Week Twenty-Two

Wednesday, March 2nd, was twenty-two weeks post-surgery. My ankle was still feeling sore due to the rainy weather, but I was definitely over my sinus infection.

On Thursday I woke up feeling great; the weather was clear and dry and my ankle didn't hurt at all. That day I did some new exercises at physical therapy, working on stabilization. I still couldn't lift my body weight on the ball of my left foot; standing on tip-toe was difficult. I could do it with both feet but not on my left foot alone. My therapist told me this was due to the lack of range of motion in my ankle, and not necessarily due to the lack of strength.

I spent most of the day on my feet Friday, and my ankle felt fine afterward. On Saturday morning I went to the shelter and then to physical therapy in the afternoon. My ankle was sore afterward, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Before the surgery I would have been off my feet for the rest of the day after going to the shelter.

My therapist told me we might try tapering off with the visits at this point. I was currently a member of the YMCA and could use the gym there a few days a week while cutting down my therapy visits to once or twice a week. There were plenty of machines to use at the gym, such as the treadmill and leg press. I felt as though my therapy had taken me just about as far as it could... my ankle would get stronger and more stable but I would be able to work at it on my own.