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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