I'm seeing spots!

As a nice side effect to my swelling of my foot everytime I walk on it is the peticiae or spots caused by small broken blood vessels.

It feels hot and sore and tingly to touch. An excellent method of reminding me to slow down.

Pretty normal

Having got myself worried about the pain and swelling in my foot I consulted Dr Google. What I found was a discussion about recovery and someone at 11 weeks post op asking if it was normal to still have swelling and the pain in the heel.

It is! So at less than 8 weeks it's perfectly normal to still feel like there's a big rock in your shoe and have your foot swell up if you look at it funny.

So I need to reduce my expectations! Some of the contributors said they were using a compression sick to reduce swelling so I'm going to give that a go.

I'm using a simple moonboot so I don't have the option to increase cushioning that a boot with air cells offers. I might have to try and wear my boot more frequently around the house rather than hobbling around bare footed.

I am not a nice patient patient! 

Seven and a half weeks post-surgery

It's been nearly two weeks since getting my cast off. My foot still swells up if I place the slightest demands on it without support. If I wear the moonboot I get very mild swelling and it's the same with double crutches but if I try just walking wearing a shoe it turns into a watermelon.

I had a lot of pain today because I definitely did too much. I weeded the garden for the first time in two months and cleaned both my goldfish tank and my tropical fish tank. I was very sore after. I have had trouble sleeping because my foot throbs a bit at the end of the day so I've got some Panadeine Extra (paracetamol and 15mg codeine) and some 200mg ibuprofen as I've run out of my 800mg slow release ibuprofen. Hopefully I'll be fine tonight.

I think the root of my problem is impatience. I'm used to being able to strap on my iWalk and being able to get around carrying whatever I want. Now I either have to put on the moonboot, with a seam in the liner that irritates my screw insertion site, or use the crutches, which means no carrying. I will try to make an effort to give my foot more support for a while longer.

I'm trying to do flexing and pointing of the foot but success is limited. Flexing is ok but I can only point my toes so far before it feels like the toes are going to cramp and the outer edge of my foot twinges. Still it has vastly improved from where I was at where there was no chance of pointing my toes even a little so I'll just keep at it.

I'm enjoying being able to wear whatever I like and not whacking my other leg with the heavy cast at night. Also being able to scratch and leg and foot is something you can only truly appreciate after six weeks in a cast.

I think they removed my brain too!

This morning I was moving around at a very slow pace and noticing how my foot, which had returned to normal, was once again swollen. My ankle felt like a bad sprain and I was sure I could see new bruises on my foot. It took me about half an hour to realise what it meant to be seeing the swelling etc. It meant I could see my foot therefore I was not wearing my nice supportive and highly stylish moon boot.

My poor foot was sending out all the signals to tell me that it wasn't ready to take on this whole walking business unsupported and I was just going "lala la." My foot is now elevated and I will be popping my moon boot on every time I get on my feet. OK maybe not I finale to do a middle of the night bathroom visit, but all other times.

When I went and got my cast off I extolled the virtues of the iWalk and basically said to everyone from nurses to radiologist to Registrar to Consultant, why are you not telling people about this? I gave them the brochures I had from the New Zealand distributor and she emailed today to say she had had a request for more from the clinic! My work here is done!

On a totally unrelated topic but a point-in-time reference, It's a bit of a sad time in the world at the moment, not only do we have the ongoing Gaza turmoil, we have ISIS in Iraq, the shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines plane in the Ukraine and lots of little strifes. Then we get the news that the funniest man ever has ended his life. Robin Williams has left the building. It seems to be a sad characteristic of comedians that all the happiness seems to be given to audiences and they are left with deficit in their own lives. Also, in a repeat of Farrah Fawcett's death being overshadowed by Michael Jackson's death, the amazing Lauren Bacall's death came almost as an addenda to the news of Robin's death. Despite our boasts of superiority, human beings are still a delicate little species.

Six weeks

While my leg was in the cast I had no problem with swelling but after being freed my foot went crazy! Initially I had ankle swelling - a cankle - and it felt like I had a sprained ankle. Later on that day the whole foot swelled up and went a dull reddish colour. It continued to protest about any use of the ankle or toes. It had been perfectly happy sitting at a 90degree angle to my leg and would like to continue to be so.

I propped it up on a few pillows whenever I was sitting down or lying down, pretty much what I'd done initially post surgery. I did have a bath and it was divine! It was also pretty gross by the end. I used a loofah and a pumice stone to sloth off as much of the gross scaly skin that I could. The area around my screw insertion point was too tender to attack and the tendon resection spot above my ankle and the bone cutting point along the side of my heel where both covered in steristrips so too hard to get to. 

It was a success and now my leg is smooth, hair free but also scrawny.

Today I drove and that was fine once my brain got back into driving mode. I walked the dog with two crutches and a moon boot - fun! I also had a walk around the neighbourhood with the moo boot and one crutch and did a small supermarket shop. My foot still appears to be normal sized and happy. The only time I hurt it was when I whacked the heel against the shin of my other leg. My advice is to look after your heel. It will be tender because, as the registrar said, someone bashed around in there with a saw and cut it apart.

I am certainly enjoying being able walk relatively normally and being able to put my foot down on the floor when I hop out of bed. I also enjoy being able to wear jeans instead of sweats and yoga pants, being able to put a sock on my foot since it's felt like an ice block ever since the surgery.

Day 40 - a naked leg.

Hurray! The healing went to plan so I am cast-free. 

The first port of call was the plaster room where they removed the cast and then strapped it on to protect the leg on the way to Xray. I did a bit of PR work for the iWalk there so that everyone could see how well it worked.

The next stop was X-ray and the revealing of the foot. It didn't look like my foot. The manoeuvring for X-rays was a bit of a pain. Since my foot has been in the same position for six weeks it was somewhat reluctant to bend at the ankle. It just felt wrong. I just had to trust that it was OK and insist it bent for the X-rays. Turning it inwards was a bit sore because of the stretching of the skin across the tendon resection site. It was actually more uncomfortable than resting directly on the site. The toes were also reluctant to flattern down to meet the board. The X-Ray showed my screws in their full glory and they are a bit bigger than I expected.

Then it was the last stop on the journey through Ortho outpatients. I was seen by the Registrar who was very impressed with my iWalk and tried it out. He was happy with my progress and got me to stand up and show off my skills. That was nerve wracking. The ankle had swollen a bit and there was a lot of swelling under my heel so it felt strange to stand on. It also hurt a little. He was happy that my foot line up was much improved. I am used to looking down and seeing my heel stick out on the inside edge of my foot and now I don't see it. My foot looks skinnier because of it but is actual the same as the left foot now. 

I was then seen by the ortho doctor who was very happy and said that I can be seen again in six weeks. I am to use a moon boot until I get sick of it. I also have to see how the orthotics in my right shoe feel. They were originally made to adjust the foot and that is no longer necessary so they might be uncomfortable. If they are I have a prescription for a new one from the orthotic centre.

So now I'm using a moon boot and two crutches. The moon boot is nice and supportive but not enough so to let me go straight into walking crutch free. 

The leg is highly unattractive.

It is scaly and hairy and covered in bumps. I have also lost 5cm of muscle mass in the calf. So I have some hard work ahead of me to get it back to looking attractive. First step will be a bath tonight. Bliss! No balancing or plastic bags!

I'm really looking forward to being able to roll over in bed without the risk of whacking my other leg with a hefty cast. It's the little things!

Day 35 - 5 days until freedom (hopefully)

The day of separation for me and my cast is drawing closer. Although my cast seems fairly keen on doing it sooner. It has got so loose and when I'm sitting down I have to rest it on the floor because having it dependent means it slides down and gets really tight over the middle of my foot. It feels like I could slide it off like a boot, it's so wobbly. I am guessing there is one scrawny little leg in there now!

Here's the gap. The black is gaffer tape to stop the hard edge tearing my leg apart. It seems to be working and now I just have to wait for the previously damaged areas to completely heal.

I've been out and about spreading the word about the iWalk. People seem more likely to stop and ask about it now rather than covertly stare. I've got used to having to strap my leg on before I go anywhere. It'll be funny actually standing up on two feet. 

I realise that the journey is only partway through. I'm not really certain of what will happen once the cast comes off. I'm presuming I get a moon boot and start partial weight bearing. I can't figure out why it'll be hard but I'm sure I'll find out come Tuesday afternoon. It will be nice being able to wear something other than sweatpants and my too big straight leg jeans that have enough stretch to fit over the cast (useful for situations where sweatpants are not de rigeur.

I have continued to have issues with falling when using my crutches, especially at night. I swear that gremlins reach out and grab them. I've only had one really bad thump on my heel that felt like I'd split it open but most likely resulted in a big bruise. All the other times had been momentary touches of the foot. All apart from the time I fell over backwards in the dark in the walk through wardrobe (it leads to the bathroom). Then I managed to save the foot but hit the floor with everything else. Not a pretty sight.

I do look forward to the day when I can climb up the stairs without holding the handrail with a death grip. It's ok at home but not so much out in the big wide world.

I went for a walk in the large park near us at the weekend . It was lovely. We saw some very handsome bulls who were very interested in us!

It was a welcome relief to get out of the house!

Cast off Day!

Hopefully today is the day my bright pink cast and i part company, well it is that day but I hope I don't receive a replacement!

The last three days or so have been a chore. I think that it has been due to leg shrinkage. The cast has felt like a concrete boot and has been verging on painful at night. I think it is due to the ability to move around letting all the weight fall on a single part of my leg rather than distributing the weight throughout the leg. I also find my foot slipping a little inside the cast so when I'm sleeping it can slip back against the front of my ankle area and press hard. It hurts! My toes clenching the cast to stop it moving when mobilising also seemed to trigger cramps in my calf that could not be stopped.

Six weeks seems to have both flown by and dragged depending on what I'm using as my point of reference. I'm looking forward to being able to drive again and being able to put my foot on the ground. My poor left leg has got fed up with taking all the stress, especially having to virtually hop up the stairs every time I use them. It might start demanding a turn in the iwalk or non weight bearing with the crutches.

Having spent six weeks trying out the suggestions people made here is my list of things I actually found useful:

* Extra pillows - great for propping up the foot and for sitting on to protect the poor sit upon bones when becalmed on a bed or sofa.

* Large plastic rubbish bag and a small towel - for showering. I used the same bag for six weeks! I'd wrap the towel around above the cast and then cover the cast with the bag. Initially I would tie it and then tape over but after a while I found simply tying it tightly was sufficient.

* Shower and toilet chairs - you just can't balance in a shower on one leg! The toilet chair was higher than the toilet and had hand rails so it was easy to get up and down.

* Hand sanitiser by the toilet - balancing at the basin is no fun, using this meant I could have clean hands without having to manoeuvre to the basin or balance precariously.

* iWalk - this was my sanity saver. I could get up and down stairs and get out of the house because of it.

* Yoga pants - loose, pajama like and comfy. They were easy to pull over the cast.

* Rearranging my drawers - I made sure that my clothes I could wear were in the top three drawers of my tall boy so there was no bending needed. I could grab underwear, t-shirt and pants while standing on crutches and throw them on my bed.

* Drug app on phone - useful in the early days when you have lots of drugs to keep track of and a fuzzy head.

* Netflix - I had lots of plans to knit and write but in the first few weeks my brain was still mush and watching TV shows was all it was really capable of.

* Water bottle - I got really thirsty and having a water bottle on hand was great. Also you can carry it while using crutches. Try that with a glass of water.

Basically anything that let me do day to day tasks on my own without being dependent on having someone on hand.

Day 32 - moving into line

I think that the realignment of my heel must be doing something because my arch is a bit achy. Not painful, just achy.