I went to see Stephanie (my lisfranc physical therapist) again, and she was really excited for my progress! My swelling is down a half centimeter in my right ankle, which she assures me is a really big number, as far as feet and ankles go, after seeing my reaction of sheer disappointment. I'm only 1 cm off from leftie. Yay! She also measured my range of motion on my right foot, and I've improved 14 degrees. 14 is a much bigger number that I can get behind. I've been working diligently on my ankle pumps.
Then, I got a set of new exercises to do for the next few weeks leading up to my 2nd surgery to remove the pins. My favorite is picking up marbles with my toes (video below)! My toes were super, super stiff at first but they gradually loosened up and I could pick up more and more marbles with my piggies. I tested out leftie to see how she'd perform picking up the marbles and she was an old pro. One day righty will catch up. Also, marbles are hard to find in stores so I had to get them from Amazon!
My new list of exercises includes 2 hamstring strengtheners and a harder clam stretch. I definitely am feeling the burn of an unused hamstring when attempting the exercises. I trust and will obey anything my physical therapist tells me, so she thought that she was hilarious when she told me to crutch over to the treadmill, and then informed me that we will be doing some walking this session. A look of sheer terror must have came over my face because she grabbed my arm and said, "Just kidding!" Ha ha.. very funny Stephanie :) Although I am looking forward to the day that we are able to get up on the treadmill and walk for the first time. She did give me something to look forward to, however. She said that the day I get my stitches out from my hardware removal surgery, she will see me back to back from that appointment with Dr. Van Boerum. And, we'll start putting weight on the foot that day!
I also had been having some nagging nasty pain over the top of my foot since getting my stitches out a few weeks ago. I assumed that it was one of my screws or pins irritating the area and that it would go away once I got them removed. But, the pain wakes me up frequently in the night, and I take my boot off and massage the area and stretch. I also can only keep my boot on for a couple of hours during the day before the pain strikes and I need to take it off, massage and stretch. When I told Stephanie this, she immediately knew the problem, left the room, and came back with a circular piece of foam. She cut a hole in the center. She had me point to the spot where the pain was the worst; it was not hard to miss as it was red, angry and puffy. She placed the foam pad on top of my foot and centered that spot in the hole she had cut, and then had me fasten my boot as normal. THAT FIXED EVERYTHING. It turns out that my boot strap was just severely irritating that part of my foot and there was a tiny part of my incision that was not healing because of it. Since she hooked me up with that extra padding, I have not had an ounce of pain! (at least not in that spot - it still hurts when I bang it around and I'm not careful with it lol)
Also, last weekend, I was able to make it INTO the stadium for the Utes game! It actually was much easier than I anticipated, thanks to the help of the hubby and my mom. I tailgated for several hours beforehand, making sure to ply my body with plenty of alcohol incase it was a bad experience, but not too much, since I didn't want to have to use the bathroom during the middle of the game. That was what I was most anxious about actually. My friend had a great idea though, for future use maybe. He suggested I wear Depends or some sort of adult diaper.
We got to the stadium very early, about an hour before kick-off, so that I'd have plenty of time to get into the stadium and up to my seat, without encountering too much of a crowd. It was a complete success. The floor inside was nice and smooth with no cracks at all so I cruised along on Trumpy ringing my bell at people that got in my way. I couldn't believe it actually worked and people got out of my way as I was rolling by! Usually I do that just for the humor aspect. Anyway, Nate helped me up the 35 rows to my bleacher seat, and much to my delight, there were people cheering me on in the stands as I hopped.
"Way to go girl!" "That's dedication!" "That girl is still going to the game... awesome!"
I scooted on my butt along the bleachers to my seat, while Nate went back down and he and my mom took Trumpy to Guest Services to hang out until the game was over. It was the 9/11 tribute game, so there were 3 paratroopers that dived onto the field before the start. So awesome. The only problem I had during the game, is when something exciting was happening, everyone stood up. It completely blocked my view of the field and the jumbotron, so I had to ask what was happening every time. But, that was the worst of it! The Utes won over Utah State, and I DIDN'T have to go to the bathroom the whole time! Despite of all that tequila I drank...
We waited a few minutes for the crowd to clear, and Nate left to retrieve Trumpy from Guest Services. My mom stayed behind with me. I didn't really want to hop down the stairs, so I used my l33t tricep dipping skills to dip myself down 35 rows of bleachers to the entrance. I hopped on my scooter and off we went out the exit. I had a group of guys following close behind me because I was going pretty fast, and people were scrambling out of the way for me to pass, and they used me as a crowd clearer. At least I'm good for something!
I had a ton of fun, my team won, and there were no casualties.
Although, Trumpy was left unsupervised in a room full of other mobility assistance devices at Guest Services during the game. Who knows what kind of trouble he got into.....
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