Back to the Doc.

So, things had been progressing just fine. I was out of PT and had even gotten backpacking a couple times. I was in the gym late-winter/early-spring, getting in shape for climbing and hiking season... and then my ankle starting giving me more and more problems. Mostly nothing big, just soreness, but occasionally there were days when it was painful enough that it was hard to walk.

So I got myself back into PT, and kept at it. A couple winter backpacking trips on snowshoes (very tame, nothing extreme) aggravated my ankle, so I laid off a bit, but kept stretching and strength training. Still no progress.

Eventually, I got myself back to the Doc, only to learn that I basically have no cartilage left in my main ankle joint, between the talus and heads of the tib/fib. Fusing my ankle is somewhere in my future, and I'm not real pleased about it.

For now, I'm gritting my teeth, taking some ibu, and carrying on. Once the pain gets bad enough, though, I'll be in for more surgery. And then recovery all over again. Have I mentioned that I'm not real pleased about it?

Just had an MRI on Friday, to determine just how much cartilage is left and whether or not I'm doing any damage to the peroneal tendons which (as I understand it) run through a small notch between the talus and the head of the fibula.

More soon.

No posts of late...

So once I started walking, and now that I'm back to work, I'm afraid that I've stopped updating this site. Things are progressing: I'm still in PT a couple times a week and my ankle still gets swollen pretty quickly if I don't keep it elevated (walking long distances or working on my feet for long periods of time is not happy), but I'm walking - and mostly without a limp!

My parents were total heroes. My mom ended up spending five (count 'em, five!) months out here, and my dad was out pretty frequently. And we didn't even kill each other.

I'm not sure how much more I'll post here. Thanks for reading!

These boots are made for walkin'...

As usual, I've been remiss in updating this blog. For a little over two weeks, I've been walking around in my mountaineering boots, not using my big Darth boot at all!



Today I went in for a minor surgery to remove the syndesmotic screw, the large screw that connected the lower ends of my tibia and fibula together. If you like the big words (fun!), the screw had been put in place to stabilize the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis - the tough fibrous connection that holds the distal ends of the tibia and fibula together.

We had hoped, one, that the screw would come out easily and in one piece and, two, that we wouldn't have to replace it with any other hardware. Neither of these quite worked out. The screw had broken about 3/8 inch from one end and so needed to be pulled out from both sides, meaning small incisions had to be made on both sides of my ankle. In addition, my surgeon decided to replace the screw with a "tightrope" system that holds my fibula in place against (basically) my tibia, but allows the two to move in relation to one another.

Some more info can be found online about Ankle Tighrope Syndesmosis Fixation. I'm not sure if that link describes the exact system used by my doc, but it makes the whole thing pretty clear and will certainly give you a better idea of what was done than I could accomplish here. Of particular interest, check the Rationale and Surgical Technique tabs on the left side.

All in all, I feel okay now, several hours after surgery. Of course, I'm on some pretty good pain drugs which always helps! I was able, though, to hobble in from the car without much trouble. I am, however, and despite the title of this post, back in my Darth boot for the rest of this week. Ugh.

All for now, I'm off to nap. G'nite!

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!