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...

Day 57: After a week of work

So I've finished a week of physical therapy, and a week back at work. Physical therapy has been okay so far. Since I can't put any weight on my ankle, it's mostly been stretching and core exercises (working glutes, quads, hip flexors, abs, etc.) so that I'll have the strength to walk once I reach that point.

I, of course, have home exercises to do, and I've been doing about twice as many as suggested. Any lack of recovery won't be from lack of trying on my part!

The only item of concern so far is that my Achilles has been extremely swollen (two to three times as wide as normal). My physio was able to get some of the swelling down with ultrasound and massage, and that allowed us to see and feel a knot right at the junction of my calf muscles and my Achilles. Looks like I must have injured it at some point. I just hope it isn't injured too badly!

Day 51: Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go...

Off to work tomorrow. I'll be working 5 hours shifts for the next couple weeks. And obviously I'll have to keep my right foot elevated all day every day. But finally back to work!

Day 46 - One Cast Down, or Out of the Cast and Into the Boot

So I had an appointment with my doc yesterday, and my left ankle is now out of a cast! Instead, it's all immobilized in this big black boot/splint. It's still not supposed to be weight bearing, but least now I can wash my leg and stretch my ankle. I will hopefully start physical therapy this week.

My right ankle is in a new RED cast (Go State!) and will be for another two weeks.

I didn't have new x-rays taken, but my doc pushed and poked and prodded my ankles pretty thoroughly and we didn't find any pain. This apparently indicates that the bones are healing well.

I expect my left ankle will remain in the boot for two to four weeks, and then move to a splint. My right ankle will remain in its cast for another two weeks and then be put into a boot where it will remain for two to four weeks.

Blood flow out of my right ankle remains an issue. Every time I hobble around on my walker, I look down to see purple toes. But it's improving, and I hope to be returning to work before too long.





The new boot is this heavy plastic footbed, with aluminum stays up the side, and a big neoprene wrap and six straps to keep my foot and ankle in place. I was trying to describe it to somebody and said: "it's sorta like Darth Vader meets neoprene." Now I'm jokingly referring to it as my "Darth boot". (You'll notice that I put in an orange Superfeet footbed, which looks a little silly but makes the boot much more comfortable.)

Day 35 - Same ol', same ol'

Nothing new to report. Still concentrating on keeping my foot up. Blood flow out of my ankle is improving, but only little by little. Still a long way to go.

My dad left on Thursday. He's returned home to take care of things there for a couple weeks, and will be coming back out later in September. My mom, ever the trooper, is still here. Don't know what I would do without them!

X-rays after second surgery

Finally able to upload the x-rays after my second surgery. I think the only new hardware is the long screw that is connecting by tibia and fibula. With some luck, this will be removed in about 12 weeks, once my ankle stabilizes.