Day 128: Back on two feet

Three days in the boot did my Achilles well! I went back to a shoe this morning, and it hardly hurt at all!  The swelling is much better too.

So I saw the amazing Dr. Brian Fischer this afternoon.  He took x-rays which looked great. He confirmed that I didn't re-injure anything I just overdid, and he agreed it is gonna be a bit of an ever-changing dance to find the right balance of doing enough but not too much. This time I don't have to go back for three months!

Day 123: Battery Pack Bandaid

It was Tuesday... I promise you,  I remembered the Walmart debacle. Before I left the house,  I said to John,  "A quick trip to Aldi won't overdo, will it?" It would.... ohhhhhh it would.

In the second-to-last aisle, I realized it. Before I got to the register,  I text John, "Foot not doing well." When I collapsed into the driver's seat, I nearly cried.... I overdid again.

This time, though, I got a nice little booby prize for overdoing.... by the next day,  a lump of localized swelling had developed right over my Achilles. It made my ankle look kind of deformed. It hurt... some, but not too bad. I was icing and elevating like a madman,  but by this morning it wasn't really changing.  I rescheduled my PT to get an opinion from the head therapist. 

Good news: he doesn't think I damaged it...  bad news: I seem to have a bit of tendinitis flaring up. We took it easy wth exercises (I didn't have much choice cuz I was in a bunch of pain) then they sent me home with this George Jetson like bandaid.... it has some kind of anti-inflammatory medicine in it and a battery too... for 14 hours it will be delivering medicine to my tendon in the hopes of reducing the inflammation.

Jami always has to have a lesson... a takeaway to make the pain worthwhile... but honestly I'm struggling to get my bearings here... I think for now my takeaway is: save my steps for the good stuff (going to church, parties,  the campground) and leave the mundane (Walmart, Aldi, Pick N Save) in the hands of my CAPABLE assistants.

Sigh... signing off for the night... praying this high tech bandaid does it's magic.

Day 100: My own plan

So much of my day is spent on my rear end working at a computer. I decided that even if I leave my boot off all day long, I wouldn't spend more than a couple hours actually walking anyways. So the second day, I developed my own plan.

When I get up in the morning, I take off the boot. When I walk around, I wear two shoes. When I'm sitting at my desk (still in my recliner with my foot elevated), I take the shoes off and for the first 10 to 15 minutes of sitting there, I have ice on my Achilles.

As the day draws to an end, I just pay close attention to how my leg is feeling. If it is feeling fatigued or at all painful then I pop that boot back on. I'm also sleeping in the boot still to keep my foot in a good position all night long.

Day 99: Walking again

I'm walking! On two Skechers-clad feet! It feels awkward. I walk SLOWLY and gingerly. My calf muscle is pretty tight so it doesn't like passing that 90-degree position. But walking doesn't hurt!

My biggest worry is my stupid bone-on-bone arthritis in the knee of what is supposed to be my "good" leg. That is a bigger hindrance to my walking than my Achilles is.

Making sure to ice and elevate frequently, I started out with the 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon weaning out of the boot plan as instructed. Initially I used crutches, but by dinner I was confident enough to give it a go without them.

Day 1 of walking = SUCCESS!