Yesterday, I was allowed to take off my dressing. It revealed a slightly swollen foot, with two new incisions (one on the top on my foot, the other along the side/bottom). Overall, it did not look that bad. The sequel is never as good, I suppose.
My incisions are a little sore still. I don't like the prickly feeling of exposed stitches. When the blanket touches them in the bed, I want to just pull them out. I technically should be waiting until next week to sleep with my boot off, but I am cheating a little. Shhh!!! The doctor originally said that there wouldn't be any stitches on the bottom of my foot, but when I took off the dressing it appears there are stitches there. Also with a lot of dried blood on my foot, so I'm guessing the removal of that pin didn't go quite as smoothly as anticipated :)
I've been allowed to start putting as much as 50% of my body weight on my right foot! I am slowly phasing out the scooter. I am only using it when I a) need to get somewhere fast (midnight potty runs) or b) if I need to carry something in my hands. Otherwise as much as possible I am using my crutches.
I went to physical therapy on Monday, and Stephanie taught me how to get the weight ratio right. It's a bit tricky to get, but we started out with a scale and a book. First, I had to figure out what my weight was, and thanks to surgery last week I knew the number. She marked half of my body weight on the scale with a green sticker. It wasn't a digital scale, it was the kind with a needle. I stood on the book with my left foot so that I would be level with my other foot, since my boot makes it slightly uneven. I slowly started to put weight on my right foot, which was positioned directly under the scale. I started switching my weight back and forth between the book and the scale, and the goal was to hit the green sticker every time to hit 50%. I did this for a few minutes, to get used to and comfortable with the weight. Then, she had me close my eyes and repeat the exercise, to see if I could hit 50% without looking. After a couple of tries I was nailing it pretty well!
Then I started to walk with the crutches around the room, learning to walk all over again. Starting with all the weight on my heel, and then kind of "roll" my foot so the weight then gets pushed through the arch, then the ball, and then the toes. I had to take small steps. How did it feel? It wasn't painful, but uncomfortable. The best way I can describe it, is that it felt like when your sock is kind of bunched up in your shoe right underneath your arch. That pressure you feel on the bottom of your foot, kind of crampy and a bit achy. I thought it would hurt more quite honestly, but with the help of the Superfeet arch supports my doctor recommended, it wasn't bad at all.
I worked on some additional exercises before she sent me home, which included some squats, a session of 5 minutes on the Total Gym doing leg presses, and balance work on my right foot. I actually was sweating pretty good, and it felt great! My foot was definitely sore after all that, but it was the first time I'd used it in 112 days! Wow.
Next week, I'll start 75% of my weight, and go down to one crutch, after my appointment at TOSH to remove my stitches. I also was told to bring a shoe to my next appointment. A SHOE!! She told me to get at least a half size or a full size up from my normal size. Between the insert and swelling, my foot probably won't fit into my normal shoes. There are constantly just left shoes laying all around the house so I hope that starts to change.
As I left my appointment, she brought my scooter over, and I was like "Hell No! I'm walking out of here!" And she just looked at me and said, "OK, but don't over do it!" I got that mischievous grin on my face when I know I'm about to do something I am not supposed to. So, Nate rode the scooter out to the parking lot while I crutched along. We got a lot of weird looks. One guy stopped me and said that it wasn't right! Haha.
It feels great to start walking again, even if it's heavily assisted on crutches. It feels impossible to walk barefoot. I don't know when I will be able to do that again, but I don't want to attempt it any time soon. From what I have read on other blogs, that may take a while! For now I am just happy I can have two feet on the ground.
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