Update On Life...

I can't believe it is already the end of March! It has just flown by. Lately, I've been pretty busy with work and physical therapy for my ankle that I haven't been doing much wedding planning. This month we did a lot of fun things. We went to Wildlife World Zoo with some friends.

Kangaroo with a baby in her pouch!

Baby Mountain Lions

Meerkat

Seahorse

We also went to yet another Sun's game. Matthew also bought 2011 -2012 season tickets....so we'll be going to A LOT more :)

As far as the wedding goes, we were able to meet with the coolest officiant ever! His name is Reverend Giovanni. We were also able to secure our photographer and DJ. Everything is starting to come together. This weekend, we are having our engagement pictures taken. Oh and on saturday I bought my dress!!!! :)

xoxo
Megs

Ankle Update...

I've been pretty busy lately with physical therapy and working, but I figured I should update the ol' blog. After about a month of physical therapy, I'm starting to feel back to normal. I'm able to walk like a normal person. Before I went in, I walked with a limp because my heel cord was too tight. I've also gained 15 degrees when I move my foot to the left (inversion). With that said, I still have a long way to go. My physical therapist said that I am making great progress because I have been doing my at home exercises. Hopefully after the next month of therapy, I will be back to normal...or close to it.

Day 1 of Physical Therapy...

Today was my first day of Physical Therapy! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. When I got there, the doctor came and examined my ankle. He than told me that my ankle is SUPER tight and he was going to "earn his money" by working with me. Haha.

Because my ankle is so tight from not walking for two months, he had my sit with my foot in a whirlpool for 15 minutes. It actually felt quite nice. The water is the perfect temperature. Basically there is a jet that moves your ankle around.

After the whirlpool, they had me sit on a table and they hooked up an electroshock thing to my foot. This wasn't too fun. Although I was scared at first, it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. The purpose of this was to loosen up/relax my ankle. I was hooked up to that for about 15 minutes.

Once that was complete, he demonstrated the exorcises he wants me to do as much as I can. They are as follows:

• Put a soup can or water bottle under the arch of your foot. Practice rolling it back and forth (pointing and flexing). When you go forward, you want to try and touch the ground with your toes. When you go backwards, you focus on touching your heel to the ground.
• To give you an idea of how tight my ankle is, I can barley touch with my toes and when I roll backwards, it doesn't even look like I'm trying to touch the floor with my heel but I totally am!
• Put a golf ball under the arch of your foot. Practice pointing and flexing as well as rolling it side to side. This will help break up the scar tissue that has built up and get my range of motion back.
• With a stretchy band or towel practice pointing and flexing. The band should be placed around the top of your foot, just under the toes. Also practice rotating the ankle. Make sure you are moving your ankle and not your leg. (I struggled with that)
• Put varies size marbles on the floor and practice picking them up with your toes and gently dropping them into a small, paper cup.

Other things I can do include stationary biking and swimming. Although when I go swimming, he wants me to wear a aquatic shoe. He said that if I failed to do so, it wouldn't be long until my arch no longer existed. He also said that my days of walking around barefoot are over :( !!!! I'm not even allowed to wear flippy floppys! :( :( :(

Overall, I think that this will help me out greatly! Since I've been walking around without my beloved boot, I've noticed that it is hard to walk because I can barely point and flex my foot. I only wish I had been able to start therapy sooner or known some of these exercises to do at home. While spelling the ABC's was a good stretch, for me it was really hard to control and it didn't really look like it was working. I go back tomorrow and am interested to see what I will be doing.

xoxo

Megs

Time to say goodbye...

To my boot that is!!!

Today I had another doctors appointment. As usual, everything is looking great. My scar if FULLY healed! Whoot! He also said that I am ready to start wearing shoes again. I'm only allowed to wear supportive shoes though (ie. Athletic shoes)...so no flats, heels, flip flops...etc. To help me ease into regular shoes, he suggested that I wear them in familiar territory. Like when I'm grocery shopping or at the mall. Places that have mostly flat, level ground.

My doctor has also decided to send me to physical therapy. I'll be going three times a week for a month. Physical therapy will help strengthen my tendons as well as help me improve my range of motion. Along with physical therapy, he still wants me to do at home therapy (ie. ABC exercise). The reason he wanted me to start and continue to do this is that it will help me once I am actually in physical therapy.

He also suggested that I gradually move out of the brace once I feel comfortable. He said that my ankle is very strong. He also said that this is the hardest part of recovery. For so long I've trying to protect my ankle and now I can finally start using it. Even last night I had to sleep with a sock on that foot to feel normal. He told me it is ok to sleep without the brace and when I do my exercises. It'll take some getting use to but I'm glad there is light at the end of the tunnel!

My next appointment is set for March 28th.

xoxo

Megs