Week Twenty-three

Wednesday, March 9th, was twenty-three weeks post surgery. I noticed that sometimes on days when the weather was damp or rainy, my ankle was not sore... and then on other days it was. I was beginning to think there really was no rhyme nor reason to what made my ankle sore; it was probably something that I was just going to have to deal with. My therapist had told me that the soreness could go either way... it would either remain for the rest of my life, or my ankle would heal and the soreness would subside.

Another thing I noticed was how much more active I was becoming. I was on my feet more, running errands and doing household chores without thinking too much about it. Things I couldn't do before, like work at the shelter in the morning and then run errands in the afternoon, were becoming easier. I could carry more weight when walking, but still had to be careful with anything too heavy, especially when going up or down stairs.

My increasing energy and activity were making it difficult to keep up with my blog, and unfortunately I felt that my blog was becoming stale... there weren't too many more obstacles to jump over and report about. On the bright side, I was able to write about how much the quality of my life had improved. That in itself was worth sharing, and I knew it would give others out there more motivation and comfort in making their decision to have this surgery. It always felt great to read comments posted and know I was helping someone get their life back.

Thank you all for reading... and forgive me if I am not as diligent in posting... remember that in my book, no news is good news. I will keep you all posted on my progress and hope you benefit from my experiences!

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.

Week Twenty-One

Wednesday, February 23rd, was twenty-one weeks post-surgery. That night I pushed myself on the Wii Fit, playing games that required ankle movement and really focusing on using my left ankle rather than relying on my right. I felt pretty sore afterward, but good!

On Thursday I started feeling sick, like another sinus infection was coming on. I didn't go to physical therapy that night nor on Saturday; I went to the doctor instead and began a course of antibiotics.

I went to physical therapy on Monday and took it easy because I wasn't feeling 100%. I started paying attention to the weather because I noticed that when it was clear and dry, my ankle felt fine. When it was wet and cloudy, my ankle hurt. My therapist told me this might always be the case with my ankle, but there as also a chance that it was temporary.

The weather was rainy on Tuesday and my ankle was very sore... I hoped the weather would clear up soon!

Week Twenty

Wednesday, February 16th, was twenty weeks post-surgery. By that Friday I had noticed that I hadn't taken any Aleve the entire week, and my ankle was feeling good. The only times I noticed it was sore were days after physical therapy, and when the weather was particularly cold. On those days it was harder for me to push off my foot when walking, but I persisted and felt as though my walking was becoming more smooth, I was taking more strides rather than limping so much.

My energy level seemed to be increasing. I wasn't sure why, but maybe it was because I could see that I was improving. On Saturday I was at the shelter in the morning, then went to physical therapy, and then ran some errands. Before my surgery there was no way I could have had a day like that. The shelter would have put me out of commission for the rest of the day.

I was definitely seeing the benefits from having had the surgery, but I knew there was still work to be done. I began using the trampoline at physical therapy, and it was hard and painful to push off my left foot. I had to concentrate on increasing my ankle strength. Any type of movement that required pushing off my foot or leaning forward onto the ball of my foot was difficult. This was the next obstacle to overcome.

Week Nineteen

Wednesday, February 9th, was nineteen weeks post-surgery. Physical therapy was still going well and I worked more on pushing off my left foot when walking, as opposed to putting my right foot down and lifting my left foot up to walk. Pushing off my ankle was uncomfortable but I knew the more I did it the stronger it would become. When it came to putting all of my body weight on my left ankle, I just couldn't do it... I definitely needed to increase my strength.

On Monday, February 14th, I stopped using my handicapped parking pass at work and parked a little further away from the building entrance. I probably could have stopped using the pass a few weeks earlier, but the snow and ice on the ground made me nervous and I just wanted to get inside as quickly as possible! With the snow and ice finally melting away I felt more comfortable and knew it would be better for my ankle if I started walking a little further on it.

I also wanted to start paying attention to the weather; it seemed cooler temperatures or low pressure seemed to cause my ankle some discomfort. I felt it was important to keep track of this so I could plan ahead in the days to come, work around the knowledge of whether or not my ankle would be sore that day.

Week Eighteen

Wednesday, February 2nd, was eighteen weeks post-surgery. I had slowly been getting back into my exercise and physical therapy routine after my illness.

On Thursday my physical therapist noticed that my ankle had more range of motion and my Achilles tendon was not as tight. Maybe my "week off" did some good!

By Monday I was fully back into my routine and working up my strength again. There hadn't been too much change in my ankle strength or discomfort, except that some exercises hurt a little because I hadn't done them in a while. The numbness and tingling still persisted, some days better than others. I knew those sensations would last for a while.

Week Seventeen

Wednesday, January 26th, was seventeen weeks post-surgery. I was still suffering from bronchitis and couldn't do much. On the bright side, my ankle was feeling better because I wasn't on it all day long. I had to cancel my physical therapy appointments; I just didn't have the strength to go. By Friday I was feeling better, although still not 100%. It seemed like the antibiotics were finally kicking in.

I went back to physical therapy on Monday, January 31st, and took it easy as I was still on the road to recovery.