Week Six

Wednesday, November 10th, was six weeks post-surgery. My ankle was sore from the walking around I was doing and my physical therapist assured me that was normal. He reminded me to take things slow and not work my ankle too much. Therapy was very draining on this day and the sessions were becoming longer as I began to work my ankle (and my leg muscles) harder. The therapy was definitely helping but there was still not too much range of motion in my foot and I knew there was still a long way to go.

Over the next few days I continued with my exercises and working on walking around with one crutch while wearing my air cast. Walking or standing for too long was painful but I knew it would get easier with time. I just had to remember to take things slow.

By Monday, November 15th, I realized I could put a little less weight on the crutch when walking, but the longer I walked the more painful my ankle so I began to put more weight back onto the crutch. Building up my strength was important but the pain was too much at times.

The next day I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor. My recovery was progressing nicely and the movement in my ankle was improving. Whenever he would move my ankle up and down I had to resist the urge to fight him, as this type of movement was painful before the surgery. He instructed me to continue walking without the crutch, in the air cast, and begin to work on wearing a sneaker and walking, assisted by a cane, either around the house or outside. He advised me to use the air cast when my ankle was feeling tired and sore, and I felt that it needed extra support. He believed I would be fully mobile in 2-3 months, and pain-free in 6 months. On this day he also told me I could drive, but recommended that I didn't drive while wearing the air cast. So I figured I could put the cast on the seat next to me and then put it on when I reached my destination.
Walking around the house in sneakers with a cane was very difficult and hurt. By the end of the evening I was able to get around with the air cast not using the crutch. I would be going back to work within the next few weeks and would need to start wearing my sneakers more and more often. The next few weeks were going to be rough!