5 week update

Tomorrow will be five weeks since my surgery. Its amazing how fast the time flies...but its not passing fast enough! :) Overall I am very pleased with my progress so far in the first five weeks since my surgery. Three more weeks in the boot and then I get to wear two shoes! Here is a rundown of how things are going with my ankle:

Pain: Towards the end of the summer, even before the ankle got injured, there was a considerable amount of pain. The pain was horrible right after the injury and then even worse after the surgery. However, for the past two weeks I have had almost no pain at all. This weekend the pain spiked a bit because I was on my feet a lot and traveled up to Saginaw. But, compared to where it was, the pain is so much better. Additionally, this spring I got severe pain in the outside of my calf and it caused me to stop running for about 6 weeks. It turns out that this pain was connected to my ankle and there is no more pain in my calf.

Movement: The only movement allowed right now is dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, no inversion or eversion allowed for another three weeks. I have pretty much full range of motion in both of these directions. Its a little bit short on the plantar flexion (pointing my toes) but I think it went too far before and now its tightened up a bit and therefore a little less flexible. My tendon used to snap everytime I flexed my foot and it has not snapped once since I had surgery. YAY!

Swelling: The swelling needs to make up its mind! One day its puffy and looks like the marshmellow man's foot and the next day there is not any swelling.

Activity: My Surgeon said I can do anything I want as long as the boot stays on it. So, no riding a bike or swimming for a few more weeks. I have gotten back to lifting upper body, doing yoga and pilates, and walking. My neighborhood is a half mile loop and I walk my dogs three times a day. Benny and Sally love it and its actually been pretty fun. I have met a ton of my neighbors by doing this and they have all been very nice.

My Knees: I am pleased to say that there has been no pain at all in my knees even though I have been in a walking boot for 10 weeks. Walking boots can be hard on normal, healthy knees and the changes in gait patterns can also be hard on healthy knees. My knees have not even so much as 'complained' one bit.

Overall: I am pleased with the progress and cannot wait to get the boot off on November 17th. I plan to hit the pool and get on a bike as soon as I can. The fact that there is almost no pain is such a positive thing. I really did not realize how much pain my ankle had been causing me until it got too bad. Now that the problem is fixed my ankle feels worlds better. There is still a long way to go in the recovery process, but so far things are off to a wonderful start.