I'M WALKING!

I'm sorry that I've neglected this blog in recent weeks.

It's because I'VE BEEN WALKING!

So I went to the doc a week and a half ago, and he checked over my feet and ankles real well and then had me stand up (barefooted!).

He looked up and said "Well, this is the first time I've ever seen you standing. Congratulations!"

All good, so he okays me moving from the Darth boot into a standard hiking boot on my left foot ("Since you work at REI, I know you have hiking boots, right?" well yeah, maybe a pair or two...). The right foot stays in the Darth boot, but I can begin putting weight on it. I'll need to leave the knee scooter behind and start using crutches.

My doc's assistant walks in and says "Huh, you're taller than I thought you were.." Again, first time she'd seen me standing up.

So I went to PT the next day, and took sneakers along with me so that I could ride the recumbent bike more easily. After ten minutes on the bike, I walked over to the hip sled/leg press.

Walked.

In my sneakers.

Yikes!

My physical therapist looked and me and asked "WHAT are you doing?"

Um, walking?

"Are you supposed to be doing that yet?"

Um, probably not...

"Does it hurt?"

Nope.

"Well, you've got two choices. You can lose the boot, and use crutches. Or you can keep using the boot, and not bother with crutches."

This is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. No crutches for me!

I okayed this with the doc by phone and so now I'm up and about!

I can't walk quickly. And mom says it always looks like it hurts when I walk, but that's just because I have to take awkward steps with the Darth boot.

Like before, the biggest problem is one of blood flow. After a day at work, even when I try to keep my foot up as much as possible, I come home with a sore and swollen ankle. But its not going to get better unless I use it. And I'm so glad to be walking, I'm happy to put up with sore and swollen!

The Knee Scooter

So the first knee scooter I got was quite well made, and brand new, but not really that well designed. The front wheels were essentially on casters, which made it very easy to turn around in tight areas like an office. Unfortunately, these same casters made it turn downhill whenever I rolled across something that was the least bit sloped.

Like a sidewalk.

You know how sidewalks are canted just a bit to cause rain water to run off? Well, pushing down a sidewalk always ended with a drift to one side - into the curb or grass or parking lot or whatever was next to the sidewalk.

In general, I'd have to say that drifting towards a parking lot is not good.

The casters also meant that turning required me to reach out with my left leg to pull or push me in the direction I wanted to go. Since my left leg is still healing and in a boot, this was not exactly optimal.

And so I search and searched for one that actually steered. (This is what several friends had recommended to begin with, but the medical supply company I'd been getting everything from didn't have any.) I couldn't locate any in the greater Tacoma area. None. The one company that stocked them, but had them all rented out, is actually based in Bellevue, and they had some in their Bellevue location. So off I went.

I ended up convincing them to give me the one really cool one they had available. They actually had to drive it out from the warehouse for me. Totally worth it!

Day 59: Cast Free!

Visit to the doc today and now I'm cast free! I'm now allowed to fully weight my left ankle and to start physical therapy on my right ankle. Yippee!

My doc also said that the knot at the top of my left Achilles wasn't serious. I had probably strained my muscle or tendon when I fell, but hadn't done any significant damage. Also yippee!

Since I can weight my left ankle, I can now get rid of the wheel chair and move to a knee scooter. Fun fun!

More soon...