Rankled by the Ankle

Physical therapy has continued over the past couple of weeks. The focus has been upon stretching my foot and getting muscles, tendons and ligaments moving as they haven’t been for some time. It started with “up and down” movements of the foot and only recently moved to a side to side (windshield wiper) motion; the latter of which engages the peroneal tendon. We’ve also used some weight machines, primarily the leg press and abduction machine. It has been one-on-one with a therapist with great individualized attention.   The pain level has gradually lessened; particularly during the day. My physical therapist says it best: it isn’t pain as much as soreness and fatigue. The only time that pain does exist is at bedtime. I continue to take a pain pill at that time to help me get to sleep. Efforts to do otherwise have resulted in no sleep. During the day, though, I get by just fine on Tylenol and Meloxicam.   After the first week of physical therapy, the crutches were ditche...

 The next big step after my second post-op appointment was to start physical therapy. I originally selected a large outfit that came recommended by several, but a friend gave me a phone call with some advice. His wife has been a physical therapist for many years, and he said other than qualifications probably the most important thing is that the therapist give you one-on-one attention during your sessions. Many larger businesses assign two or three clients to the therapist at a time. What happens is that you might be by yourself, doing the therapy slightly wrong while the therapist is with someone else. I took this to hear and went to a smaller business. So far I've been to two sessions. Most of our work to date has been pretty basic. A lot of stretches and moving the foot around. He gave me instruction about how to move about on the crutches well, and also how to use just one crutch.  One of the homework exercises consists of weight shifts. You gradually put more weight on th...

Post-op appointment #2 allowed me to talk to the doctor and get the skinny on the surgical steps taken. He let me know that he repaired the tendon along with a graft wrap, repaired a ligament (the one closest to the tendon) and gave me a shot in the Achilles (what they call a "brisement). So it was really the full deal.  He liked the looks of the wound, though, and said physical therapy was the next step. A nurse then removed my stitches, which was somewhat painful but not all that bad. The wound still looks pretty gross but should get better with time. She said using Neosporin on the wound would help get rid of the blood that is sticking there.  One thing the doctor said is that he thought I'd be driving in "a couple of weeks." I was pretty surprised by this, as I've not put any weight on the foot at all.  He re-upped my pain meds in case the PT causes additional pain. Another follow up was set for three weeks later (six weeks after the fact).  GLAD I GOT THIS B...

 Another week of rest, keeping my foot elevated, and waiting to get better. The pain has gradually lessened. It has gone steadily from taking one in the evening and then one at night to just one at night.  Confession: I've been removing the boot from time to time. Not while I'm moving, but just while I'm at rest. Honestly, this lessens some of the pain. The boot tends to hurt sometimes. I've only done this the last couple of days of week three; just prior to my appointment tomorrow. This is against order, but it helps so much.  Appointment is tomorrow. I guess stitches are ready to remove? It still looks a bit nasty. Definitely better than the first appointment post-op, but it is rather ugly. Perhaps if it is cleaned up after stitches it'll look better.  I've done some research and have a couple of options for a physical therapy provider. I'm going with a new place; wasn't quite impressed with my old one. I'll ask the doc if he has any preferences, b...