Boring Foot Progress
I figure I will keep more honest if I write progress reports on my rehab. The target date for "back to normal" is the end of January, according to my doctor.
Week 1
* I can use the crutches now that I no longer need them nearly as much!
* Shoes with support on the sides really make a big difference to how naturally I can walk.
* Did not achieve total foot integration. (It still feels slightly foreign.) Can now flex it through its normal range of motion without lots of overt pain, though, and it doesn't hurt just lying around at night. I'm still sleeping with it up but mostly out of habit as it doesn't seem to be swelling.
* Can walk fairly naturally barefoot if I go slowly and try really hard. Can walk fairly naturally in a shoe. Can walk fairly naturally if I use a crutch or two to put some weight on.
* A lot of yoga stretches can be done in bed, and I can do a lot more of them without the cast. Cannot balance on bad foot at all yet. As well as the foot itself, the calf is weakened and the inside of my knee is significantly weakened.
* Worked out an overall plan.
After faffing around all week and just getting around the house and doing yoga stretches, I decided I needed to put more real effort into it, especially since all of the rain rain (go away) is making me want to curl up and not go out and try walking. I've been outside once since I got my cast off, bad me.
So tonight I asked Brad to show me his round of physical therapy exercises that he did for his own broken foot, plus what he's doing right now for his ligament injury. I've already been doing some of these (writing the alphabet with my toe, circle flexes, etc.) but he had a lot of good things to add to it, some of which can be done sitting, some of which I need to wait on until I can balance properly. I'm confident that if I do them regularly I'll get there. That's the rub, of course, but if I don't get it done then I will have to call my doctor and tell him I'm behind schedule and need help, and that would be super embarrassing so I'm hoping that will help. Also I can get some done as part of our normal walk time. I can do bed yoga while I'm watching TV. Already my back feels better; it was getting grumbly about the lack of core exercise because of no walking, and even though I'm not walking a lot yet, the yoga helps my core. I found my yoga strap! And Brad lent me one of his stretchy PT things.
I'm also working on phase shifting back to normal; my sleep cycle right now is completely abominable if my posting time wasn't a clue. Insomnia is just a thing that happens while I'm in the process of this; I'm using the "nuke my circadian with light at the same time every morning" trick and if I keep that up I should be back to a morning schedule in a week or two. I am using the light box because it is still really dark in the mornings. The sleep disruptions mean I'm doing too much day sleeping without the bipap, so I need to work on that as well.
I'm going to finish the bottle of bone mineral+vitamin supplements on the theory that it has lots of things good for muscle repair as well, and I am working my muscles. I need to do a course of probiotics as well; I forgot to get them after the big hit of antibiotics I had with the surgery.
Today was probably the first day in a long while I felt even half decent, so that was really nice. I didn't do the full reps of everything I can already do, but I did quite a bit and got my plan worked out.
Week 1
* I can use the crutches now that I no longer need them nearly as much!
* Shoes with support on the sides really make a big difference to how naturally I can walk.
* Did not achieve total foot integration. (It still feels slightly foreign.) Can now flex it through its normal range of motion without lots of overt pain, though, and it doesn't hurt just lying around at night. I'm still sleeping with it up but mostly out of habit as it doesn't seem to be swelling.
* Can walk fairly naturally barefoot if I go slowly and try really hard. Can walk fairly naturally in a shoe. Can walk fairly naturally if I use a crutch or two to put some weight on.
* A lot of yoga stretches can be done in bed, and I can do a lot more of them without the cast. Cannot balance on bad foot at all yet. As well as the foot itself, the calf is weakened and the inside of my knee is significantly weakened.
* Worked out an overall plan.
After faffing around all week and just getting around the house and doing yoga stretches, I decided I needed to put more real effort into it, especially since all of the rain rain (go away) is making me want to curl up and not go out and try walking. I've been outside once since I got my cast off, bad me.
So tonight I asked Brad to show me his round of physical therapy exercises that he did for his own broken foot, plus what he's doing right now for his ligament injury. I've already been doing some of these (writing the alphabet with my toe, circle flexes, etc.) but he had a lot of good things to add to it, some of which can be done sitting, some of which I need to wait on until I can balance properly. I'm confident that if I do them regularly I'll get there. That's the rub, of course, but if I don't get it done then I will have to call my doctor and tell him I'm behind schedule and need help, and that would be super embarrassing so I'm hoping that will help. Also I can get some done as part of our normal walk time. I can do bed yoga while I'm watching TV. Already my back feels better; it was getting grumbly about the lack of core exercise because of no walking, and even though I'm not walking a lot yet, the yoga helps my core. I found my yoga strap! And Brad lent me one of his stretchy PT things.
I'm also working on phase shifting back to normal; my sleep cycle right now is completely abominable if my posting time wasn't a clue. Insomnia is just a thing that happens while I'm in the process of this; I'm using the "nuke my circadian with light at the same time every morning" trick and if I keep that up I should be back to a morning schedule in a week or two. I am using the light box because it is still really dark in the mornings. The sleep disruptions mean I'm doing too much day sleeping without the bipap, so I need to work on that as well.
I'm going to finish the bottle of bone mineral+vitamin supplements on the theory that it has lots of things good for muscle repair as well, and I am working my muscles. I need to do a course of probiotics as well; I forgot to get them after the big hit of antibiotics I had with the surgery.
Today was probably the first day in a long while I felt even half decent, so that was really nice. I didn't do the full reps of everything I can already do, but I did quite a bit and got my plan worked out.