Another travel update. Had a much longer flight (1 hour + 1.5 hour layover + 4 hours) last weekend. Wore my compression sock and took aspirin. Ankle and foot didn't swell at all. Was very impressed. However, I did have another interview on Tuesday. 1+ hour drive, 6 hour interview, and 1+ hour drive home. By the end of the day, it was sausage foot again. Very frustrating. I didn't wear my compression sock as it would have looked odd. On a positive note, swelling was down the following morning. I am still pretty sore though.
Through experimenting, I have been able to narrow down what upsets the ankle a bit. The biggest culprit is the lack of support. If I wear my tennis shoes, I can walk for hours without swelling issues. If I wear sandals though, my foot balloons within a few hours. I am trying something new today and wrapped my foot/ankle with an ace bandage and wearing flip-flops. Will see how it goes. Really hope it helps as wearing shoes during the summer is torture.
I still have a dent in my calf muscle from the gastroc recession. The scar is on the front but the dent is in the back. I am slowly rebuilding the muscle in my lower calf and can almost go up on my toes using just that leg. Almost. My pain is mostly on the lateral side of my foot underneath that ankle bone. Therapist said it's the tendons getting irritated. Burns pretty bad after I work my leg. Other than that, I get pain at the very base of my achilles.
Will try to upload pic of calf later.
Thanks for the update. Your blog has helped me in my recovery. You said on your day 66 that you were able to walk for the first time without your boot or crutches. I am on day 66 today and I am barely able to walk with partial weight on my crutches. My heel feels like I am walking on a bumpy grill. I am not taking any meds and haven't for a month or so. This is the first that I have fallen behind you on my recovery. Good luck on your job search. I am in that same predicament!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this blog has been helpful. I was very frustrated at the lack of information out there before and especially after my surgery.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that you are not walking yet. Remember, it was almost an overnight occurrence for me. One day, I could barely put any weight on it and the next I was able to walk. Glad to hear you aren't taking the meds. I'm still taking mine once or twice a week. Had to take them yesterday so I could walk around downtown.
Good luck with the job search as well!
Thanks. Yesterday I could barely touch my foot to the floor. Today I am walking (well..I walked for awhile) with much less pain. I have been using one of those rolling knee walkers and today is the first time I fell, full weight on my bad foot. Didn't hurt but was scary. I have read your comments before about how the foot is basically healed and that went through my mind immediately so I didn't panic!! Thanks again for sharing your comments. I stopped taking meds because of the anxiety they caused me the following days. I am overweight so that maybe why I am a little slower walking then others. Once again, best of luck and I hope the healing makes the surgery worth while for you.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I don't weight has a lot to do with it. From what I understand, the fat pad on the bottom of the foot gets shifted. There's a lot of stuff down there and it needs to resettle. In my case, I had a horrible ball on the lateral side which went away after a few weeks. Then I discovered one on the medial side where the heel becomes the arch. That lasted another week or so.
ReplyDeleteInteresting re the meds. When I was on everything, the docs put me on a valium as well to off set the anxiety. Worked like a charm.
I might ask my doc about the valium because I think taking a Norco once in awhile might help me get on my foot faster.
ReplyDeleteOnce again THANKS...I've read on the Health Boards how other's heel pain ended after one or two days rather than a week or so.
By the way, have you ever tried cold laser therapy on your foot? I had two different people recommend that to me. Also, do you have the feeling back in your foot. The outside of my foot is nearly all numb still. That is kind of scary to me. (FYI, if my questions are annoying please let me know.) Thanks
Definitely ask about it. I made tremendous progress the first few weeks of PT since I was able to take the Norcos. It wasn't necessarily recommended by my doc but it really helped me relax and be a bit more aggressive.
ReplyDeleteI have not even heard of the cold laser therapy. What is it for?
I'm slowly getting more and more feeling in my foot. I'm down to only having numb skin in a small area. Started out with the whole left side of my foot and is slowly returning to normal. I've been told it takes up to a year to get all the feeling back.
Don't worry about asking questions, that's what the bog is for!
update from jennie..after dinner and a few glass of wine.. my foot hurts! I am 10 plus weeks out in the boot, when I walk without the boot I walk like a turtle. Im icing it as I write and am begining to become scared. I hope it heals because I thought it would happend faster. I still have numbness on the whole rt side of my foot to the last two toes.(pain)Anyway this is no way to live, call me a baby but this is driving me crazy!
ReplyDeletetaking care of this foot is worse then taking care of an infant!!!
ReplyDeleteTry as much as possible not to limp. If you're not careful, you can train your body to keep doing it and throw everything out of line. I'm experiencing it a bit now from limping while going for long walks. Not fun...
ReplyDeletemy foot is also numb and I was 10 weeks post op on the 3rd. I also am pwb with boot and crutches. I finally called the surgeon today because I still feel like I am walking on a sharp grill. I agree, that this is really frustrating, but we do not have a choice.
ReplyDeleteQuestion for either of you...I still have "seeping" on the back of my heel where the screw went in. Do you or are you completely healed there?
Mine was completely healed when they took the stitches out after 14 days. I had scabbing there after 8 weeks that just fell off. There was new skin underneath that has been fine.
ReplyDeleteyes Ineveer had drainage check with your doc, you dont want to get an infection!
ReplyDelete