Don’t get me wrong; it ’s not that I don’t want my PT–it’s just that it’s hard to deliberately make yourself feel worse, just because you have faith in the concept that it will make you feel better. I have noted that in general I wake up and feel relatively strong, walkable, I get [...]
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Seven weeks post-op., and my first PT visit. I’m not exactly apprehensive, nor anxious–but I’m sort of pacing in anticipation. I’m hoping for a next step (as it were). Am I doing OK? Can I just proceed? I’ve been practicing walking barefoot on both feet. I’ve even tried to balance on my bad leg–since [...]
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I was wrong. While in parts of the Holmes canon all it says is Watson’s injury is caused by a bullet thru his leg, in The Sign of Four Holmes is referring to a chase he and Watson are having and refers to it as a “six-mile limp for a half-pay officer with a damaged [...]
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We saw the new Sherlock Holmes today. In this version, Jude Law plays Dr. Watson–superlatively. He manages to always walk with a limp, just as the original Watson did–even when he (Jude) is beating up the bad guys. As we all know, Watson was injured in his leg (well, originally his shoulder but the [...]
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Filed under: PWB
So–if I am authorized to walk around the house (but not out in the icy uneven surfaces of nature) in two shoes, but with a wedge, am I now in the 2 shoe category? Am I Full Weight Bearing? My own inclination is to wait for these two milestones until a week from now–when [...]
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Filed under: NWB, PWB
So, today I see the orthopod. It’s day um 44? since my operation. I’ve been practicing walking barefoot since Monday. But the doc doesn’t even ask me to stand up barefoot!?*! He does like the way it looks, mostly. But he seems unhappy with a scab on the incision line near my heel. [...]
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When we returned from “vac”, which is more work than leisure, I began to feel better, as noted previously. Then there was a marked improvement in the last few days. I read a bunch of posts, all of which were about various (unnamed) people who were surreptitiously walking around in their bare feet [...]
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Filed under: PWB, boot
I hope this is my last catch-up post. I’m on day 28 with my boot, which I hope to get off tomorrow and start rehab. But there is a significant stage I experienced during the last couple of weeks I wanted to document.
After Christmas, we (that is, she) drove back home the 10 hours from [...]
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Freedom is a relative thing. The boot is heavy, awkward, and gimpy-looking and -feeling. But not being on crutches is wonderful! I took them with me going around the house for a day or two, but they have been resting by my bed since the 2nd or 3rd day I got the boot. [...]
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Filed under: PWB, boot
Back to the orthopod the next Friday. Unwrapped again. They start pulling out stitches. ”Oh, this looks good”, they say. It’s hideous, but whatever. Then they cover it back up with Steri-strips.
“Do you have a sock?” No; I thought about bringing one but didn’t. They give me a compression stocking without toes. [...]
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Filed under: PWB, appointments, boot
I was surprised, too, by how tired PT makes you (and ever since the surgery it seems like I’m tired as soon as I get out of bed, so it’s tired on top of tired.) I have had minimal swelling, and mt PT wondered if it was because I am addicted to the air in my boot- I really really pump that baby full of air whenever I am wearing it. So maybe it makes a kind of super compression sock. Also, some nights after PT I sleep with my leg elevated just a little bit. HTH
Hi Timothy,
When my Tubigrips (sort of tubular compression socks) weren’t keeping the swelling under control, I would use a four inch wide ace wrap, wrapped from the base of my toes up to just under my knee. The trick is to get the tension right. That takes a little practice. Getting it as tight as I could without it getting uncomfortable was what worked for me. My leg always felt much better with the swelling squeezed out like that.
I also put a little homemade “pillow” under the wrap, positioned so it would push the swelling out of those little hollows between the tendon and the ankle bones. Later, I found a sponge of the right size and recoil that worked better than the little pillow I had made.
A little tip I found useful involved those little metal pieces that secure the end of the wrap. I used a tube of stretchy material, like the cut off top of a sock, to put over those metal pieces, so they wouldn’t keep falling off and getting lost.
Good luck,
Doug
Hmm. I’ve had 3 PT appointments so far (today is exactly 8 weeks since my surgery) and I haven’t tried to go up on my toes yet. In fact, my boot stays on for most of what I do in PT-
That’s great you can go to Hawaii. My doctor is a “no wedge” guy and I seem to be coming along OK. I’m still in a boot, but never had any wedges. So tell your doc you hate the wedge and he might say fine, don’t use them. So now I have 2 things I want to do- walk in 2 shoes and go to Hawaii!
Of course! I knew this, I just forgot about it. When I used to go to the gym it wasn’t to build muscle or repair tissue–but now it is. Work the leg hard–rest–work the leg hard (but not TOO hard)–rest…… Thanks to both of you
HI,
I have a tendency to do the same but I was talking to a friend last night (physio student/physio assistant) and she was trying to stress to me the importance of progression. She used this example…
‘if your training for a big game and you have to do 3 training sessions a week, you wouldn’t do them all on the same day and rest for seven days’
Which helped me to understand doing so much so you revert back to HAVING to rest the next day is not the best way to build strength and recover. A little everyday is the best way to progress.
Em
Hi Timothy,
For what it’s worth, I always figured that having days of more exercise alternating with days of some soreness and fatigue was just part of the rhythm of recovery. That’s the tradition with lifting weights, pushing hard one day and resting the next. I followed the same pattern while getting my calf stronger, and it worked out well for me.
Best wishes,
Doug
I’m on Day 19 of having the boot and putting weight on it. The first week I was too chicken to even PWB on it! And now I’m a free-range chicken with my boot, I walk all over the place. Isn’t it lovely just to be able to carry things? I agree- the freedom of the boot is so exhilarating that it’s easy to over-do. I bring one crutch to work with me, so that when I feel that familiar awful ache in the heel (after 4 to 6 hours) I use the crutch on the opposite side to give me a little relief. I’m sure I look kind of silly in the morning, carrying a crutch 
I love this blog post, it could have been me writing that.
I think it is excellent you see your limitations, isn’t it interesting how the mind doesn’t talk to the foot much?
Take care!
ha ha, vacuuming was one thing I also did that I really should not have done when I was NWB. My family is lovely, but apparently they are unable to see the huge drifts of dog hair that pile up in the corners. And I also relate to your comment about crutches and canes— they must have some type of magnet embedded in them that causes them to crash to the floor, no matter how securely you think you left them leaning. Happy healing in 2010!
Welcome to the “club,” that is if you want to be welcomed to this particular club. I’m very surprised you were initially given a walker. I was about a month short of 65 when I had my ATR and they gave me crutches without any discussion of possible alternatives. Is your surgeon a believer in the slow multiple cast routine or is a progressive thinker?
