A Step (or Two?) Backwards

My foot was very puffy this morning - so puffy I had to loosen the laces on my shoe quite a bit to get the foot inside it. Sigh.

Yesterday was a pretty active day, but then I've been pretty active for the past couple weeks. I've been gradually increasing the amount of time I'm on my feet and decreasing the 'foot in the air' time during the day. At night, you'll still find me in my recliner with my feet elevated (and me snoring!).

I started taking walks with the girls again. Short walks. About 1/4 mile out and back. Twenty minutes total. But the rain and generally icky weather put a halt to those the last couple days. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I cleaned house and also spot cleaned the living room carpet. Then decided to take a walk when the sun peeked out later in the afternoon. My foot was feeling great so a walk was a good idea. I'm trying to lose the 50+ pounds I've put on since last June's surgery and walking is a good way to start.

So I got to my 1/4 mile mark and decided to go farther. The wind was cold but was at my back (I forgot it would be in my face on the way home) and I was dressed in wind pants and jacket so it wasn't too bad. Trey is hopefully pregnant and needs to get in better shape for whelping after her long layoff while I was laid up. Beckett is walking on leash as she, too, has a bum foot right now.

All total, I probably walked almost a mile, taking about 35 minutes to do it, and my foot and ankle felt great! Yippee! Trey was tired and ready to settle and not be a pain when Mike came home. Beckett's walk was easy on her foot and she wasn't favoring it much.

So I made homemade pizza crust for the first time in months and we enjoyed our dinner. I put my feet up at 7:00 and noticed then some stiffness in the ankle - not in the tendon, but at the front of the ankle above the instep. So I took off my sock and massaged it. I noticed that the foot was quite swollen, as was the ankle - most noticeably in front near the instep and on the outer side near the ankle bone. Not bad but not good. I also had an ouchiness (bruised feeling) in the middle two toes which I've been fighting since I started walking. After my walk and busy day it was more pronounced. I also found a very tender spot on the tendon during my massage, but the tendon was not stiff or tight.

In the middle of the night I had to get up to visit the bathroom. Normally I have to 'warm up' the foot/ankle but by the time I'm down the stairs and on my way back up, I am able to walk normally. This holds true in the mornings, too, a bit of warm up when my feet first hit the floor. Last night it wasn't so. I had to hobble to and from the bathroom. It wasn't the fused joint or the tendon. It was still the front of the ankle and the middle two toes of the foot.

Now I've had some discomfort in those two toes from the moment I started walking after both surgeries. Being that I never did walk normally after the first surgery I was never able to 'work them out' of this discomfort. So when it happened again this time I assumed it was just lack of use. And it probably is. So I've continued to plug forward, making sure I'm using the correct foot mechanics when I walk.

This week I've noticed that the toes weren't hurting as much, or maybe I should say that they warmed up quicker and were less uncomfortable when they were warmed up. But last night, OMG. Definite bruised feeling overall in those toes. Not so much the actual toes themselves. I guess I should be clear. The toes never hurt but the long bones in the foot were what was causing me discomfort and that is what is feeling very bruised right now. The pain radiates up the two long bones to the front of my ankle.

After getting my foot in my shoe this morning, the foot felt better but not good. I mean that the support of the shoe made the toe bones feel better but the overall ouchiness of the ankle (in the front) is still very apparent. So I decided to take the shoe off and take some photos of it.

Lines from my shoe compression

The swelling at the outside of the ankle bone

Not much change in the overall appearance of the fused joint

So I don't know what's going on with the foot. I am still doing my PT exercises without much difficulty. The tender spot on the tendon last night was a surprise, but not unexpected since I did up the amount of use yesterday. So when you read this, Dr. Lockwood, give it some thought and we'll see where I am on the 22nd when I come to see you.

I am not entering any obedience trials since Trey may be pregnant and Beckett is lame, but I do have Trey entered at the DeWitt dog show on Sunday, April 3rd, just so I can have something to do now that I'm up and about!