6 Months...

I can't believe it's been six months since I had surgery. After a couple of months of physical therapy, I feel that I am doing really well. I recenlty got a gym membership and have been working out as much as I can. I'm pretty sure my legs are about the same size now.

My scar is looking good, although I think it may have gotten darker while I was outside one day. I don't really have much pain anymore, here and there I'll get a pins and needle feeling on the area that is still numb. My ankle feels a little tight some times in the morning but as I go throughout the day, it lossens up.

xoxo,
Megs

4 Months (Almost)...

I can't believe it's been almost four months since surgery. Yesterday, was my last day of physical therapy. While I'm still not 100% better, I'm on the road....a LONG road. On day one, I could barely inverse my foot. Now I'm at about twenty degrees. Going the other way isn't too easy, I can only go about ten degrees. My physical therapist gave several new exercises in addition to the ones I was doing. The new exercises will help with my range of motion and strengthen my tendons.

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

Last week, I had another follow up appointment. By the time I made it to my appointment, I was walking without crutches! I thought the day would never come!! I'm still wearing the boot but I am able to walk around. At my appointment, my doctor checked my scar to make sure it was healed. He said that for the most part it was looking good but there was a tiny, tiny portion of it that wasn't fully healed. He told me to let give it a week to heal.

Once it is healed, I can start progressing out of the boot. I was given a compression brace to assist me in walking without the boot. I opted to have a compression brace to help push the rest of the swelling out of my ankle. My doctor said that the swelling was right about where it should be. I was instructed to start doing exercises to get my range of motion back. These include the following: pointing & flexing, spelling the ABC's with my foot, and walking on it.

I go back on the 1st of March. My doctor said that after that appointment, he'll decide if I will be doing physical therapy. He hopes by that appointment, I will be able to start walking without the boot and be in regular shoes (yayy!).

xoxo

Megs

A Clean Foot...

I am pleased to announce that after 6 freaking weeks, I can FINALLY wash my foot! Gross I know but it's the truth. Last night I was able to wash my foot for the first time. It still feels incredibly weird to touch it. There are areas on my foot that are still mostly numb. Another gross thing....all of my skin is can just be peeled off. Honestly, I think it's pretty awesome to peel skin off but some people are pretty repulsed by the idea. Anyways, here is a picture of my foot. Don't mind the brown substance you see on part of the scar, I didn't quite get it all off before I took the picture.

I also find it pretty cool that you can still see the stitch marks in my skin. I wonder how long it will be until they go away. Oh and sorry my foot looks rather disgusting.... :/

Other than washing my foot, I've started to put weight on it more and more each day. Although, I'm still on these blasted crutches. So far I think I can put about 25 - 30% of my weight on it while walking. If I'm just standing still, I feel like I can put a little more weight on it. I think I just have this idea in my head that my scar will rip open if I walk on it. I don't know how else to explain it, but I afraid to walk on it. It hurts a little but all in all it just feels weird after not being able to walk for over a month. Hopefully by next week I will be a little better. I have a doctors appointment on the 15th. I'm hoping that I'll be able to improve my walking by then.

I've also noticed that while in this stage, my foot tends to swell up after I've been walking around on it. From what my doctor said at my last appointment, this is a common thing. He told me to keep it elevated when I can.

xoxo

Megs

This Boot Was Made For Walking....

It's true!

I have been cleared to start putting weight on my foot. The only downer....I still have this grey, smelly boot....at least for now. I'm excited to start walking again. I can't imagine being on these blasted crutches for much longer. Although I'll still have to use them until I can put 100% of my weight on that foot. Hopefully I'm make great progress and be walking in no time!

Other good news, my swelling is almost completely gone. The doctor said it is looking excellent. Also, my range of motion has improved. Although it's not superb, I can point and flex it better than I could a week ago. My doctor also said that after my next appointment, I will be starting physical therapy to get my range of motion back. For now it looks as though I will be doing it at home. How you may ask? By pretending to spell the alphabet with my toes. In no time I'll be writing sentences like a pro! haha! Lastly, in a few days I'll be able to remove the dressing on my foot and actually WASH it! Gross I know but that's what happens after surgery.

xoxo

Megs

One Month...

Just got back from my one month check up. I'm happy to report that the stitches are FINALLY out! I was so nervous to get them taken out. Since this was my first time getting sutures taken out, I was hoping that it wouldn't hurt too bad. Matthew was unable to come to my appointment with me so his mother accompanied me.

This time, we started the appointment in a reclined position because I was nervous it was going to feel weird and make me want to pass out. Haha! I'm a baby when it comes to gross things. My doctor said that the swelling looked great. There is hardly any. He told me to keep it elevated if possible but I don't have to all the time, it just helps keep the swelling down. To remove the sutures, he clipped them down the middle and then just pulled them out. Since this made me a little queasy to think about, I didn't look. It actually didn't hurt that much. It just felt like I was getting pinched or plucking my eyebrows for the first time. Once all the stitches were removed, he picked off a little portion of scab and some dead skin.

I have an appointment set up for next week. He instructed me to be pretty cautious with it still because there was a little section that hasn't healed fully. He wants me to start moving it up and down (pointing/flexing) so that it won't be so stiff. I'm not allowed to walk on it yet but I can start to put some pressure on it. Hopefully within the next week or two, I'll be able to put more and more weight on it.

Sorry I didn't get any picutures. Hopefully next time I will be able to get one of it mostly healed.

xoxo

Megs

3 Week Post Surgery...

Today was my three week appointment. I was hoping to finally get the stitches taken out but that was a no go. The doctor said that they aren't quite ready to come out yet. I have made another follow up appointment for the 26th. Hopefully they will be ready to come out. He also said that after my next appointment he is going to start having me move it more, so hopefully that means I'll be off these crutches soon!! As far as my swelling goes, he said that it is looking great. Just from my last appointment, I can tell that the swelling has gone down A LOT! I also asked him about the tingly sensation in my toes and near my stitches. He said that it is a normal thing and that as time goes on and swelling goes down, that sensation will go away.

Improvements Thus Far:

• I am able to rest my foot on the ground while I'm standing or sitting
• I can keep my foot down for longer periods of time without feeling like it's instantly swelling up
• I've gotten a lot better at crutches
• I'm able to drive myself around if needed
• I can wiggle my toes....although it does take most of my concentration

xoxo

Megs

3 Weeks After Surgery

As you can tell, I have almost no muscle left in my leg :(

Frank-an-ankle

Today was my one week follow up after my surgery. Although my doctor was unable to make it, he is currently snowed in in Iowa, a doctor who assisted with the surgery was able to see me. He said that everything looked really well. The swelling was really not that bad, although to me it looked horrible. Which is why I decided to call it Frank-an-ankle. Anywhoot, the doctor gave me a choice between another splint or a boot. I opted to have the boot for a few reasons. 1- I'll be moving to snow country soon and wouldn't be able to get a splint wet. 2- The idea of being in a boot sounded a lot better. 3- Now that I have a boot, I can wear actual clothes if needed (even though I do love lounging around in my jammies). Once I had made my decision, they wrapped Frank-an-ankle back up. I was glad they did because it was making me a queasy. While the boot it ALOT heavier, I already see the benefits of having it. It allows me to be a little more mobile. While I can not put weight on it, it does allow me to rest my foot more easily. Because I can remove it, I will be able to wear jeans and more weather appropriate clothing. It also allows my foot to sit straight. One thing I noticed is that my ankle doesn't sit straight in the splint and I don't want it healing crooked.

My Tips Thus Far:

1- Keep your foot elevated as much as possible. I've had my foot elevated everyday since surgery. Even while I sleep.

2- Ice that sucker. Since it is thickly wrapped, I was instructed to place the ice pack behind my knee. I can feel it working.

3- Take your meds. The first few days were really rough pain wise. I was taking pain killers every four hours. Now they last longer or maybe I don't have as much pain? Either way, I've been able to take half throughout the day and it will last me 6 to 8 hours. I usually take one before bed and than one in the morning. Other than that, they have me on an antibiotic which I take every 8 hours.

Welp, that's all for now.

xoxo

Megs

Christmas...

For Christmas, we went over to Matthew's Mom's house in the morning. By the time I was able to hobble out of bed and get into the car, they had already opened most of the presents. When we got there, we had a couple of gifts to open. I got a new purse (yayy!) and Matthew got a Flip camera. Oh and we got kinect for Xbox!!! Wahoo! I'm excited to try it out when I can walk again. I've just been watching Matthew play all weekend long. Matthew's youngest brother also got kinect and dance central.

Around 2 o'clock, we made our way over to Matthew's Aunt & Uncle's house for dinner. His Aunt Lisa prepared an awesome Christmas dinner. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and rolls. After we stuffed ourselves, we all sat around talking. Well actually everyone else was talking and I was drifting in and out because of the pain killers. Once we had digested some of our food, we opened more presents. Matthew and I received a tent and first aid kit. We are pretty excited about that since we both enjoy camping.

Day 2, 3 & 4 of Surgery

The second day was horrible! I woke up at 4 am in so much pain I was shaking. I have never felt that much pain in my life. I wanted to cut my whole leg off!! After taking some medication, I was able to fall asleep but didn't sleep that long. Day 3 wasn't as bad, but I still feel a lot of pain. The pain killers help but there is still a throbbing, dull pain in my ankle area. Also laying on the couch all day has started to cause my back to ache. I've been keeping it elevated as much as possible, even when I sleep. Day 4 is going pretty well so far. I've been able to go a little longer with out pain medication. Sleeping through the night is pretty hard though.

xoxo

Megs

Surgery

Yesterday was the big day....my ankle surgery. I was pretty nervous the night before and couldn't eat after midnight. I had to be to the surgery center around 7 am to check in. Matthew and I woke up around 6 and got ready to leave. Once we signed in, they took me back pretty quickly. Once I was lying on the bed, I started to get really anxious. The nurse came over and started to put in my IV. For the most part, I did really well. After the IV was put in, I started to feel nauseous. I think it was everything hitting me all at once....surgery, not eating, pain killers, and needles. After dry heaving, I started to feel better. After that, my doctor came back to talk to me about what he was going to be doing. He had decided to add another procedure to the list. Altogether, he performed five different procedures. Luckily, he only had to make one incision. Being put to sleep wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was out after taking one breath. When I woke up, I had some pretty intense pain in my calf. After answering twenty questions, they gave me some more Demorol to help with the pain. Fifteen or twenty minutes passed before they allowed me to start getting dressed. After I was all dressed, they wheeled me into a waiting room where Matthew was waiting for me. The nurse went over a few things with him and gave us the prescriptions for some pain killers and antibiotics. For the most part, my foot was pretty tingly. Apparently, my doctor gave me some pretty awesome numbing medication before I woke up. Supposedly, I can last up to 30 hours.

Day 1
So far today hasn't been too bad. I woke up with some pain this morning. I had decided to take half of a pain killer before I went to bed so that I would be able to sleep. When I woke up this morning I took the other half. My foot is still tingly from the numbing medication. As far as dressing goes, it is wrapped in a splint that makes my foot look three times larger than it is.

That's all for now.

xoxo
Megs

The Results Are In....

Yesterday, I had my highly anticipated follow up for my ankle. While the MRI showed there were no tears in my tendons (Yayy!), it did show some abnormalities. There are a few areas that will need some work done. For those of you who are like me and need to know everything (lol) I'll explain.

My MRI showed that my peroneal tendon doesn't sit in a groove like it should. Instead of my bone being grooved, it sort of bubbles out. Which in turn causes subluxation. This causes the tendon to become irritated and inflamed. While none of my tendons were torn, the MRI showed that they were inflamed or had thickened. There is also another area of my foot that part of the bone will need to be shaved down because it sticks out too far. This causes the tendon become inflamed and a fluid filled sac as developed to adjust this abnormality. There is also some scar tissue that will be removed.

He basically gave me two options. I could have surgery to correct the problems or I could wait another 5-6 months and see if anything has improved after wearing a brace and taking anti-inflamatories. I decided that it was probably best to go ahead and get the surgery. I explained to him that I didn't want to come back in another 5-6 months with the same problem. He said that most people with injuries like mine chose the same thing because they don't see improvement otherwise. According to my doctor, the normal recovery period for this type of surgery is 6 - 10 weeks. He thinks that I will recover faster since I am younger and in better health than most patients.

My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. I'm a bit nervous but know that it's better in the long run to get it done. Before I go in, I have to have a blood test and EKG done. I'm hoping to get that done before the week is up. Come to think about it, I think I'm more nervous for a blood test lol!

xoxo
Megs

Ankle Woes....

As most of you know, I damaged my ankle pretty bad last year. After spending four months walking around on it and it never getting better, I finally decided to go to the doctor. There wasn't much that could be done at that point. I was given an ankle brace and instructed to wear it for a few months. I cooperated and was eventually able to stop wearing it. At my last doctor appointment, I was told I would have to wear a brace for the rest of my life while doing any physical activity or have surgery to fix the problem. I choose to wear the brace as I didn't really have the funds to get the surgery.

While trying to workout this summer, I realized that wearing the brace didn't really help that much. Trying to balance on that foot is another story. I recently went back to the doctor to see if there was anything that could be done (ie: surgery). After examining my foot and taking x-rays, He told me that the only possible problem with my ankle is that my Peroneal Tendon is popping and snapping up over my ankle bone (subluxation). Which causes the bone to become inflamed and create a dull, achy pain. He also believes that my tendons have flattened and are starting to tear. So what does this all mean? I'm getting an MRI on Monday which will hopefully illustrate what is going on. Depending on what the results are, surgery is probably the next step in this saga.

Why am I even writing this post?....I've been doing a lot of googleing over the last couple days and have been able to find very little information on this topic. I've decided that I should document my story for other people who may go through this.

Extreme Weather...

So this whole week it has been raining on and off...but mostly on. Today has been the worst! There is even a tornado watch on the area of Arizona that I live in! Crazy!

Other than the weather, I have been doing well. I went to my follow up doctors appointment for my ankle today and everything is looking good. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, I sprained my ankle so bad in Mexico that they were possibly going to need to do surgery to rebuild the ligiments on the outside because I had completely torn them off. I still have to wear my brace for the next few weeks but should be back in tip top shape within a month...fingers crossed!

Welp...that's all for now!

xoxo
Megs