About 18 weeks..

So today I went to the park.. there are a bunch of trails you can walk on through the woods. I probably walked one mile! That is pretty awesome! I have been on a few short walks over the past couple  weeks…it was nice to take a kind of long walk again. Walking now is even better than before the surgery..I’m hardly in any pain anymore. I can’t even express how thankful I am for that.

I’ve really been able to work out again this past month…over my three months non-weight bearing I probably gained close to 20 lbs.. but that is expected I suppose…sitting around getting no form of cardio and just eating lol…but I have nearly got all of that weight off again. I have been doing light weight lifting, yoga, hooping, dancing, and other aerobics. I’m hitting the gym again tomorrow for the first time since September really. I’ve just been working out at home up till now. I’m pretty excited, I’m planning on getting into the best shape of my life this year and so far I’m doing really well. Finally being able to work out without the distraction of pain and worries is nice.

I have been getting my business going from home. Tie-dye products..shirts, socks, dresses, pants…my artwork..other hand-made goods. That has been keeping me busy at home lately. I am getting kind of antsy, I’d like to start working again somehow.. not full-time or anything.. just a couple nights a week or so. I like to still be able to do my hobbies and passions, but work a little just to have something to do really. Feels good to work when it’s a job you really enjoy. Doc said I still have a couple months of rehabilitation to go though..just have to work hard and get my body ready for the time after that.

I’m so happy to have my surgery done and over with. For five years I worried about the state of my foot and how bad  the surgery would be and how it would be afterwards…to finally NOT have that going through my head everyday is like the best thing ever. AND on top of that, it turned out so much better than expected. I feel like my life is finally moving forward. I must say though, and my Doctor mentioned this to me as well, that my easy recovery had a lot to do with me being in such good shape and maintaining a good diet before and after the surgery. I have been a vegetarian for more than two years now..I have more stable, consistent energy than I have ever had or felt. I hardly ever get sick. I maintain a healthy weight easily. And now this, my foot & my body heals fast and easily bounces back into my normal life. Just switching a few meals a week to being meat-free is a great way to start. You’re helping the people of this earth, it’s animals, the environment, and YOURSELF! Nothing is more rewarding to me.

16 weeks into recovery…

So finally got some pictures of my X-rays, yayy! I’ve marked them with the dates, half are from my appointment in December and half are from my appointment two days ago on the 24th. If you look closely you can see how the bone looks more organized than the month before. Pretty neat, I thought.

Doctor said everything was still looking great. You can see in my X-rays how my first toe beside the big one is elevated a little and is a little too far towards my other toes.  He said it did look a little better this time though. It doesn’t cause me much trouble/pain but if it did progress to that we could fix it if need be. Other than that, he said the fusion has appeared to have taken, so that’s great news too! I asked him when I could be back to working-dancing-walking more and he said a good goal would be by my 6 month mark–which is when my next appointment with him is..March 27!

I have been wearing just shoes for about three weeks now, no crutches anymore at all. When I first transitioned into a normal shoe, I wore the shoe half of the day and then wore my walking boot the other half of the day. I used my crutches still for awhile while wearing my shoe, to help strengthen my ankle more before I just walked on it without anything. The boot keeps your ankle stiff so it is pretty weak whenever you first stop wearing the boot.

I bought some Shaun White shoes first, which are pretty comfy.. I like all the padding skateboarding shoes have. I bought some New Balance shoes about two weeks ago and man, are they awesome! I have never bought any of these before but I guess I never tried them on cause they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever had. My foot doesn’t even hurt at all in these!! I definitely recommend buying some more expensive, well made shoes whenever you get to that point. It really makes all the difference.

I have still been doing my PT…  I’ve been doing some working out with hand weights, kick box style kind of. One new thing is I’ve started doing squats and calf raises! Both of these have got my legs into awesome shape, & helped build some of that muscle back I had lost. My legs are still not completely even, my atrophied calf is still almost one inch smaller… I suppose it will just take time. Regaining good muscle control on that leg has been kind of difficult too but has improved with work. I’ve been dancing again too, for about 30 minutes at a time right now. Hoping to get were I can do that and walking, for longer periods of time again by that 6 month mark. That’s the goal.

Just about at the 4 month mark now, things are pretty great. Feeling almost completely normal. It’s so amazing to just live life and not worry about my foot constantly and deal with that pain anymore. It is a huge relief for me. Ask me questions if you have them or just need some support or encouragement, I’d love to hear your story and talk with you! Keep a good diet going, meditate on your healing, and most importantly, stay positive. It will all come in time.

12 weeks…milestones

Today is 12 weeks exactly from my surgery! I’m full weight bearing, no more crutches!! Yayy! My foot is feeling amazing.. yes after a long day and walking around a bit makes it a little sore, but not much more than my other foot or anywhere else on my body. Sooo much less pain than before my surgery!!
Things are getting back to normal, still doing PT and yoga daily…I’ve started doing calf raises the past week, it’s helped my calf on my weak leg a lot. Also working on balancing on each foot. I can stand up and do yoga poses now-downward facing dog & wide leg forward bend are a couple I haven’t been able to do for 3 months, so awesome! && I started hooping again yesterday too!! I’ve been hoop dancing for a couple years now and have missed it so much the past few months. Plus it is GREAT exercise and a perfect way for me to get some cardio in, without putting much impact on my foot. So happy about all of this. These are big milestones!!
Next step is going to be finding a couple good pairs of tennis shoes to start the transition out of my boot. That will be amazing!! I wear tennis shoes a lot anyway, and have for the past few years with all of this, so I don’t really mind wearing them. But I do think that I will be able to wear some heels or dress shoes when I want… which is so exciting. I haven’t been able to wear them the past five years because of the pain and the deformity in my mid-foot region, but I don’t think I will have any problem wearing them every now and then !
Just wanted to let all of you know about all these big accomplishments lately! Keep pushing yourself, stay positive, and focus on healing yourself! – the rest will follow, my friend!

11 weeks post-op..

I went back to my Doctor on the December 20, 2011.. more x-rays and the normal check-up. He said the x-rays still look good, my first joint is so much more straight than before. I have been weight bearing for almost five weeks. I’ve been putting about 120-130 lbs. on my foot. I pretty much can walk without my crutches around the house (still in walking boot) and when I go out I really only need one. A cane would really be better but I don’t have one. The Dr. said that if I’ve been weight bearing that much and had no pain, & x-rays still straight, than everything is healed up well. He said I can progress into a shoe whenever I have been full weight bearing in the boot for awhile. He prescribed a carbon plate for me to put underneath my insole in the shoe I’ll be getting. I’m going to buy a couple pairs of better shoes here soon, I still need to wear my boot for awhile.

beautiful arch again

weight bearing

There is a few pictures from today. In the two pictures taken from above, you can see my second toe knuckle is a little elevated. It was just a little longer than the rest of my toes, and with the plate on the bone in my midfoot just caused it to raise a little. It doesn’t bother me much, he said we’ll just have to see how it goes and if it bothers me we can always fix it later if need be. I still have not gotten any pictures of my x-rays. Wish I had pictures from before too, such a dramatic difference after. I had a nice size knot there where my scars are now, the top half of my right foot had started to move to the right. They moved it back straight, looks and FEELS sooo much better than before. The fusion is what helped so much. I had developed bad arthritis in my joint there and I hardly have any pain at all anymore. So thankful. I don’t feel my plates hardly at all anymore either.
So I’ve been continuing physical therapy and meditation five days a week. I’ve been exercising too, trying to keep off this holiday weight isn’t easy when you can’t walk around very much haha. Push-ups, crunches(lots of em), leg lifts, repetitive motions. I really need to start lifting weights to help build the rest of my muscle back, which I will be doing as of January. I have put some weight on it too, while not wearing a boot or anything, feels pretty good too! I can hobble to the bathroom at night without anything, it is just a few steps from my bed though. Standing up in the shower again too. Feels really good to be doing little things like that again. Seems like it went by really fast, definitely worth all of it though. Such a relief from my mind. It had been causing soo much pain and stress the past five years. So thankful and grateful to have gotten it fixed, it may not be perfect, but it is a hell of a lot better than before. Hands down! Very happy with the results.
Well I go back January 20, 2012 for my next appointment. By then I plan to be full weight bearing, probably still in the boot. I might be able to wear a show by then. One of the big things is building padding on the bottom of your feet again, it’s almost all the way gone now. I suppose that will come back after walking for awhile. Until next time, keep healing&loving everyday!
Tell me about your lisfranc story!! I’d love to hear it!

Physical Therapy…

Well I’m assuming, like many of you, I can’t afford physical therapy, but I have done some thorough reading about what is done in lisfranc physical therapy. This person’s blog helped me a lot–http://fractralfoot.wordpress.com/physical-therapy/

So I got my fiberglass cast off two weeks ago now. At first I could barely move my ankle at all and my foot was very weak and still felt rather fragile. In the first week..
-flex foot up and down
-circle motion with foot both ways
-wiggle toes
-trace alphabet
3 sets of 10, 3x daily
I noticed a big difference within the first week. My range of motion improved a lot and my ankle wasn’t feeling so stiff. One of the hardest things was getting used to having my leg down again. I have been pretty consistent the past 7 weeks with keeping it elevated as much as I could, so the change caused a little swelling. Plus just using it again causes some of that as well. I would ice once or twice a day for 20 minutes or so.

In the second week…
-flex foot up and down
-circle motion with foot both ways
-wiggles toes
-trace alphabet
-leg lifts: straighten leg, lift forwards and backwards as far as I could, lift to the side, and then to the inside
3 sets of 10, 3x daily
Started doing yoga again(had been doing minimal yoga for 2-3 weeks but am able to do a lot more poses without the cast)
Ice once or twice a day as needed, 20 minutes
Doing yoga again has helped soooo much. Not only are your joints and muscles really sore and stiff from not moving very much for so long, but it helps build back lost muscle too. By stretching your muscles, you lightly tear them, which causes them to build back stronger than before..just like lifting weights. It had helped me a lot with my leg that had been experiencing atrophy. Which has gotten a lot better over this last week. My calf and thigh had lost a lot of muscle. 1 inch off of each. I have gotten back at least a 1/2 inch back on each of them now. If you have access to a gym, light weight lifting would help 2-3 weeks into PT. I have had to put my gym membership on hold through all of this because I couldn’t afford it through out the recovery time. Hopefully I’ll be able to go back by the new year.
Physical therapy has been pretty tough though. My foot has been pretty sore a few days from all the new work. But I continue to see progress, which makes it all worth it. One step closer to getting back to normal. I have started partial weight too. At first, I could only do 15 lbs., after one week 25 lbs., now I’m at 30-35 lbs. Doc said to progress at about 10 lbs. per week, or just stay below the point that causes pain.

8 weeks post-op..

Well it will be 8 weeks tomorrow since my surgery. I had my last appointment November 21, 2011.. it’s been a couple weeks almost. They took more x-rays and I got a chance to look at them too. (Forgot the phone in the car or I would’ve taken some pictures, dangit) He said everything was looking just really good though.. It helped a little bit to actually see some x-rays and see how much better it looked. The metal plates are pretty small too, just two small plates with four holes in each, so i have 8 screws. When I first got my cast off, my foot was pretty gross looking lol, and I had lost almost all range of motion. It just felt really weak and still kind of fragile. I can’t afford to go to physical therapy but have done a lot of reading about it online. My Dr. told me I could start rotating my ankle, in circles & up and down, tracing the letters of the alphabet with my foot, and start putting about 25 pounds of pressure on it. I  was really nervous to start applying weight to it, and at first I could only put 15 pounds on it. A week and a half later now, I have gained a LOT more range of motion back, can pretty much move it without and pain, and can put 25 lbs on it. It was kind of uncomfortable in the beginning just because I was moving the foot and it was putting pressure on the plates. They feel much more comfortable now. My leg muscles that had been experiencing atrophy, have already started to firm back up and I can tell my leg is starting to gain the loss muscle back. Your body naturally tries to be balanced and symmetrical, I think that is pretty awesome. This past weekend, Thanksgiving weekend, I actually went to North Carolina, Atlanta, Athens, and Nashville following The String Cheese Incident. We had bought the tickets about 4 or 5 months ago and we weren’t planning to do my surgery when we did… but I couldn’t give up that opportunity… and I had a BLAST!! only 7 weeks after surgery and I was dancing and having a great time, even with my walking boot. It was just what I needed after 7 weeks of pretty much staying put in the house recovering. Lifted my spirits and gave me the strength to push through this last bit of recovery and move forward with my life. We actually won a “golden ticket” in Atlanta and got to go backstage to have a beer with Kyle Hollingsworth after the show!! So amazing to finally meet these guys who have been a major inspiration in my life artistically, musically, spiritually for so long…so thankful for that opportunity & experience. I go back to the Doctor December 20… not sure if I will be able to not wear the boot anymore, I suppose it just depends on how I progress  over the next few weeks. Thanks to everybody reading, and remember to stay optimistic & do what the Doc says!! Our bodies can do remarkable things!!! <3 love to you all.

 

And the pain killer withdrawals begin…

So I was supposed to go back to my Doctor on November 18, 2011 for my six week post-op appointment but unfortunately they called me that morning and said they have to reschedule till the following Monday the 21st. That is totally all right, I was excited to get it off but everything happens for a reason. I just wasn’t supposed to get it off that day. Anyway, I stopped taking my pain killers… Hydrocodone 7.5 about 3 days ago. I had only been taking two before bed sometimes just one, but it had been almost two months. The past few nights I’ve had a lot of trouble sleeping..I’ve been running a fever 101.5…headaches..muscle cramps.. Last night I woke up at about 5 in the morning and couldn’t stop shivering and shaking for almost a hour. It was horrible, my body was cramping, and no matter what I did, my whole body just HURT! I wasn’t sure what was going on last night, but after reading a lot of material today, I’m almost positive it’s from stopping taking the meds. If it was from infection it would’ve already happened by now I think. It probably would’ve been better to taper off of them, but I just ran out and decided I didn’t want anymore. Now I am 3 days in, and the symptoms should be stopping soon. Just a reminder to all of you on pain killers, even when you aren’t abusing them, it will still effect you when you stop taking them. Tapering off is probably a much better idea. but just remember that these pills are addictive and they are pretty tough to come off of. So after my appointment on Monday, I’ll write another blog and tell everyone how it went.

4 weeks post-op…

I have now had my fiberglass cast on for two weeks…four weeks since surgery. Pain is almost non-existent..I still have been taking one hydrocodone 7.5 at night. Soon I will stop taking them all together. The only pain I do experience is what I think is from the last of the swelling going down and just being able to feel more what’s going on inside. Just being able to feel the metal more. I feel really lucky to feel as good as I do, I have read so many horror stories about these surgeries. Some not having feeling in their toes (due to nerve damage) even after months. Within two weeks I was able to move my toes, without much pain really. Now I do not have any pain moving them, I can scrunch them up and move them up too.  My hurt leg has started to experience atrophy (1inch off thigh, 1/2 inch off calf).. I’ve started doing some exercises to try to help with that and my loss of motion. Just standing on my other leg, and bringing the hurt one up towards my chest, then back as far as I could. Then keeping leg straight just move it out to the side a few times a day. It seems to have helped. I do exercises for my upper body as well. Crunches (with legs elevated) I lay on the floor and put a pillow on the couch and put my legs on top of that. Push-ups for my arms, rest legs at knees with feet in the air. Just doing these little exercises have helped with my energy and body pains a lot. Don’t push yourself too soon though, I started doing these because I felt my foot could handle it and was in a good enough state to do so. Honestly, I feel I have had such an easy recovery and my foot has healed so fast due to me being a vegetarian-with the combination of not smoking, or consuming alcohol or caffeine. Many things I have read said that red meat stunts bone growth just as much as the smoking, etc.. I have been a vegetarian for two years now, and I really believe it had a lot to do with my body’s ability to restore and repair my broken bones. Two weeks from now, on November 18, 2011 I will go back and have the fiberglass cast removed and start using my walking boot. Partial-weight for now working my way up. At least I will be able to take it off and do some PT and massage through out the day. Keep meditating on your healing and stay positive guys! You will get better, and you will be able to walk again one day!

2 week post-op appointment…

Two weeks after the surgery, I went back for x-rays and splint was removed. Doctor said everything looked great, he seems very surprised that my swelling was almost completely gone. There was still a small amount of swelling directly around the incisions but nothing very bad at all. He said the fusion had appeared to have taken and all looked well. (what a relief for my mind!!) They then took the stitches out… which were pretty sensitive and stung a bit but nothing compared to everything else. They put the butterfly strips around the incision

 

s and then put a fiberglass cast on my foot. (Purple for me!) As for a summary over the past two weeks, I’d have to say this is probably the hardest and most critical time of your recovery. Definitely take it really easy, try not to move very much at all. Be persistent with keeping your foot elevated at all times. (It really does pay off!!) The first two weeks were pretty strange, just because you can feel “things shifting” in there, pretty neat experience. Feeling things go back into the shape they’re supposed to be. After the first two weeks,  I cut back on my pain killers (Ultram & Percocet for the first week, now just Hydrocodone 7.5) trying to just take them at night to help me sleep all the way through. I recommend to stop taking them as soon as you can, because it actually effects the critical stages of bone growth that are very important in the beginning. Try not to drink caffeine, alcohol, or smoke cigarettes. (not a smoker myself, but have read this is one of the main causes of non-union) So just give it up already! Being prepared before is important, make your “nest” area with everything you may need or want to have during your recovery. Have lots of books, laptop, magazines, wet wipes, chapstick, etc…just whatever helps make you more comfortable….& one of the most important things I remember reading before….-be patient with your helpers- i like to say monkey helpers lol.. it is frustrating sometimes, but you must remain patient & understanding with them. It helped me a lot to meditate during this time. I would meditate on commanding my body to heal my foot perfectly straight like before, with no pain or problems and minimal scarring. Repeat this over and over and over again. Put your other foot next to your hurt one, and imagine it being straight just like the other. & Stay positive!! Our bodies can do remarkable things.

Surgery Day…

The day off, I must say I was quite worried about the whole thing but really, I did not have much to lose. My foot was in horrible condition & starting to deform even more..so I knew deep down this is what I have to do. I arrived at the surgery center at 7 in the morning. Did paperwork and waited around for awhile, I believe they ended up bringing me back around 10:30. They started my IV and asked more questions. Eventually my husband and Dad came back to say bye before surgery and reassure me that everything would be alright. We talked with the Doctor and he went over the procedure with us one more time. They then gave me something to “calm me down” before they started doing my nerve blocks. Oh boy, not to worry you all, but mine were horrible. (The man who did them said he had never had so much trouble finding somebody’s nerves before, so normally I think it wouldn’t be so bad) They hit the nerve on the back of my leg, above the knee & then the one in the crease at the top of your leg on the front. The last was the one that took so long. After that was over though, my whole leg was completely numb within 10 minutes. I was brought back to the surgery room in a haze of drug induced happiness haha. Next thing I knew, I was out. During the surgery, I was having fusion of 1st, 2nd, and possibly 3rd cuneiform joints, with two metal plates and 8 screws over to hold the joints together(metal plates were put above the 1st and 3rd joints). My Dr. was planning on taking a bone graft from my heel to place in the joint. Since I sustained my injury for so long there was a “bump” in my mid foot region from my body just trying to fix itself for so long. and Dr. ended up using some of the bone for the fusion instead of doing the bone graft. (Ironically, it turns out my “bump” ended up helping me in the end!!) I had two incisions on the top of my foot, each about two inches long. Surgery started around 11:30, and took two hours, one hour was the plan but they obviously ended up needing more time(fine by me!). Upon awakening(1:30), the first thing that I did was ask the nurse “did everything go all right??” lol of course they would say yes I imagine not to scare you but everything did go well and I hung around the recovery room for about an hour till they released me. Waking up wasn’t bad at all, I have had a scary experience waking up from anesthesia but this time went very smoothly. At this point, no pain at all, thanks to the nerve block, which all in all was definitely worth it. It keeps your leg/foot numb for pretty much the whole first day. Plus strong narcotics, which you will definitely want to take, about every 4 hours or so. Don’t wait till you start hurting, keep ahead of the pain in the beginning for the sake of your comfort. (&mind)