I had my 14th physical therapy session yesterday and in addition to upping the weight on the leg press and calf raises, my therapist added a few more dorsiflexion stretching exercises. One is a standing exercise in front of a wall 
In another I alternate standing on one foot and bouncing the other foot off a miniature trampoline propped up at a 45 degree angle. A third exercise has me stepping on to and over some steps. My therapist did say that he was going to request more sessions for me beyond the 4 that the insurance company recently approved.
The big news is: (drum roll) I have been cleared to walk up and down stairs at home in 2 shoes, although I have to do them 1 step at a time. So when I got home yesterday. I took off my boot, put on my other shoes and proceeded to walk around while carrying stuff up and down stairs. It scared the hell out of me. LOL It was a little different from my previous walking on a flat surface doing nothing but concentrating on my walk.
In addition, I can no longer keep my 1-1/2 year-old German shepherd, Flair, at a safe distance. I believe she is powered by a nuclear generator and has only 2 speeds, zero and 1,000 MPH and she is rarely at zero. Plus being a herding dog, if she detects from me just one twitch of a muscle, she thinks it is a call that I need to be herded outside so we can play. And if that’s not bad enough, just to make things more challenging for me, she likes to place ISD’s (Improvised Slipping Devices), such as a bone on a tile floor, in my path.
I can see this walking thing is gonna take some time to get used to.
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June 2nd, 2012 at 10:13 am - Edit
Great post & congratulations on the stairs …. I can’t imagine being at that level right now (1 week post op) … I can def hear you about being scared on the stairs … I feel same way on crutches now & Im sure Ill feel the same when I first attempt on my own … keep up the good work … Good luck
Mark
June 28th, 2012 at 3:34 pm - Edit
Cynthia,
My initial concern about stairs was fueled by a friend of mine from a German shepherd training club I belong to. He also had an ATR and one of his furry little angels bumped into him knocking him down the stairs. So he wound up with a broken collar bone in addition to his ATR. Fortunately it did not effect his ATR recovery. This injury leaves us vulnerable to even more injury. Situational awareness is so critical in our recovery as well as bravery.