The previous three weeks have been fairly uneventful with progress. The slow progress and monotony of day after day stuck inside and hours upon hours on this couch has been wearing on me. There has been progress with my ankle, however, at this point it is slow and probably will be slow until I can increase my active WB in a regular shoe. Based on the doctors protocol, if my CT scan looks good, I should be able to be in a regular shoe full-time in another couple weeks.
In the past couple weeks I have decided to get things moving. I am working to be more aerobically active to get my endurance ready for returning to work next month. I have been trying to get away from wearing my comfy workout clothes everyday so I can get a good feel for how my body has changed and feels in my other clothes. Naturally, with being on my back for so many hours in the day for this many weeks, I have lost a bunch of muscle and replaced it with fat on my skin and bones. I initially lost weight, but have been religiously working out with the weights at therapy and been putting back on the muscle, which is also increasing my total weight. With the increased aerobic exercises as well as cutting out the "whites" (simple sugars) I am getting toned back up and back to my healthy lean to fat ratios. Unfortunately, diet and exercise with so many activity restrictions yields pretty slow progress. But just like my ankle progress, once I can get back to "normal" activity, things will get back to "normal" soon. I am hoping to find a new and better "normal" with this new ankle.
In the meantime...mother nature is making the couch cozy. This winter has been more reminiscent of what I remember growing up. There has been so much panic over news and social media over it, but I think we have just been lucky over the past several winters and have not had the steady arctic conditions like we have this year and we have simply forgotten that this is what winter is. From what I see on the news, it looks like the weather is going to begin to warm up just in time for me to get out and enjoy it. To keep me focused on the forward momentum, I have set up my indoor greenhouse and got out my seeds and supplies to start some plants indoors. Today I am going to start some tomatoes and pepper plants. Watching my little sprouts grow will be a nice Spring and cabin fever reliever!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
January 17th ~ January 23rd (7 weeks)
Walking has been going really well and I am tolerating more and more each day. This increased mobility has been very liberating as I can do more things and feel so much more productive.
In physical therapy we are getting more aggressive with soft tissue mobilization. I go 3 times a week and go in early each visit to do some rounds on the weight machines, table straight leg lifts, and some self stretching before he starts in on the soft tissue mobilizations and manual stretching. Therapy has been more painful, but still not as painful as I was expecting. My pain is by far better than what it had been prior to the surgery, so despite how slow my progress seems to be going right now, everything is leaps and bounds better than what it was.
This week was a bit sad due to the 21st being the mark of what would have been Jacob's 21st birthday. For some reason his birthday is always the hardest day to deal with. I think it is because I often think of how old he would be and wonder what he would be like. I know he would have been an amazing young man, because he was such a brilliant and kind hearted little boy.
In physical therapy we are getting more aggressive with soft tissue mobilization. I go 3 times a week and go in early each visit to do some rounds on the weight machines, table straight leg lifts, and some self stretching before he starts in on the soft tissue mobilizations and manual stretching. Therapy has been more painful, but still not as painful as I was expecting. My pain is by far better than what it had been prior to the surgery, so despite how slow my progress seems to be going right now, everything is leaps and bounds better than what it was.
This week was a bit sad due to the 21st being the mark of what would have been Jacob's 21st birthday. For some reason his birthday is always the hardest day to deal with. I think it is because I often think of how old he would be and wonder what he would be like. I know he would have been an amazing young man, because he was such a brilliant and kind hearted little boy.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
January 10th ~ January 16th, 2013 (6 weeks)
The infection has cleared up well with the wet to dry dressings. On Sunday we set out toward Chicago to settle into the hotel and get my CT scan done. The night relaxing in the hotel I soaked in a nice Epsom salt bath and left my ankle uncovered for a bit to let the air get to it. My incision was looking really good and so I covered it with dry gauze and tried to get some sleep.
The next morning at the doctors office, I was so happy to hear that the CT scan and x-rays showed my bones were healing really well and the PA and doctor thought the incision was looking good. Immediately they had me remove both my shoes and stand up on both my feet and even take a few steps. My ankle turned several shades of pink, to red, to purple and looked almost bruised with all the blood rushing down into it. The doctor remarked that this was normal and would happen a lot for the following year, but also felt that my ankle coloring was actually really good compared to most. My biggest surprise was how easy it was and there was no "bone" pain. The only concern I had was how stiff and tight it felt. They told me I could walk, but only in the boot, and I could stand and do standing stretches now on my new ankle.
The following days I was careful and kept my boot walking to just a few steps here and there. With each day I increased my steps and before I knew it I was walking like a pro and with no pain. I started to get more ambitious and began cleaning and doing more chores, which I soon learned my limitations with. There was no pain for me when I would be doing things, but with the more I tried to do, by evening I would be wiped out and the next morning I would still feel a bit wiped out. Now my focus is learning to pace myself and gradually work on improving my endurance.
The next morning at the doctors office, I was so happy to hear that the CT scan and x-rays showed my bones were healing really well and the PA and doctor thought the incision was looking good. Immediately they had me remove both my shoes and stand up on both my feet and even take a few steps. My ankle turned several shades of pink, to red, to purple and looked almost bruised with all the blood rushing down into it. The doctor remarked that this was normal and would happen a lot for the following year, but also felt that my ankle coloring was actually really good compared to most. My biggest surprise was how easy it was and there was no "bone" pain. The only concern I had was how stiff and tight it felt. They told me I could walk, but only in the boot, and I could stand and do standing stretches now on my new ankle.
The following days I was careful and kept my boot walking to just a few steps here and there. With each day I increased my steps and before I knew it I was walking like a pro and with no pain. I started to get more ambitious and began cleaning and doing more chores, which I soon learned my limitations with. There was no pain for me when I would be doing things, but with the more I tried to do, by evening I would be wiped out and the next morning I would still feel a bit wiped out. Now my focus is learning to pace myself and gradually work on improving my endurance.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
January 3rd ~ January 9th, 2014 (Five weeks)
The start of antibiotics proved to be very necessary. Unwrapping my foot Friday morning revealed that the yellow pus was now covering more of my incision area. I cleaned up the incision and got dressed, for we were setting out on a long ride to tend to a few errands and take his son home. After several hours on the road we finally made it home in the evening. I was starting to realize how much my endurance is still not up to these kind of trips. I spent the remainder of the weekend with my foot propped up resting and trying to eat well and keeping hydrated to help clear my infection.
The weather started to become very cold and snow began to fall. We had one of the coldest snowy blizzards that we have seen in a long time. Even after the snow was done the temperatures were still in the negatives for the highs and lows. I stayed curled up on the couch keeping my ankle elevated and comfortable, and continued with my exercises.
To keep me entertained I got out the DVD's my sister dropped off for me to borrow. She told me that the new season of Downton Abbey was to start and I really should watch the first three seasons she had for me in the bag. So that was my pick and I spent three days watching and watching and watching. It was much more entertaining than I expected. With this, I have decided to do the marathon with series rather than tuning in each week. In my normal daily life I just never have had the time to dedicate to programmed television. I made sure to DVR the new season to keep up with the drama.
My next PT appointment was supposed to be Monday January 6th, but we were snowed in, so I called in to cancel my appointment. The infection was still festering and so I thought it was probably best to keep home and wrapped up to continue to let the antibiotics knock it out. By Wednesday, the infection was still not looking any better. But I was noticing less tenderness and the electric shocks were calming down. The best thing of all was that I was sleeping much better. The boot did not feel like it was pressing on all the sore spots anymore. The pain was nearly nonexistent and no longer bothering me, so I had no need to take any pain pills.
By Wednesday morning I was out of gauze, so I used Band-Aids to cover up my remaining wounds and headed out to PT. Jordan checked my ROM and I had not lost any ground with the measurements, however he did feel that the end feel was a bit more stiff today. He didn't like the looks of my wounds and suggested I start doing some wet to dry dressings to get the infection lifted out of the wound bed. So after PT we headed to the store for the necessary medical supplies and stocked up on groceries.
The first couple rounds of wet to dry dressing changes have been looking good. The wound bed looks clean and healthy. My hope is that the this continues to clear up and the wound looks as healthy as possible for my visit with Dr Haddad in just 4 more days. This visit with him will be my 6 week check and if all is good, I get to take my first steps on my new ankle.
Despite this setback, I have to look at the positives. My ankle no longer aches constantly and it moves. The ROM is already much better than what I lived with for many years. When the time comes to actually be able to put weight through it to stand to stretch and exercise the muscles, the progress will be made in leaps and bounds. I must keep my eye on that and focus on moving forward despite any obstacle.
The first couple rounds of wet to dry dressing changes have been looking good. The wound bed looks clean and healthy. My hope is that the this continues to clear up and the wound looks as healthy as possible for my visit with Dr Haddad in just 4 more days. This visit with him will be my 6 week check and if all is good, I get to take my first steps on my new ankle.
Despite this setback, I have to look at the positives. My ankle no longer aches constantly and it moves. The ROM is already much better than what I lived with for many years. When the time comes to actually be able to put weight through it to stand to stretch and exercise the muscles, the progress will be made in leaps and bounds. I must keep my eye on that and focus on moving forward despite any obstacle.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
December 27th ~ January 2nd, 2013 (Four weeks)
Friday December 27th we set out for my first PT appointment. I was so happy to set foot back in the clinic I spent so much of my time and energy in. Even though I wasn't there to "work", I was there to work. It was great to see all the faces of my co-workers. Everyone was happy and laughing.
My exam with Jordan went well. Even though my incision and the (once bruise that is now a scab) wound on my medial malleoli were still not completely healed over, they were looking better every day. He did some mild stretching and soft tissue massage and told me to do a few things at home as well. I left my first appointment feeling really good and my ankle felt amazingly well after it's first "torture". :)
At home I continued to work on doing more exercises to keep my strength up in the rest of my body. Some days it was easy and others I felt wiped out. We would occasionally go places and I loved getting out of the house. I now have a knee walker, which I got about a week after surgery. That thing has been my saving grace. It is amazing how much easier it is to get around with it versus any other assistive devices. I especially love going into big stores where I can roll like the wind down the isles and do laps. Great exercise when you have been laying down day after day.
My next PT appointment was on Monday December 30th and Jordan got a bit more aggressive with the stretching and soft tissue massage today, but it still felt good and was not to painful...yet.
Still have my good days and bad days. The electric shocks are mild or strong, but never seem to go away. The boot is always uncomfortable and continues to rub in spots that send the shockwaves into overdrive. I cut up an old memory foam pad last week to put cushion in spots to take the load off of the tender spots and it has helped.
Unfortunately, New Years Eve day was one of my bad days. We stayed home that night and even though I was up at midnight, I fell asleep several times before that hour. Donavan woke me up several times and ended up being mad at me that he had to stay home without a party for the first time in many many years. I didn't care, I had other things to worry about than a New Years Eve party.
My next PT appointment was Thursday January 2nd. He measured my ROM and it was actually worse today than it was on my first day. He was a bit more aggressive with the scar massage and I was a lot more tender. Although my scabs on my incision and ankle bone were shrinking, there was a bit of the infection kind of redness and some oozing in a couple places when he was working on the anterior tibial tendon scar massage. This sign of infection spiked both Jordan and my concern.
After my PT appointment I called my doctor's office and left a message about the infection. The PA called me back after a short time and called in an antibiotic to my pharmacy for me to take right away. I have been taking my temperature and so far it has not gotten to far away from my normal 97.2, but this extremely cold weather is probably helping to keep me cool. I am taking the antibiotic religiously and have now covered the wounds with gauze pads to keep the dry and protected, as well as keeping the boot on as much as possible.
My exam with Jordan went well. Even though my incision and the (once bruise that is now a scab) wound on my medial malleoli were still not completely healed over, they were looking better every day. He did some mild stretching and soft tissue massage and told me to do a few things at home as well. I left my first appointment feeling really good and my ankle felt amazingly well after it's first "torture". :)
At home I continued to work on doing more exercises to keep my strength up in the rest of my body. Some days it was easy and others I felt wiped out. We would occasionally go places and I loved getting out of the house. I now have a knee walker, which I got about a week after surgery. That thing has been my saving grace. It is amazing how much easier it is to get around with it versus any other assistive devices. I especially love going into big stores where I can roll like the wind down the isles and do laps. Great exercise when you have been laying down day after day.
My next PT appointment was on Monday December 30th and Jordan got a bit more aggressive with the stretching and soft tissue massage today, but it still felt good and was not to painful...yet.
Still have my good days and bad days. The electric shocks are mild or strong, but never seem to go away. The boot is always uncomfortable and continues to rub in spots that send the shockwaves into overdrive. I cut up an old memory foam pad last week to put cushion in spots to take the load off of the tender spots and it has helped.
Unfortunately, New Years Eve day was one of my bad days. We stayed home that night and even though I was up at midnight, I fell asleep several times before that hour. Donavan woke me up several times and ended up being mad at me that he had to stay home without a party for the first time in many many years. I didn't care, I had other things to worry about than a New Years Eve party.
My next PT appointment was Thursday January 2nd. He measured my ROM and it was actually worse today than it was on my first day. He was a bit more aggressive with the scar massage and I was a lot more tender. Although my scabs on my incision and ankle bone were shrinking, there was a bit of the infection kind of redness and some oozing in a couple places when he was working on the anterior tibial tendon scar massage. This sign of infection spiked both Jordan and my concern.
After my PT appointment I called my doctor's office and left a message about the infection. The PA called me back after a short time and called in an antibiotic to my pharmacy for me to take right away. I have been taking my temperature and so far it has not gotten to far away from my normal 97.2, but this extremely cold weather is probably helping to keep me cool. I am taking the antibiotic religiously and have now covered the wounds with gauze pads to keep the dry and protected, as well as keeping the boot on as much as possible.
December 20th ~ December 26th, 2013 (Three weeks)
Friday the 20th, we got up early, packed ourselves into the car, and made our way toward Chicago to see the doctor's PA to have my stitches removed and get x-rays to see how I am healing. The ride was a long one and it appeared to be icy still out. We made it to the doctor's office in good time, being about a half hour early, and was fortunate that the PA was ready to see me right away.
She showed me my old vs. my new x-rays and told me a little about what they did to my ankle. I was amazed at how much she showed me in the x-rays. They took out all kinds of bone spurs and scar tissue that had formed over the past 12 years. My ankle now (even swollen) is skinnier than it was before surgery.
The stitches coming out didn't hurt a bit, I didn't even feel most of them. She cleaned up my incision a bit and gave me a new mesh sleeve to cover it vs the gauze. She instructed me to go downstairs to their PT department and get some tubigrip socks and schedule an appointment to see them after my six week post op visit with Dr Haddad. Before leaving she handed me an order for a CT scan to have done right before seeing Dr Haddad, and thankfully she gave me more refills of my pain meds.
The ride home was terrible. I was thrilled that my appointment had gone so well and was quite excited. But Donavan was not used to driving in Chicago traffic and was tired from all the driving so far, so he was being quite crabby, making the ride home tense and unpleasant without any positive conversation.
Next up was all the Christmas festivities. All of my Christmas shopping had been done prior to surgery an all I had left to do was finish crocheting a couple blankets and take out all the baked goodies for my Christmas goody bags to all our family. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house and it was so nice to be surrounded by my own family and all of their love and support for what I was going through. On Christmas day we went to Donavan's sister's house and she had a really yummy meal with all kinds of food for us. The holidays were a great boost for my spirit with all of this so far.
My ankle pain was gradually decreasing, but the electric shocks were becoming extremely annoying. There is just no escaping them.
She showed me my old vs. my new x-rays and told me a little about what they did to my ankle. I was amazed at how much she showed me in the x-rays. They took out all kinds of bone spurs and scar tissue that had formed over the past 12 years. My ankle now (even swollen) is skinnier than it was before surgery.
The stitches coming out didn't hurt a bit, I didn't even feel most of them. She cleaned up my incision a bit and gave me a new mesh sleeve to cover it vs the gauze. She instructed me to go downstairs to their PT department and get some tubigrip socks and schedule an appointment to see them after my six week post op visit with Dr Haddad. Before leaving she handed me an order for a CT scan to have done right before seeing Dr Haddad, and thankfully she gave me more refills of my pain meds.
The ride home was terrible. I was thrilled that my appointment had gone so well and was quite excited. But Donavan was not used to driving in Chicago traffic and was tired from all the driving so far, so he was being quite crabby, making the ride home tense and unpleasant without any positive conversation.
Next up was all the Christmas festivities. All of my Christmas shopping had been done prior to surgery an all I had left to do was finish crocheting a couple blankets and take out all the baked goodies for my Christmas goody bags to all our family. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house and it was so nice to be surrounded by my own family and all of their love and support for what I was going through. On Christmas day we went to Donavan's sister's house and she had a really yummy meal with all kinds of food for us. The holidays were a great boost for my spirit with all of this so far.
My ankle pain was gradually decreasing, but the electric shocks were becoming extremely annoying. There is just no escaping them.
December 13th ~ December 19th, 2013 (Two weeks)
My days still consisted of laying around and keeping my ankle propped up for the most part. With my portable plinth table set up, I started doing some exercises. I started out with just one set once a day and planned on working my way up from there. The amount of endurance I lacked was amazing to me. In just that short amount of time I went from being up on my feet and active from 5:30am to about 8 or 9pm every day to barely being able to be up for ten minutes without feeling exhausted. Just getting myself up and making it to the bathroom was a challenge. Planning my minutes and activity for the day was becoming necessary. There was no get up and go anymore...at least not yet.
My next compression wrap change was for Friday the 13th. This visit I had a different therapist and she was a bit concerned after unwrapping my ankle to see a lot of redness on the top of my foot. She was a PTA (like me) and she did exactly what I would have done, she went to get a PT to get another opinion on the situation. Two PT's came in and took a look and gave their opinions. The PTA used a sharpy to mark the periphery of the redness so that they can compare the changes on my next visit. With my foot unwrapped I touched around the redness and it appeard to be in the places that I was feeling the most pressure from the boot, and so I was not to concerned. The redness appeared to be from pressure and actually began to clear while I laying there with it unwrapped and partially elevated.
When the therapist's wrapped my leg, I paid close attention to how they did it. My doctor's office indicated that the technique is a precise technique that therapist's are specially trained in. As PTA, this peaked my curiousity and I wanted to learn anything I could out this experience. The way they wrapped my ankle and calf was very much like what I learned in school, so the next day I unwrapped my ankle to inspect the redness. I had been keeping the strap on my boot over that area a little looser and sure enough it was going away and was smaller than the sharpy outline today.
Re-wrapping my ankle was pretty easy and felt really good. I was starting to notice the pattern with the wraps, they felt really good after being wrapped and as the time wears on the pressure starts to get more uncomfortable. I was starting to get some muscle spasms and the little electric shock feelings down into my toes. The shocks are just the nerves reconfiguring and trying to work themselves out. The spasms are the muscles response from the lack of moving and the increasing atrophy.
My next visit to the PT place for my wrap change was on Monday the 16th. This visit was with the original PT I saw the first time. Along with my chart notes and what I offered, she was filled in on my status and looked over my foot. The redness was still there, but the swelling was doing better. Once she learned I wrapped my own ankle, she was impressed and further noted that there was no reason for me to travel that far for them to do it. She noted that my wounds look fine and if I felt capable of wrapping it on my own then I was good to go until I saw the doctor on Friday. So I cancelled the rest of my appointments and looked forward to my doctor's appointment on Friday.
My next compression wrap change was for Friday the 13th. This visit I had a different therapist and she was a bit concerned after unwrapping my ankle to see a lot of redness on the top of my foot. She was a PTA (like me) and she did exactly what I would have done, she went to get a PT to get another opinion on the situation. Two PT's came in and took a look and gave their opinions. The PTA used a sharpy to mark the periphery of the redness so that they can compare the changes on my next visit. With my foot unwrapped I touched around the redness and it appeard to be in the places that I was feeling the most pressure from the boot, and so I was not to concerned. The redness appeared to be from pressure and actually began to clear while I laying there with it unwrapped and partially elevated.
When the therapist's wrapped my leg, I paid close attention to how they did it. My doctor's office indicated that the technique is a precise technique that therapist's are specially trained in. As PTA, this peaked my curiousity and I wanted to learn anything I could out this experience. The way they wrapped my ankle and calf was very much like what I learned in school, so the next day I unwrapped my ankle to inspect the redness. I had been keeping the strap on my boot over that area a little looser and sure enough it was going away and was smaller than the sharpy outline today.
Re-wrapping my ankle was pretty easy and felt really good. I was starting to notice the pattern with the wraps, they felt really good after being wrapped and as the time wears on the pressure starts to get more uncomfortable. I was starting to get some muscle spasms and the little electric shock feelings down into my toes. The shocks are just the nerves reconfiguring and trying to work themselves out. The spasms are the muscles response from the lack of moving and the increasing atrophy.
My next visit to the PT place for my wrap change was on Monday the 16th. This visit was with the original PT I saw the first time. Along with my chart notes and what I offered, she was filled in on my status and looked over my foot. The redness was still there, but the swelling was doing better. Once she learned I wrapped my own ankle, she was impressed and further noted that there was no reason for me to travel that far for them to do it. She noted that my wounds look fine and if I felt capable of wrapping it on my own then I was good to go until I saw the doctor on Friday. So I cancelled the rest of my appointments and looked forward to my doctor's appointment on Friday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)