Third Post-Op Doctors Appointment & PT Session (3 month)

Even though I won't hit the 3 month post-op date until next week, Il had my appointment scheduled for this week.  It was pretty early in the morning, so I ended up having to take the day off of work.

When I got there, Doc examined the wound/scar and seemed to think everything looked good (there is still a small scab, but it doesn't seem to be a concern).  He measured by dorsiflexion and recorded the measurements for both feet.  He had me walk around a little bit and do some heel raises.  According to him, everything seems to be going well, and that I should continue to elliptical, and do more of the physical therapy stuff (more on that later).  As for running, it appears that it is still several weeks away.  He said that once I can elliptical for 50 min (5x days a week), I can start to ease into running.

I did talk with him about the new pain on the medial side of the foot.  He did not seem overly concerned about it.  He explained that pain there is somewhat common, and that it will take time before it goes away.  According to his explanation, when they detach the Achilles from the base of the heel, they do not detach the entire Achilles.  The portion that's hurting was likely not detached.  Because it was not detached, and the rest was, things are a little out of sync.  I believe it has something to do with the tightness of the Achilles.  Hopefully in time, things will sync back up and the pain will go away.

After the appointment with Porter (lasted about 15-20 min) I went to PT.  The PT went well.  I ellipticaled for 10 min and then talked with her about moving forward.  She gave me a program to gradually increase my ellipticalling to 50 min (5x per week).  After some calculating, I'm guessing I'll be there sometime around Mid-November.  I am also allowed to start calf stretching against the wall.  This will be my first time doing any type of PT that has involved dosiflexing my foot since the surgery.  I can also start to increase my balancing on 1 foot.  I am going to start standing on a pillow/air-cushion.  I can also continue to use the thera-band.

For the immediate future, the PT lady suggested that I back off from the 1 legged heel raises because it tends to make the new pain I am having increase in intensity.  I will plan to follow this advice, for the next few days, and then slowly get back into it.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the visit.  I'm glad I was able to get my questions answered (mainly about my pain on the medial side).  It sounds like I am on the right track.  I just need to continue to be patient and trust that in time things will improve.  On a side note, I did ask about skiing this winter.  To my surprise, Porter seemed to be OK with the idea...as long I was able to run.  Based on my calculations, this may be very much a possibility...I'm just trying to not get my hopes up too much.