I am weaning out of the walking boot!
I started on Wednesday, being allowed 2-3 hours out of the boot and in my tennis shoes, and the rest of the day in the boot. Every other day, I get to add an hour to the time I'm allowed out of the boot. Wed & Thurs, I spent 2-3 hours out, Fri & Sat, I spent 4-5 hours out, and today I'm up to 6-7 hours! As per the usual, I've just been told to listen to my foot and if it starts to hurt, I shouldn't push it. If I am hurting by hour 5, I should just put the boot back on. I don't have to hit those hours every day, only if the foot can tolerate it. With my weaning schedule, I should be COMPLETELY out of the boot by next Saturday!
Balance on my right side is still a bit of an issue. Pretty much all of my PT exercises focus on that. I'm getting better at my single leg stance, and the goal is to balance 20 seconds on my right side. I am doing pretty good and can hit 20 seconds, or close enough. I've added a couple of new exercises, including walking with a band around my ankles, and balancing on my right leg while rotating a ball around my foot. I hate my balancing exercises! I get a break next week from a PT session, since it is Thanksgiving week. But, I still get to see Dr. Van Boerum on Wednesday to get x-rays and he will decide when my next surgery will be.
My posterior tibial tendon issue seems to have resolved itself. I'm not really getting much pain there anymore, unless I'm really overdoing it. I've just been careful with it, like I've been told to do, and it has apparently done the trick. Other than that, I really have no real pain to report aside from having some knee pain if I spend too long walking around in the boot.
Walking barefoot has been getting a lot easier, although I still don't do it very much. I've been working on standing up more in the shower, instead of sitting on my stool. My balance is still not where I feel completely comfortable, so standing on wet, slippery tile in the shower gives me a little anxiety, so I use my stool about half the time. There also isn't really a way that I can shave yet, without sitting down. But bathing, and getting in and out of the tub is a breeze now and much better than it was a month ago. That makes me so happy, because I absolutely love bathing in my oversized, jetted, champagne bubble, chromatherapy tub!
Things are starting to get back to normal, finally. I still walk pretty slow, and have a pretty decent limp, but I don't need a scooter, crutches, or a boot anymore. I no longer look like a cross between Hector Barbosa and LL Cool J. Although it was pretty awesome to walk like a pirate every day!
I keep making really great progress! It's gone much better than I had ever anticipated when I first was diagnosed with the injury. I'm so happy I've kept this blog. Sometimes I go back and read my entries from June and July and I remember how depressed and hopeless I felt. This blog has really helped me process my feelings, and hopefully it has inspired or found its way to help at least one person going through this!
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