I am so excited. It’s the a light at the end of the tunnel! Just had my 4week follow up from surgery. Took the cast off and had X-rays. All pretty routine.
Best part… I asked if I could clean my leg and they gave me a towel and a cleaning/ moisturize spray. It was heaven. I got to clean the extra skin off my leg, itch it at the same time, just get all the grim from the last 6 weeks off my leg! Had to stay away from the incisions but that was okay! Spent a good 10 minutes cleaning especially my toes!
Doctor came in and said everything looks great and it’s all healing just like it should be. So that was even more good news. Then he told me the game plan…. two more weeks in a hard cast. I kinda of had a feeling that that was going to happen anyways so I had mentally prepared myself for it. Being in a cast is more annoying than anything. It’s clunky, itchy, hard to get into comfortable positions but nothing I can’t handle for two more weeks.
And then he told me, after that… I would get a walking boot! And we would start with some basic PT and weight bearing. Another upside was I can go back to work!! I have a return to work date. Yes!!! And I can start driving again when I get my boot!! And I wouldn’t need my crutches all the time.
I am over the moon excited. I feel like we are finally getting somewhere and progress is being made. I feel like a huge weight was just lifted off of me. I am not in limbo anymore. I have dates, plans and a course of action.
So my new cast is green this time. The only downside of my appointment was getting my foot into the correct position for the cast. The Dr wanted a neutral position – basically foot completely flat and at 90degrees. Holy crap that hurt trying to force my foot on the stand into that position. Everything inside my ankle was so tight and not use to moving, that it was a struggle. But, the nurse was amazing and very patient with me during the whole process. If you every get injured and need surgery, I highly suggest my orthopedic surgeon and nurses to help you through everything. They are just the best!
One thing my doctor and I did talk about was what it was going to be like mentally… and this is incredibly important.
There will be a lot of things that I have to deal with and that others won’t be able to help me with like the can with the physical part of flexibility, strength and balance. And one of the big issues is going to be confidence or lack of confidence. It’s going to almost resemble PTSD he said.
And that’s going to be the hardest part to deal with. That fear of hurting myself again, or that my ankle won’t hold up…. little things like that. But, the Dr also said that it’s something you slowly work through and it’s very important to not let that fear cripple you. I’m sure I will be talking more about this moving forward! I have some reading to do!
I am going to ride this feeling of amazing for as long as I can…. and I might just celebrate tonight with a glass of champagne!!! And for once since getting hurt, tears of happiness!!
one more mile 