If anyone is following this blog because they are interested in my
progress, and you are looking for some updated stats...look at last
months stats and add five pounds to the knee machine and ten pounds
to the leg press machine. That's all the progress that I've made in
four weeks time :(
This week marks 24 weeks since I had my total ankle replacement on
ankle #2. Ankle #1 is almost at the year mark (June 12). Last month
I talked about how I don't feel anywhere near “normal”, and I'm
starting to think that I'm never going to even come close to that at
all. The past four weeks have been very depressing as I've realized
that I've plateaued in my recovery for the last couple of months.
Now, I've had plateaus happen before with other surgeries, but it's
usually for just two weeks or so. Looking back at my progress in my
March posts, I realize that although I've gained more strength in my
legs, I haven't gained any endurance at all.
At all. I can't
stand on my feet longer than ten minutes without being in a terrible
amount of pain. I'm starting to think that this isn't going to get
any better.
Whenever I mention this to anyone, they remind me that I'm only
about six months out and this can take a year to eighteen months to
fully recover. But I'm almost at a year with my left ankle (#1)!
And that is not any better than my right! They are in the same level
of shitty pain!
Getting fed up.
I've had both hips and both knees replaced, so this replacement
thing is not new to me (I told ya I was a cyborg!). I know that
rehab is painful, but after it's done, the benefits can be life
altering. My hips were so bad that after I had my replacement
surgery I felt like I hit the jackpot. The replacement hips were new
and improved and better than the originals (they took about 3 months
to rehab). And although my knee replacements were a bitch to
rehab...by far the worst pain I've ever encountered....the trade off
was that I was pain free after all was said and done. The biggest
downside to my knee replacements was that I lost a lot of range of
motion (ROM). This is always a possibility, and I knew that going in
for my ankle replacements. But I was willing to trade off ROM for no
pain...no such luck. My ROM for my ankles is within normal range,
but there is still so much pain whenever I stand or walk.
I'm not scheduled to see my surgeon until July. I think I may
call just to ask if I should be worried, or if I need to be seen
sooner. Can't hurt to ask, right? Only thing is...what if they tell
me that this may be it for me? I've been so depressed over the past
few weeks, that I don't know if I want to hear bad news right now.
Both the hips and knees, after rehab, gave me a (mostly) pain free
existence in those joints (there's the occasional "I feel the rain coming"). I just assumed that I'd have a similar
experience with my ankles. This is not the case, yet, and I'm
starting to lose hope.
______________________________________________________________
To read about my full ankle replacement
journey, please click on the
Total Ankle Replacement tab.
I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Please comment below, or email me privately at: thecyborgmom@gmail.com
It's Friday and I'm Celebrating The Small Things!
Celebrate
The Small Things is a weekly celebration where some bloggers have
decided to post about something worth celebrating...no matter how big
or small it is.
