or studies that got the best results. Most of them used PT. That doesn’t prove that it’s vital, or even that it helped, but it does logically put the burden of proof on your Doc to show better results from doing things his way.
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November 26th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
went back to the PT today and having had a reading of 25, 18 , 11 my knee was only now 4cm from the wall . not back for 3 weeks .
Gvae me more excercices to do and not back to see him fro 3 weeks by which time he wants me to be able to go up on my toes(on one foot , the AT repaired one!!) and slowly comeback down 3 sets of 15 .
So over he next 3weeks excercise , stretches , trampette and pool work to build up to doing this.
Thanks for all the support as usual .
Cant wait to get into the pool monday morning ,
November 26th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Peadarh - leave others to discuss exercises as there some rally good descriptions already posted. But I will say that physio is the key to your rehab- physics are trained to assess you and prescribe appropriate exercises, monitor and evaluate your progress. They also use ultrasound and massage to improve your function as well as giving advice on the activities of daily living. It’s a shame your doctor is so dismissive as your recovery depends on a multidisciplinary approach.
You might like to set up your own blog as it is really helpful to share experiences.
November 28th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Thanks for this advice. I will be heeding it.
To be honest I’m learning more from this blog than from my overworked Doc working in the broken NHS of Ireland.
I’ll def write a blog this week to track my experience.
Writing about the post op blood clot that could of finished my days on this earth might help some one else avoid that painfull experience. At 36 years of age it shouldn’t have happened but it did.