“The Need to Dance” by The Jerky Boys
Well I am at 3 weeks post op and am following a mixture of the Exeter accelerated rehab programme and a protocol from the University Hospital Lausanne Switzerland that the orthotist gave me. The latter protocol is for non op ATR rehab but seems fairly similar to the UWO protocol just using the Vacoped pro achilles boot.
I am PWBing well and have even taken some steps with my left crutch off the ground so certainly making my way towards FWB. I just allow my foot to rock over in the rocker sole which I have to use till my PF is at zero, probably at about 2 weeks from now. The pins and needles in the ball of my foot and my heel are not much fun and I see that this is a fairly common thing. Also occasionally feel that there are ants biting at the incision site, gentle rubbing of the area seems to make it feel better.
The inside of my ankle is a lot less sore since I started PWB and the swelling on the outside is also improving. The outside of my foot still looks very flat and can’t really wiggle my baby toe. Am getting fairly good at doing the alphabet, practice 4 or 5 times a day and also gently (thanks Ron) hinge my ankle after each alphabet. Am really eager to start walking in a pool with my Vacoped on problem is that I have no way to get to the pool, blah, so wish that I had an automatic car. My financial advisor doesn’t think that my ATR is a good reason to buy a new car, ha ha ha.
Gentle healing to all of you.
Don’t Stop! And don’t stop working to control the swelling, either. Swelling alone can cause stiffness and that “congested” feeling and ROM restrictions, all by itself — as I discovered several months after my second ATR, on the OTHER leg!