Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Uncategorized 4 Comments »Planes:
Yep, I’ve been to the physio Mon 12th. He checked my foot strength on all planes, down, up side to side then we discussed a regime of stretching prior to strengthening in a few weeks.
Each one of the following sets of exercise once a day, 3 to 5 times holding the position for 30 seconds and only one set of 3-5 per hour…so all in all five hours of something! (Please don’t follow these…see your own physio! That’s me legal disclaimer!!!)
1. Stretching involves standing both feet together two feet away from, and facing the wall. With the legs straight push the hips toward the wall.
2. Same again but instead of the hips, push the knees toward the wall.
3. With a belt looped around the ball of the foot, pull towards my torso while holding my foot steady (I suppose this does a bit of strength)
4. cross my dodgy leg over my good one, grab the foot and twist it so the sole is as far upward facing as possible
5. Same as above but pushing the top of the foot back down to the equine position as far as I can.
So all’s good (touch wood). I get a bit of swelling as the day wears on but keep my foot elevated as much as poss.
Trains…I’m off these now and back into:
Automobiles:
Yep back into my car, or should I say a hire car as mine was written off two weeks ago (I was a passenger) in a three car shunt…we were in the middle and got pushed into a flatbed truck! Hmm that’s the 2nd unlucky thing, perhaps I’m wasting my money at the moment doing the lottery?
Anyway the car driving is fine, I had to drive to the midlands Wednesday and all went well….I hang back plenty more yards so I’d have much longer if there was any emergency stops and tend to lift my foot and use the middle a bit more to limit the pressure of leverage to the front of my foot on the brake but the accelerator is no probs. Freedom! er well with crutches in the back for anything more than short distances.
I’m quite enjoying walking my foot right through it’s proper movement and keeping it straight with partial weight using my crutches.
The main thing is that based on everybody’s recommendations on this site I am still taking it plenty easy…paranoia is still the order of the day and I definitely try to listen to what my achilles is telling me.
Scarborough NHS Trust, ATR 8th August 09 on Scarborough North Beach.
Hi All, we were having a BBQ for Scarborough Ladies football team (I cooked the burgers while they played footy on the beach), I played volleyball then rounders, plenty of excercise then twang I thought I’d hit myself on the back of the ankle with the rounders bat!
I limped around for 6 days prior to presenting myself to my GP. By then I had swelling all round the ankle and foot and bruising either side of the ankle running along the bottom of the foot to the toes.
By this time I had read lots of the ‘google doc’ stuff on the net and was convinced of either ATR or calf strain…Thompson test can be used for both.
Anyway my GP was more concerned with the swelling and thought I’d sprained my ankle even though I told her I had no pain except when I plantarflexed the foot…I gave her all the handy hints but she never picked up on them and she told me to come back Monday if all was still the same (I had a feeling it would be after 6 days already!)
Rang Monday for a doc appointment…4pm, I decided to present myself to A&E.
Scarborough hospital A&E was great, Thompson test, ATR diagnosed, ‘you’ll be in for an op tomorrow’. Went home with a half pot on the back of my ankle, never ate after 8pm just in case.
Tuesday 18th, got pot off, saw consultant, he did Thompson test and decided I should have ultrasound prior to him operating on Thurs or Friday. Lots of emergencies that day so Ultrasound sent me home and asked me to return 4.30pm.
Re-presented myself, got scan full rupture 5cm above heel. They told me to go home and I would get a call re the next stage. I asked if they needed to re-pot as I wasn’t in for a couple of days…..the consultant was busy carving folks, it was late in the day so nobody could be found who would make a decision. They took me back to A&E to find a ‘potter’.
The lady at A&E said they would have to re-admit me (2-4 hours waiting) and suggested I go home and drop back the next morning & ask for her and she would take me straight to the ‘potter’.
On presenting myself Wed morning the lady on reception insisted on processing me in the usual way…half an hour later I saw the triage nurse and repeated my instructions from the previous evening. She found the relevent nurse and I was taken to the fracture clinic waiting area where she told me there was a change of plan and that I would be seen soon.
Half an hour later I was in with a different consultant (Scottish) to last time, not sure if he’d seen my ultrasound, but he described that two courses were available…op or conservative and pros and cons of each. He also mentioned that 1-5% reoccurence with op and 5-10% reoccurence with conservative, and asked me if I played squash or did lots of excercise, I told him a bit of badminton and cycling and gym (I’m not a fitness fan but try to keep up with a bit of a regime). He told me that I’d answered the question and that I should be potted, 3×4 weeks of foot at different angles.
Went home with pot on foot equinus but niggling doubt about the complete rupture and that I hadn’t reinforced the fact that I was walking around for 8 days prior to treatment to consultant number 2.
Next day got on blower to consultant secretary to tell her my worries, she told me that it was the consultant’s last day (!) and that she would add it to my notes that she was typing up and that I would hear from them in due course.
In the mean time I kept my leg up all but one day, I stuffed a piece of cushioning material to stop the top of my big toe rubbing on the pot as it was driving me mental, all else was well.
I received a letter stating come to see us on 3rd Sep, then the next day I got one stating change of plan, come to see us Tues 25th Aug at 9.43am.
On presenting myself I was called into the potting shed, my old pot (fibreglass) cut off and foot put into light semi-equinus as I could feel it pulling and a bit of pain…then re-pot. I mentioned to the chappy that I had only had my previous pot on 6 days, he said he’d noticed that in my notes and when another(different) consultant dropped into the room they discussed and the consultant highlighted that it was a bit early and that with the light equinus re-pot I would not be called for a change for 4 weeks.
Currently I feel it has been a bit of a ball ache because of the disjointed approach, but feel that the attention has been good, and I’m fairly certain that the tendon is heeling otherwise the potter would have been able to push my foot back to the natural position that I had staggered around on for 8 days…and the pain told me that the foot was certainly not going to go anywhere near that position!
Sorry it’s long but this is my tale so far
Hi again, just to add:
I do have BUPA (private medical insurance, for USA folks that may read this) with work but haven’t bothered with it yet….might do if I need extra physio but am more than happy with the current situation. I can’t imagine what they would have done better except the timing on the ultrasound I suppose….plus I have had the attention of three consultants not one, so I feel that I’ve had a team approach to my treatment. I definitely feel that the potting chap who was on loan from Stoke Mandeville hospital was attentive to my concerns, so a thanks to him.