Cast off, Boot on
Posted by terencemc on March 6, 2014
Had my first post-op appointment a few days ago and it was pretty great getting the cast cut off. It was my first look at the incision site and it was also the day to get the stitches out.
The cut looks pretty well healed. It was funny though because it literally looked like a 6 inch zipper on my leg. But, the stitches didn’t pull at all in my 2 weeks post op and everything seems good. I shared with the doctor my pain experiences from the previous two weeks and was comforted to know that everything i went through was normal and not an indicator of anything else being wrong.
I also decided to bite the bullet and buy the VacoCast. The medical team was pretty interested to see that as they had never heard of it. I have to say it’s a lot lighter than the AirCast and has the added benefit of not smelling awful after removing each day. I don’t start PT until Wednesday next week, so I am still NWB until then. At that point, I’ll better evaluate whether the ROM features are truly great. Just not at that stage yet.
As I shower now with a bare leg, I am pretty shocked to see just how far gone the calf AND the quad muscles have become. I expected the calf, but the quad was a surprise. It made me realize just how far I have to go in PT. I’m also painfully aware of how weak my upper body is as I am pretty worn out after a few minutes on the crutches (stairs crush me).
On the plus side, I’m on my second day without any meds. I have some discomfort yesterday after being out for a couple of hours. But, I’m really anxious to start my exercises and get myself closer to losing these crutches!
March 6th, 2014 at 2:10 pm
All sounds positive. Surprised the Vaco is significantly lighter than the AirCast - good for them!
March 7th, 2014 at 12:58 am
What were you worried about when you asked the doctor? I’m having muscle spasms & I guess that’s normal, but it sure hurts! Did you have that problem at all? He wrote me a prescription for a muscle relaxant & I’m trying to decide if that’s overkill or not.
March 7th, 2014 at 1:21 am
It’d be nice if your “normal” pain experience resembled something they’d warned you about beforehand. . .
March 7th, 2014 at 12:35 pm
I was worried because of the variety of the pain. sharp pain in the heel bottom, burning on the top of the foot, muscle spasms, ankle soreness, etc. It just seemed to be everywhere and unpredictable in combination. It’s just a crappy injury overall, and lots of things are typical in the pain department. Yeh, Norm, my doctor admitted as much that they minimize the pain that’ll accompany the recovery. Just hope it’s short term pain, long term gain.