WELP! HAPPY FUCKING NEW YEAR

Recovery After Ankle Surgery

It's been a year since I made THIS video, so I figured I should make a follow-up. Here's how I am one year after walking - and one month & one year after weight-bearing.



I suppose as long as you guys show interest, I'll keep posting - so let me know if there's anything specific you want me to talk about :)

looking back to help me look forward

If you read my last post, you know I've been having a bit of trouble being positive. The progress is very hard to see now. But it hasn't always been like that, and I've compiled this video to remind myself. This video will show you my first month of weight-bearing, from June 15th to today, July 17th. It's truly astounding what the body is capable of.

That said, I still have such a long way to go - even though I'm walking by the end of the video, I'm still in quite a bit of pain. Hindered by tightness and very little range of motion, I can feel the hardware inside my skin, irritating everything around it. So there's a lot behind me, but the journey is far from over. On that note!!! This is where I've been...

updates and strides forward

Hi readers!! Oh jeez I have NOT been great at updating - but it hasn't been because I don't want to or don't have time, it's actually because I've felt that there's not much to report. Until today...I did my first crow pose since the surgery...

For those of you who don't know - I was getting pretty into yoga before I broke my ankle, and being unable to do it for so long really took it's toll on me. Over the past several weeks I've been doing what I can to work my way back into anything resembling a satisfying practice, but it's felt like a very tough, long road. Getting into - and holding - this crow pose was a huge feat for me and I'm really happy about it.

The pink sock is a compression sock (I got this kind, seems good) and goes all the way up to my knee. I'm wearing it because now that I'm weight-bearing more, my ankle has been getting all kinds of swollen - nothing that ice and elevation and massage can't soothe, but it's fucking annoying and uncomfortable.

Weight-bearing also brings all kinds of new aches and pains that I didn't have before - mostly sharp nerve pains in my heel and different parts of my ankle and calf - but they usually go away after massage and ice (the cure-alls, obviously).

This past weekend J and I took a little vacation to the Oregon Coast - maybe it was the smell of the ocean or the freedom of being away from my bed that I now know so intimately - but right before we got in the car to come home I put my crutches to the side and did this:

No, that doesn't mean I'm off my crutches, I still use one of them to get around, and the outside of my foot is so tight that it quite hurts to put pressure on...but STILL. It was awesome and weird. Also the house that we stayed in had a floor-level shower, meaning you just walked right into it - no tub to step over - so I took my first standing up shower...I made J come hang out in the bathroom with me while I did it in case I slipped. Not the sexiest naked time we've ever had, but a huge step up from right after surgery when he actually had to bathe me and floss my toes.

More updates when I've got em!
Peace out

weight-bearing, day 13...AKA SECOND SNEAKER DAY

Yesterday in PT I put on, AND WALKED IN, my second sneaker...a first for me. My ankle feels so weak and trembly outside of the boot, but happy and eager, like it really wants to get strong. It's like the scrawny guy at the gym...a guy I've always had a fondness for. Another thing I have a fondness for is these shoes, the Nike Roshe Run's. I've had/loved them for about a year, but on the sensitive foot they're especially amazing...here's why:

1. The soles are like clouds - they're so cushiony and soft and light
2. The entire shoe is really flexible, so for walking practice - going from heal to toe and really articulating every part of the foot - they're ideal.
3. The sole is pretty thick, so when you're walking with the boot - which has a relatively tall platform - you're not TOTALLY lopsided. You're still kinda lopsided, but it's hard to avoid unless you go buy some Danskos which my doctor recommended (but I don't plan on being in that fucker for much longer so I'm not gonna go buy ugly shoes just to accommodate it).

Anyway, now I've also gotten the ok to walk in the boot only as much as possible - inside and outside - using 1 crutch only when going longer distances (the 2 sneakers with crutches is only an exercise). So the video includes my boot progress as well. Enjoy!

weight-bearing, days 7 & 10

I told you little curious monkeys I'd keep you updated on my walking progress! I'm still mostly doing 1-crutch walking (as seen on day 7), but on Monday in PT I got to try zero crutches, so I've been playing around with it just a little bit (it's relatively painful so I'm not doing much).


I hope you guys enjoy these weird little videos...it's quite a slow process on my end so I'm trying to just give the highlights.

2 feet down! (follow up #3)

Last week I went to my doctor/surgeon for a follow-up. He said my bones looked strong and were healing great - his exact words were "it's solid in there". (Yes, "solid" is a great descriptor for what's happening in there, it's still so fucking tight). He said I should continue to ween myself off of the crutches until I'm just walking in the boot, and estimated that in about 3 weeks I should be out of the boot and into a sneaker. He also said I could start playing around with putting both feet on the ground...so I did:

 

This video is the 2nd day of putting 2 feet down - the first day I tried it I found myself sobbing uncontrollably from relief and happiness and joy and I think a little bit of fear.

 SUMMARY!!

Where I'm at right now: Walking with 2 crutches & boot when outside, walking with 1 crutch and the boot when inside.

Where I'm headed this week, hopefully: Walking with 1 crutch and boot outside, walking with only boot inside.

Where I'm headed after that: Move to boot-only walking, then when I get out of the boot and into a sneaker, the crutches come back until I'm strong enough to not need the extra support.

So that's that. I didn't blog much last week because not much changed. Or at least it didn't feel like it in the moment, but looking back I guess there is some stuff of note. My range of motion improved by several degrees each way, I got more interesting exercises to do at PT (including using the pilates reformer machine), I'm up to 14 minutes from 6 on the recumbent bike, I finally got my hair done (NOT pictured below), I took a really long walk to get some excellent cheesecake...oh and I bought some towels at Target and rode this thing:

i believe i can fly!! weight-bearing days 1 & 2

As promised, I've documented my first steps for you guys - I was so anxious to take them. With step #1 I began sweating profusely. It's hard to totally let go and fully step down, I still find myself holding some weight up with my harms (which I think is the point of walking with the crutches, to have that option), but I think I'm getting better at it.

I couldn't help it with the cheesy song, it got in my head and stayed there...sorry.  Oh, and all of those boxes are from the new furniture we got this weekend, they won't be in the next videos :)


I'm pretty sure these are the most boring videos in the world, but if you like them, keep a lookout for more, I'll be documenting my walking progress at all of its various stages.

the slip

I slipped on the way to physical therapy yesterday. In between the parking lot and the building are a bunch of these big terrible tiles that, when wet, are slippery as shit.

They put that cone out there AFTER I slipped...thanks guys. 

As you can see, there's no escaping these tiles when trying to make it from the parking lot to the sidewalk, and on my way inside it was raining quite a bit - no bueno. My crutch slipped out from under me, and to catch myself my bad foot instinctively slammed down onto the ground. I felt billions of little foot nerves all scream out at once. It prevented a fall, but it scared the bejesus out of me and made my foot and ankle feel really crappy.

I walked inside like "uh I just slipped outside on those dumb slippery tiles" and the receptionists were like "oh man, that sucks". So I sat down in the waiting room for a few minutes before asking to lie down and maybe get some ice. They obliged and my therapist came in to see me, performed some tests on my bones and tissue (she's so smart and good and I love her), and said everything looked okay, but I should just keep an eye on it and let her know if anything gets swollen. Then, instead of doing my usual exercises she just did some massage, some ice, and we filled out an accident report.

I left feeling pretty ouchy and bruised, though my foot looked fine, and then I watched "The L Word" the rest of the day...worst show ever.

Oh, at the very end of my PT session, my therapist SHOWED ME HOW TO WALK...which I start doing tomorrow. I'm thinking about making a video for you guys...baby Mihal's first steps :)

WALKING WEEK

This week is walking week - YAY!! I mean, not until the end of the week - Saturday - but it's this week nonetheless. My physical therapist says the walking progression usually goes: (1) in the boot with both crutches, (2) in the boot with one crutch, (3) in the boot with no crutches, (4) in a sneaker with maybe one crutch, and then (5) walking in just the sneaker - spending about a week at each stage (unless I'm a total rockstar, which I fully intend to be).

Anyway, I've had a few active days leading up to it all (that usually end in complete exhaustion and some swelling). This weekend my mom took J and me furniture shopping and then out for tacos (unfortunately this ankle bullshit threw a huge wrench into the move-in/decoration process, so we're only now getting to it). I used the scooter for most of the furniture shopping (and now my right quad, the one that goes on the scooter, is stupid sore), and crutched to the Mexican place. Here are some visuals:

 

Chillin on the scooter on the way to a furniture place. I got exhausted from scooting 4 blocks (on an incline!) - for some reason mom thought it made for a remarkable photo-op...that's her in the reflection.

My sweet sweet sweet J - we're very focused on the task at hand.

It's worth noting here that I'm wearing my black skinny jeans - meaning that I was able to point my toe enough to get it through the small leg holes...BIG STEP. I'll admit though, getting them off was not easy.

Sunday was fun - some organizing and rearranging in the house - all of which I did on my scooter and J did on his two very well-working legs. And now I have an entire week ahead of me, which includes LITERALLY nothing but 2 PT sessions and receiving a furniture delivery - I've never seen such an empty calendar in my life...depressing. But walking is on its way!! NOT DEPRESSING. (I hope).