Regression - One Month + (28 Days) Post Op
One month? Wow! It has been quite some time. I honestly thought I'd be a bit further along by this point. What do I know?
Some significant changes on Wednesday. My progress, as stated previously, has been awfully slow. So I decided to call the doctor's office. I expected to get a call back saying just keep pressing forward; it hurts but you're on the right path. Instead, they said to slow down.
I was instructed to: a) go back to two crutches with partial weight bearing, b) ice, a lot, even at work, c) continue the stretches (flexion), d) take methylpredisolone (a steroid that I took prior to surgery to see if it would alleviate the problem), e) take diclofenac after the steroid was done (an anti-inflammatory, also taken prior to surgery), f) take it easy. All this in order to repair damage and reduce inflammation. I got the idea that the pain from efforts to walk crutchless should not be as bad as it is. I was a little surprised.
A bit of a setback, but I'm glad I checked. I didn't feel like I was pushing too hard, but perhaps I was. I was pretty anxious to ditch the crutches. We'll give this a go.
Everything felt pretty much the same Wednesday. On Thursday I started following doctor's orders. A co-worker told me about an icing machine that his son used post-surgery on his shoulder. It basically circulates cold water for a long period of time (better than constantly changing ice packs). Sounded great to me, and something different to perhaps help to a greater degree. I called around local pharmacies and medical supply places, but no luck. I had to go back to Amazon and I put myself deeper in debt to buy one with one-day shipping.
I took off Friday to kick start a more aggressive approach to recovery. The ice machine was to arrive by Friday at 8pm. Lo and behold it came at 11am! I had it hooked up and running right away:
It is working pretty well. I try to keep the machine higher than the leg so gravity helps the pump. It does keep the ankle cold. I kept setting alarms for every fifteen minutes and religiously iced.
Some things I figured out:
Ice is great, but melts after a few hours. I had read about using small water bottles (frozen) instead, and gave that a shot. It works better and they last longer.
Sometimes I apply the pad over a sock, sometimes over an Ace bandage, and sometimes direct. The manufacturer does not recommend direct application, but seemed okay to me?
By the end of the night it did feel better. Once in bed, I had a tough time. I tried to skip the hydrocodone nightly pill because I'm running low and fear I could have pain later on. I tried a Tylenol PM instead, and it didn't work out well. Tossed and turned, and the dog woke us both up at about 1:30am. Sigh.
However, I think this all will help.
Some significant changes on Wednesday. My progress, as stated previously, has been awfully slow. So I decided to call the doctor's office. I expected to get a call back saying just keep pressing forward; it hurts but you're on the right path. Instead, they said to slow down.
I was instructed to: a) go back to two crutches with partial weight bearing, b) ice, a lot, even at work, c) continue the stretches (flexion), d) take methylpredisolone (a steroid that I took prior to surgery to see if it would alleviate the problem), e) take diclofenac after the steroid was done (an anti-inflammatory, also taken prior to surgery), f) take it easy. All this in order to repair damage and reduce inflammation. I got the idea that the pain from efforts to walk crutchless should not be as bad as it is. I was a little surprised.
A bit of a setback, but I'm glad I checked. I didn't feel like I was pushing too hard, but perhaps I was. I was pretty anxious to ditch the crutches. We'll give this a go.
Everything felt pretty much the same Wednesday. On Thursday I started following doctor's orders. A co-worker told me about an icing machine that his son used post-surgery on his shoulder. It basically circulates cold water for a long period of time (better than constantly changing ice packs). Sounded great to me, and something different to perhaps help to a greater degree. I called around local pharmacies and medical supply places, but no luck. I had to go back to Amazon and I put myself deeper in debt to buy one with one-day shipping.
I took off Friday to kick start a more aggressive approach to recovery. The ice machine was to arrive by Friday at 8pm. Lo and behold it came at 11am! I had it hooked up and running right away:
It is working pretty well. I try to keep the machine higher than the leg so gravity helps the pump. It does keep the ankle cold. I kept setting alarms for every fifteen minutes and religiously iced.
Some things I figured out:
Ice is great, but melts after a few hours. I had read about using small water bottles (frozen) instead, and gave that a shot. It works better and they last longer.
Sometimes I apply the pad over a sock, sometimes over an Ace bandage, and sometimes direct. The manufacturer does not recommend direct application, but seemed okay to me?
By the end of the night it did feel better. Once in bed, I had a tough time. I tried to skip the hydrocodone nightly pill because I'm running low and fear I could have pain later on. I tried a Tylenol PM instead, and it didn't work out well. Tossed and turned, and the dog woke us both up at about 1:30am. Sigh.
However, I think this all will help.
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