My leg doesn’t work right.

I’ve noticed a little more progress lately so I thought I’d update my blog. After 3-4 weeks of feeling stuck, I noticed last week that I was able to walk farther and do more calf exercises. I even managed my first single-leg calf raises, and now I can do those with enough confidence to add that exercise to my routine. I can’t do very many, and it’s not easy, but it’s getting better day-by-day.

I walked about 5 miles total on the day of the solar eclipse, spread out over 3 separate outings walking around Charleston. That was when I realized something must be getting better - a few weeks earlier that would have been difficult, if not impossible, due to stiffness and soreness in my ankle.

I’ll probably attempt some light jogging this week at the gym. Nothing major, just a test. I still get some odd feelings in my ankle and my knee that have me not wanting to rush things. My ankle gets sore, like bone on bone sore, in the front area (near the top of my foot). My knee gets little twinges and tweaks here and there, and I can only guess that my gait is still off-kilter somehow and that stresses the joint.

All in all, though, it’s nice to see progress - even if I’m only headed for another plateau.

Oh, one other random thing: I have a spot on my heel that’s numb about 90% of the time. I don’t know when that started (most likely when a surgeon sliced into my leg lol), but I finally realized that what I thought was an ill-fitting shoe was actually just a strange feeling at the heel of the shoe because of that numbness.

I guess I’m officially in the “Well, I don’t have much to say at the moment” phase, but I thought I’d post a quick update.

21 weeks since surgery, 22 since the injury, and as others have mentioned recently I think progress is best measured month-to-month at this point. I don’t see much difference if I look back a week…but if I go back 2-3 weeks I can see a lot of changes. The big one for me right now is that my calf raise exercises don’t hurt as much, which allows me to do more strengthening work without getting scared that something is wrong. I had some pain in my ankle tendons and the lowermost part of the Achilles that made me cautious; now, as the entire area gets stronger, it all feels better. I’m not quite to the point of a single leg calf raise, but it feels close. (I’m also not rushing that.)

I spent a week in Colorado and experienced my first extended period of time in an area with inclines/declines. I managed okay. Going down trails, especially with little rocks making it treacherous, was an adventure so I didn’t go crazy with the hiking. Mostly it felt good to walk around and feel my leg working. I still think about almost every step, and my ankle feels stiff and uncooperative more often than not, but there’s a lot more functionality there, if that makes sense.

That’s about it! A long road, and a long way to go. Good luck to everyone who’s in the early stages. Well, any stage, for that matter.