Monday 14 September 2009

Week 12 - Walking (almost) Normally

My visit to the consultant (who I wasn't there, as predicted) went as expected, and I was advised that I could dispense with the Aircast boot and crutches. I was told that I'm half way to complete healing, which would make the process from injury to complete healing about 5 months.

One dark cloud was that on Thursday evening I noticed that my leg, and in particularl my ankle, had become very swollen.

On Friday I had a second visit to the Physio. A very different experience, in a different wing of the hospital. A small, pleasant waiting room, and a wait of no more than 5 minutes. The physio is a nice young Chinese man who is cheerful, encouraging and obviously knows his stuff. He got me to walk around the gym in bare feet so he could observe how I walked, then got me to do a lunge to see how far I could stretch the tendon in comparison with the uninjured foot. Then standing on tiptoes. My homework is to do 3 rounds of 15 tiptoes, a lunge, and to remember to consciously push off with the heel when walking. All of which is helping, and the limp seems to be disappearing quite quickly.

Re the swelling, the physio said that exercise will help prevent it, but if swollen, I need to lie down with my feet against a wall. He said that it should be higher than the head, although this is the first time I had been told that. So in the evening, whilst watching tv, I've been lying on the sofa with my left foot up against the wall. Quite comfortable really!

Apparently the swelling may come and go for up to another nine months, and I will be seeing the physio once or twice a month for the next six.

3 comments:

  1. Graham,

    Thanks so much for creating your blog. I spent the last several hours reading articles I found in a Google search to educate myself on treatment. I'm about 3 weeks in right now, after a partial tear playing basketball. I'm only 29 years old, so I was really devastated to think my playing days might be over.

    However, your blog, and the comments of others, have given me a much needed boost of confidence. In fact, I'm starting my own blog today to keep everyone informed of my progress, including my family who live back on the East Coast.

    By the way, did you ever find a way to donate the AirCast? I would definitely pay to ship mine overseas to those less fortunate. I can't imagine how terrible this injury would be living in a third world country...

    - James in San Diego

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  2. Hi James,

    Thanks for your comment, and I'm glad you have found the blog and other people's experiences helpful. Did you have surgery or opt for conservative treatment?

    Here in the UK, charities don't seem to want used medical equipment due to what I was told are 'liability issues', and also the cost-effectiveness of checking and cleaning items. It seems such a waste. I was told that a local church group might be worth contacting, if they for example have links with third world churches they might send them for use there.

    I can't find any African organisations asking for them either. If anyone has come across any, please post the details here.

    Good luck with your recovery :-)

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  3. No surgery for me. I'm taking the self-healing approach too. Hope I can recover as quickly as you did...

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