Getting Back to "Normal"

So I potentially had my last PT appointment on Friday.

My range of motion is about the same in both ankles and my strength is excellent except when pushing outward against resistance. That is where it still aches after I use it a lot.

The big toe and its fused joint is still swollen, but I am told that may take up to six months or more to reduce. The other toes are nice and slim, thank you very much.

There is still swelling at my heel, both in the back and the outside, and I have a lot of pain in that same area. It feels like I am ripping the tendon when I use it and I am back to short-gaiting since I cannot do a full stride with the roll since it stretches the tendon causing the ripping, tearing pain.

Non-weight bearing the ankle is pretty good. I can rotate it in all directions and do my strengthening exercises with little discomfort and that is only in one exercise. But when I put my (formidable, I admit) weight on it and try to stretch or strengthen I have problems.

I have lost a lot of the range of stretch on the slant board. This is a board set at a 30 degree slant. With my knee straight, I can do all the stretches -- toes forward, toes outward, toes inward. But bend the knee and I can barely get an angle on the ankle. It has really gone into a back-slide of progress.

When I see the doctor next, we'll see what she has to recommend. Probably will have me continue on my own with the at-home exercise program instead of sending me back to PT as there is really nothing more they can do for me as far as pain relief.  Unfortunately I am still having quite a bit of pain upon use of the ankle and the new drug she gave me is totally unhelpful and even the prescription Motrin that used to help is no longer helping much.

I have increased my daily walks with the dogs to twice a day, so I am now getting a mile under my belt, so to speak. It's still at a pretty slow pace, but I am working on the mechanics of properly walking still. The dogs love that we get to walk again.

I am also back to doing herding training with my younger border collie about three times a week. Luckily, I don't have to do a lot of walking on uneven ground with her anymore, but just enough to work the ankle. And of course, I pay for that in the evenings and need to ice the ankle and rest it.

Yesterday, I scooped the dog poop in the yard (which I've been doing about twice a week for the past couple weeks) and then mowed the yard! That's the first time I've done yardwork since before the surgery. Mike didn't take the care I do when he mowed the yard. It just looked sloppy and unkempt all summer. But now, even tho the crabgrass is brown and leaves the yard spotty looking, everything is even and it looks great. Another check on my list back to 'normality'. Next spring I have a bunch of work to do to get the grass back and the weeds and crabgrass gone. But that's for next spring.

I am not happy with the level of discomfort/pain that I endure on a regular basis. Flare ups after heavy use I expect, but if this constant pain is my new normal I might as well not have had the surgery done. It's about the same in the ankle as before the surgery.

Altho . . . the toe joint that had all the arthritis in it is much less painful. More stiff than painful and it is getting better. So I guess the surgery was good for that.

Doctor appointment on Tuesday. We'll see what she says.