Sunday 3rd August 2008
I dont know if anyone else feels like this but iam really lacking confidence to try and put more weight on my foot.
Orthotics told me to put 10 kgs for the first coupla of day then increase by 10 kgs each time until i am fully weight bearing, but i cant seem to stop thinking that i am gonna re tear - is this normal or do i need to speak to someone. the Specialist told me that i could FWB when i was ready.
I am just sick of using crutches at the moment. Am i being impatient?
Hi sjp - I’m 5 weeks 2 days. i’m struggling with the same thing. I have done one crutch
for about 30 steps the last two days. Right now I think its mainly mental. My goal is
to keep practicing more and more and in two weeks be walking in my boot. Done with crutches
except if I have to go out to events.
I TOTALLY get what you are saying. I’m not forcing anything but if I don’t push a bit, then
I’ll be here forever, and that is a worse option.
Patience and slow. Thats the message I keep getting on this site.
Comment by kkdub — August 3, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
I think the fear of PWB is really normal. Who wants a rerun of all this fun?
My doctor cleared me for PWB at day 19! I thought he was nuts at the time. I was in a cast with a strange little shoe so I could pretend to walk. By day 26 I was taking a few steps without crutches, still in the cast.
I trusted that the cast (or boot) would protect the kind of movement that will cause a rerupture. However, Daveleft and someone else on the blog did have a mishap while booted, but those events involved a curb and a door.
It felt very weird/bad when I started PWB - I thought, this can’t be right. But keep trying it. That tingly feeling starts to go away.
So, I started PWB/FWB early, and it worked out well for me. I am at 13 weeks + and walking almost normally. I took crutches for longer distances because FWB was so SLOW….and the crutches were my mental crutch too! I was EXTREMELY careful (still am) of all curbs, stairs, and grassy areas. I don’t talk to anyone while going up or down stairs (learning from chiptipn).
There is no rush to get better on this, it is 6 month process - at least. So a few weeks here and there don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Just do what feels comfortable, try to do what your doctor advises, and try to not be frustrated if you are not mentally ready. It is amazing how much better your foot will feel from week to week in the first 10 weeks.
Good luck and — as Damacar advised — baby steps!
Comment by tennisjunkie — August 3, 2008 @ 10:10 pm
Hi SJP, you are definitely not alone in the way you feel. An ATR is a big event and its right to have the conflicting feelings of impatience to recover and get back into life and instictive caution to never risk such an event again.
When you feel you are going to tear - is this due to feeling in your leg or is it just a worry on your part? If the former discuss it with the medics and if the latter a slow but steady frequent practice will get you over the mental block.
To see what 10kg feels like you could stand your bad leg on some floor scales and then put weight on it upto 10kg; then you at least know what feeling to aim for.
Even if you dont put a full 10kg on the leg, it helps reduce the mental block if you put the leg down as often as possible and increase to 10kg with each try. Practice makes perfect.
Slow, gradual, steady progress seems to be how it goes. You know your body, any concerns talk to the medics and dont practice to exhaustion.
Stay within your given limits, do a little practice frequently to get there and you will be walking before you know it.
Comment by jacksprat — August 3, 2008 @ 10:19 pm