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
Dec 4: on the day of my diagnosis, the doc said “set up an appt for 10-14 days from now”. So his office set it up for the 4th, 10 days after surgery. On the day of the surgery, the nurse said that he said “set up an appt for 14-15 days from now”. [...]
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Filed under: NWB, appointments
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?
