Wednesday, January 15, 2014

6 Week Update -- Ankle #2

One of my newest exercises this week is to stand on both feet (with my boot on) and try to rock up onto my toes and then come back to neutral.  This may sound easy, but this is essentially a calf raise, and I haven't been able to do this on my ankles for years.  As I mentioned before in another post, the last time I tried these exercises I hurt my ankle so bad that I couldn't walk on it for weeks.  Now when I try this exercise, I feel pain in my right ankle (#2), and I feel muscle strain in my left (ankle #1).  I'll probably start feeling muscle strain in my right once I start doing this with the boot off.  I think I start PT exercises with the boot off in another week or so, even though I will still have to wear it normally until end of February.

I can stand 50/50 easily now and can even “one-crutch” it around the house if I'm in the boot (but not for long).  Hopefully, I'll be able to adjust to the cane in a couple of weeks.  Without the boot, I still need the support of both crutches or the walker.  I use the walker upstairs and the crutches downstairs and when I have to go out.

This is going to sound like a weird thing to be happy about, but I can now cross my feet at the ankles...just figured that one out a couple of days ago.  Basically, this means that my incision isn't that sensitive anymore.  I meant to take a pic of my incision today, but I forgot...I'll try to remember and add it to my photos page by the end of the week.

Something about my incision that I haven't mentioned before...I definitely have some nerve damage to part of my foot....from the joint on my big toe to rest of that side of the top of my foot...make sense?  Yeah, I probably should figure how to do some photo-shopping or something for a visual aid.  By the by...I didn't have this with ankle #1.  Anyone else whose had this surgery...do you have any nerve damage?  I'm wondering how prevalent it is.  I hadn't mentioned it before because I was waiting to see if the numbness would go away.  I figure that since I'm at the six week mark, it's probably here to stay.

My big trick of the day... I stood today to wash my hands.  Again, this seems like a minor thing, but I didn't really have the strength or balance to do this just a week ago.  My bathroom in my room has the soaking tub right next to the sink, so I have a place to sit while I wash my hands.  And, if I'm on my main floor, that bathroom is so small that you can put the lid down on the toilet and sit and use the sink...it's a seriously tiny bathroom!  So, for the past 6 weeks, I haven't had to stand...but today I did...and it was magical :-)




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