12 Weeks

So it has been a full twelve weeks since my second surgery on this foot and I have to say that overall I am THRILLED with the results.

The first time around I was still complaining about the constant pain in the foot, both the ankle and the fused joint. Not this time. Things are feeling much better - not perfect yet but much better.


Looking good! Not so pink either.

This was taken first thing this morning at 5:30am. I am still experiencing swelling in the large toe, especially the longer I am up on it. When it swells a line forms in the skin at the base of the toe right where the toe attaches to the foot and that line actually cuts into my toe and causes some discomfort - like a rubber band is tight around the toe and cutting in. I've been using a large silicone toe spacer to put a bit of compression on that spot and it keeps the line from forming.

The toes are no longer requiring a 'warming up' period to function so they've adjusted to walking again. The fused joint gets 'ache-y' occasionally and I'm still having some difficulty rolling over on it without a bit of mild pain. I think I need to tweak my orthotic with some moleskin. Gonna have to pick that up at Walmart and give it a try.

Puffiness a bit more constant with use

The ankle is getting stronger - slowly. No more 'sprained ankle' pain. So good news there, but it is filling a bit now that I'm on it a lot more. Guess I'm not surprised, just wish it wasn't so. The tendon is occasionally tightening up on me, mostly feel it in the middle of the night. It stretches out easily with some rotation and gentle stretching and I am continuing to do my stretching exercises. I am being ultra careful about adding any weight-bearing exercises on days that I'm up on it a lot as that is enough weight-bearing!

I've developed a bit of a blister/sore spot on the back of my heel, right on the incision, from my Muckers boots. It's odd as I've worn those boots for a couple years and not had a problem but assume the new incision has something to do with the blister. I've stuck a bandage on my heel to protect it as it is tender enough for it to be irritated by my shoe now also.

So pretty much all good news. Happy days!

11 Weeks

I saw the doctor yesterday. It was so funny. She came into the exam room and started asking me questions. She had been reading my blog and keeping up on how my foot was doing. I am so glad I started blogging this foot journey. First of all, it gives me someplace to look back and remember clearly. Secondly, it's a good way for the doctor to know what's happening on a daily or weekly basis. I think she should require all her patients to blog so that she has that extra bit of information and communication.

This past week was my second full week of (part-time) grooming. I had two dogs a day every day except Thursday. The foot handled it okay except for Wednesday when I did the two big German shepherd dogs. The foot was really swollen after I bathed and combed out those two huge dogs for more than 5 hours. (And I was picking GSD hair out of my mouth for hours after I was done!)

Back of ankle/tendon looks pretty good

Foot & front of ankle VERY puffy after grooming for 5 hours!

Side-by-side comparison at ~11 weeks

This was August 23rd (10 wks)

As you can see, the huge bump I had on the side of the joint since the first surgery is no longer there. The foot feels SO much better overall. Yes, it's still weak and has some tender spots but that should resolve with use. What I'm hoping doesn't happen is for the tendon to re-inflame with use. I am being ultra-careful with it, making sure I do my stretches and quitting when it feels tired. I tend to overdo a lot.

We did discuss my other foot and the pain that I experienced last Friday night and several times during the week. When I first felt the ripping, tearing, sharp pain in my left tendon as I was stepping down the stairs, I thought "Oh God, not this one!" There is now a nagging, low-grade discomfort in the tendon of my left foot. I have been stretching it along with the right tendon and hoping to stop in its tracks any further damage. I really don't want to have to have a surgery on that foot down the road!

I've been released to my athletic shoes! She told me not to throw away my boot as that may jinx something. Good to know she's as worried about me as I am! So I think this weekend I'll move back to sleeping upstairs.

Taken this morning at 11 weeks post-op

I plan on adding a hour's worth of walking around the house to my daily exercises - probably in 15 minute doses. I'd love to take Trey for a walk down the road but it's too soon. Walking down the road is much more work than putzing about the house. Don't know why but it's harder on my ankle.

I also need to get rid of the discomfort my four other toes are feeling after not being used for 11 weeks. They are what are causing me the most difficulty in walking. They hurt from dis-use and so then I limp again. Gonna ramp up my mechanics exercises to really get those toes back into shape. But the fused joint and big toe both feel great. Just have to wait for the swelling to go down with time.

As far as the tendon, I'm still going to ease into things. I'll start some weight-bearing stretching this week but not on the slant board. I think I just plain over-do when I use that. I'll start out doing wall stretches and then progress to the slant board. The 'sprained-ankle' pain hasn't recurred in several days. I do believe it was just due to weakness in the ankle. Flexibility is still excellent.

Strength in the ankle is almost non-existent so will also start adding some balancing on that foot, first on the floor and then eventually on the wobble board.

Core strength is also still an issue but not as bad as before. Being upright and walking will help a lot, but I do love to sit on my stabilizing ball and do my leg lifts and other exercises. Just wish I still had horses as riding bareback was the best for core strengthening. Ah well, those were my younger days.

Things are looking optimistic now. The ducks come home Sunday so that will add a bit of work to the beginning and end of my day but I'll be glad to have them home. Once it dries out a bit, I'll have my friend bring her new puppy (now 14 weeks old) out to see the ducks and to see what herding instinct he has at this point. It should be fun to watch.

I see the doctor again in 4+ weeks.



10 Weeks

So the foot is still doing well. I'm still experiencing the 'sprained ankle' pain but not as often as at first. It still catches me unawares sometimes and buckles my knees because it is so sharp and unexpected, but it's not happening as often. I do believe it is due to the ankle being so weak. In the photo below, you can see some swelling of the ankle just to the right side at the edge of my pant leg.

Swelling after I was up on it grooming dogs for 5 hours.
Not too bad!

I did really evaluate my mechanics this week, especially when I'm in the ortho boot. I've found that I am not rolling over from front to back when in the boot. I am just hitting the heel and 'limping', mostly due to habit (I've been in this boot for months now) and partly due to pain anticipation, but not any actual pain.

So on Friday, I didn't do up the calf strap on the boot. This allowed my ankle to flex and actually forced me to walk mechanically correct. At first it was uncomfortable in the toes (all of them), but by the time I was done with my grocery shopping the toes had become accustomed to being used again and the discomfort was mostly gone.

The ankle and calf were a bit tight during the evening and I had a fitful night's sleep with some aching in the side of the ankle (not in the tendon), but it felt real good today, even after I groomed a dog and set up the barn for my ducks, which are coming home next weekend.

So I'm still happy with the progress the foot is making this time around. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to go well and that this will finally be behind me.

But then there's the other foot . . .

9 Weeks

So Friday was nine weeks post-op. I'm still pretty happy with my foot and its progression and healing. 

As you can see, there is more swelling in the foot, just like the doctor expected once I started walking on it again. Some days the swelling is more, sometimes less. The above pictures are on a "less" day.

I didn't start work this week due to the blizzard warnings we had. As it turns out, I could have done my Tuesday morning dog since the weather didn't deteriorate until later in the day, but getting an additional week off wasn't a bad thing. I now start working full force tomorrow. Two dogs a day except for Tuesday when I have to go to my friend's funeral. But the Tuesday dogs I'll be doing on Saturday so I'll only get one day off before working again the following week. And it's two dogs a day that week, too, except for Friday. Ouch. My foot will sure be feeling the extra activity. But lots of massage, elevation and ice will help.

I see the doctor on the 17th, so ten more days. I'm not liking the 'sprained ankle' pain I'm experiencing. I think it's due to the fact that I'm walking in this ortho boot and it throws me back on my heel just enough that unless I'm really thinking about my mechanics, I don't roll onto my toes. In essence, I am still 'limping' on my heel and that is putting strain on the front part of my ankle. When I do my PT in my shoe, if I walk normally the pain is so severe sometimes that my knee buckles from it.

I've been doing a lot of strengthening exercises for the ankle, all non-weight bearing, with my theraband and my wobble board. Rotation and flexing isn't too bad. It does hurt (the same sprained pain) when I roll the ankle to the inside on the wobble board. No pain at all with the theraband exercises.

I am also using my slant board to increase the stretch in the Achilles tendon, but I am not standing and doing this. From past experience I know that if I started out stretching with my full weight on my feet, I'd regress and not progress.

So I am sitting and stretching, adding a bit more weight gradually by leaning forward and having my elbows on my knees. It's going well that way. The tendon tightens up most days a few hours after I stretch but it's not painful and it's not locking up to where I can't do any more stretching that day or the next.

So I think this is the way to go for now - gradual increase in weight-bearing when stretching. That's kinda what got me over the hump the second time around four years ago. I went into water therapy right after the surgery and the buoyancy of the water helped to not overdo the weight bearing exercises. And then the transition to land exercises went well.

The only real weight-bearing exercise I'm doing is my 'relearning to walk right' exercises. In my shoes, I just step onto the healing foot as if I'm walking. Mostly just shifting of weight back and forth between my two feet. After I warm up with that, I will actually lift my good foot and take a step forward. This is helping me remember my walking mechanics. I don't do it much as I'm still babying the healing bone. Once a day for 3-5 steps, depending on how bad the ankle is feeling. The toe joint still feels pretty good. Once in a while it aches a bit, but definitely not like it did before - thankfully.

So PT seems to be going well. I don't like the ankle pain I'm having but it's not tendon related, so in my book that's a good thing. I'd like to say that putting weight on the front part of the foot was painless but it's not. But I'll keep working to get there.

Goodbye Dear Friend

My friend lost her short battle with cancer on Wednesday, February 2. She was 64 years old.

Judy with Riker and Tanner

She first found the lump on her leg in early May. It was taken seriously in August when it was biopsied and the results were a rare muscle cancer. Chemo and radiation did nothing to halt it and Judy expired in the middle of an epic blizzard at a local nursing home in the middle of the night. Luckily her mother was able to get down from Eau Claire before the storm and was able to say good-bye.

She was a great friend and taught a lot a people a lot about dog training.

I miss you, Judy.