It has been 5 months since surgery and all is coming along fairly well.  I am swimming, riding the bike, and doing cardio on the elliptical and stuff with no real discomfort.  I still can't run, although I can jog but my leg is still so weak its hard to push off without some pain.  I have lost about 21 lbs since I have started back being active so thats a good thing.  I am still walking with a limp but is mainly because of the nerve around the ankle area.  I may have to have that looked at later on down the road if it doesn't get better.
I will be attempting my first triathlon since surgery sometime in April or may I believe and see how things go.  In    March I will be doing the Spartan race so that should be a challenge too.  Anyways, I think I am about done with this blog but will keep checking it and may add a few things later on when needed.  If you have any questions you can ask me here and I will try and answer it for you.

I have been at work for close to a month now and things are a lot better than the first day back.  I still need some mobility but overall it is good the Therapist said, so no more therapy for me!!  I still have a lot of pain around the ankle area (possibly nerve pain) that comes and goes with activity.  The only thing I can do is just keep an eye on it and see if it goes away with more time.  I am just hoping it's not the nural nerve thats entangled with the scar tissue. I will keep updating this as needed but for the most part I am done.

I have been at work for 3 weeks almost and I have been struggling with different issues throughout the night.  My main issue is trying to deal with planter fasciitis on both feet but more so on the right.  I have tried new insoles and new shoes as well as different shoes I had laying around and nothing has helped.  It is getting less intense but it still makes for a long night walking on concrete floors!!!  I also have started to notice that when I wear shoes the part of the arch that is more towards the heel feels as if there is a knot there when walking but nothing is really there.  I also just started feeling like there is a stone or rock in my shoe near my heel area.
As far as the recovery I am still attending PT and will be for the next 2 weeks.  My mobility is good but not great and am still have pain off and on towards the bottom area near the incision as well as around the ankle area.  I am going to the gym about 5-6 days a week depending how my foot feels after work.  I do what I can to try and lose this weight I have gained (BTW I started off at 178 and got up as high as 203, I am now at 195).  I am swimming and getting in the sauna and steam room too.  Still not able to jog or run just yet.

Today is Sept. 21st and overall I am feeling pretty good except for some pain near the incision site.  I am still going to physical therapy twice a week.  The therapist is now doing ultra sound and massaging the area to try and loosen up the scar tissue and relieve some pain.  I am progressing pretty good but still have issues with some pain in the toe joints and ankle joint as well as the area near the ankle bone.  I am hoping it will go away and not the nural nerve that has entangled itself in with the scar tissue.  I still walk with a limp as I am still unable to walk normal because the joints hurt when I put weight on it and when I try and push off the pain is strong in the area around the ankle and incision.  I will see if it goes away in the next month or so and if not then I will return to the doctor.

Therapy and strength are getting a lot better.  I am able to get in the pool at the YMCA and have been doing some walking in it and that seems to help out a lot!!  Other things I do at the YMCA to help me is the stationary bike, leg press, treadmill, and some squats.  I am doing laps in the pool using a buoy because I can't flutter kick just yet.  Trying to get more range of motion is pretty tough when your leg is so weak, LOL.  I am able to walk in a shoe so thats a good thing cause last month I couldn't.

I go back to work on the 26th and will see if I am able to stand and walk for 8+ hours.  If not then I will have to see about another schedule until my foot is able to.  I am so ready to start riding my bike, swimming, and running!!!!  I would like to try and do a sprint triathlon sometime in March next year and hopefully end up doing a Olympic that year.  Because by the year 2014 or 2015 I would like to attempt a Florida Ironman!!!!!!

Oh, and before I forget again, the pics at the bottom of this post are from about 3 or so weeks ago.  I decided to go walking with the G/F and daughter and it ended up swelling up on me pretty bad.

My high arch!!

This is how my foot looks (see how its curved up)

How the scar looks today!! 

Swelling after walking for about 4 hours!!!!

This morning I had my 2 month post op check up and everything looks good he said except for the swelling.  He didn't say the swelling was really bad but would have liked it to have been less is all.  That plus I am still  having joint pain so he has me out of work til Sept 26th. but said I can go back to work sooner if I feel like I am able to and the swelling and pain has subsided.  He wants me to keep it elevated anytime I am laying around. 

I went to physical therapy yesterday (5th time) and they had me do all kinds of stuff.  They first started me off on the bike for about 8 min and then I went straight to the treadmill to walk for about 5 min.  This got the blood flowing and she went straight into some massaging of the ankle joint and bottom of the foot because both were very sore and tight (or swollen).  After that she was stretching my toes cause they seem to be the worst as far as being stiff and hurting.  After all that I walked around the room barefooted trying to loosen up the joint and to try and stop limping and hobbling.  It was very difficult because the toe joints hurt so much when the toes are brought backwards when walking.  I don't have the strength to push off with my toes either so walking makes it very difficult right now.  After that I played a game of pick up using my toes only and wow that was hard, its even hard for me without the injury LOL.  The day ended with some electric shock treatment and ice!!! 

I have been given the OK to walk crutch free and do whatever I can tolerate except running or anything impact once the swelling and pain has left.  After my check up I went to the YMCA and got in the pool for about an hour and walked forward and backward. This helped out a lot!  My goal is to be walking in a shoe with minimal limp by Sept 26th so I can get back to work and my training!!  

Physical therapy going good

It's been 4 days of therapy so far and everything seems to be going good.  Therapist has been doing massage on the side and under my foot to try and loosen things up and that has seemed to help out alot!!  The last session I was at on Thursday the therapist tried a electric stimulation on the ankle joint and I think that really has loosened things up.  For the most part I am now walking (limping flat footed) without crutches.  The only time I use crutches is when I am going somewhere with a lot of walking or in the morning when my foot is very tight.  I use flip flops to walk around in because walking barefoot doesn't allow as much cushion and starts to hurt the bottom of my foot.  I have pain on the top and bottom of my foot when I walk or put weight on it.  I am unable to actually walk because my toe joints and ankle are still to stiff and sore at the moment but hopefully in about 3 weeks I will be good.

Aside from the injury, I have decided I am going to go to school to be a Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) because I think I would enjoy it. Next semester I will start taking some pre reqs and getting them out of the way.  

Here is what the scar looks like today.  Still kinda swollen but not to bad huh!!

Forgot to mention last weekend me, my daughter and g/f decided to go school shopping and ended up being on my feet for 4+ hours.  I was still in the boot the whole time too.  My foot ended up becoming so swollen but had no pain.  It looked like I was allergic to something, LOL.  Here are some pics after a shower and it was still swollen.  It still gets swollen after a long time on my feet but that is common.  I know my feet still have an orange tint from the iodine but thats hard to get off.

I have been to my 3rd therapy and things are starting to loosen up some.  I now have 10 degrees of motion in my ankle up and down.  I am able to put some weight on it and kinda limp my way around but not actually walk just yet.
As far as the incision it is looking really good.  The steri strips are all off as well as the scabs.  I tell you what when those strips were on it became really itchy under the tape cause of the dead peeling skin.  I am still have some itching but not as bad.  The numbness is still there and is kinda sore around the ankle area still.  I will post up more later next week when I start walking some. Here is a pic of my current scar, LOOKING GOOD!!

First day of physical therapy!

This morning I had an appointment for my first therapy.  The therapist basically just evaluated me and did some measurements as far as how flexible my ankle was.  After that he had me do some easy stretching exercises to try and loosen up the ankle some.  Wasn't anything hard this morning at all. I was told I need to try and lose the steri-strips by my next visit on Wed.  I came home and took off a middle one cause it was almost off and one of the end ones.  While taking these off it started peeling my dead skin off and was very weird, LOL.  I am going to hold off on the others until my doctor says to take them off.  (he wanted me to wait til they fell off but that wasn't going to happen because they are on there pretty good).
As far as everything else it seems good.  The incision is getting scabs on it and some have already came off. Foot is peeling from all the dead skin from I don't know what.  Foot is still swollen and is tender around the top, bottom, and near the ankle area.  I still have numbness around the incision and have a feeling that will be there for a while.  I also am still getting some tingling or sharp jolts in the incision area but that is from the damage to the nerves he said.

Here is a picture of how it looked about 4 days before taking 2 strips off

Strip off, looks good

this shot looks kinda weird, LOL. That stuff peeling maybe just the glue they put on or could be dead skin. Which ever it is it felt good to be off. Oh, and the white on my heels is because my feet are so dry and probably has dead skin.

I am still unable to walk at this time but hopefully in a week or 2 I will be walking in the boot.  I have been sleeping without the boot for the last week and it feels so good but may have to start wearing it at night again  to prevent my foot from getting to relaxed and going to limp.  My doctor is hoping I will walk into his office at the beginning of sept in either the boot or my shoes!!  We shall see.

4 week post op update!!

Went to the Dr this morning for my 4 week post op appointment.  Dr said it looked really good and that the color of my foot was normal due to the blood pooling in my foot.  The toes and foot will become normal again once it becomes less stiff.  He wants me to still wear the boot for 2 more weeks but to start putting some weight on it as much as I can tolerate and to try and ween myself off the crutches.  3 weeks in he would like me to try and see if I can tolerate wearing shoes because at the next appointment (1 month) he hopes I will be walking in shoes.
I am scheduled to have physical therapy 2 times a week but my first one won't start for another week (Aug 11th).  In a way I can't wait but then the other part of me say I know its going to suck and probably hurt like a mother!!!  I still have to keep the tape on my incision and only cut off the tape that has peeled away.  I can see the scar is starting to get a little crusty and scabs are forming which are all good signs!!  The itching is getting more intense and I have my handy little back scratcher to solve that problem!
I have tried for the first time putting some weight on it and man does it hurt, LOL.  I am going to try and keep moving it as much as I can but going to limit trying to put to much weight on it right now until my first therapy session.  That way maybe it will have loosened it up some and be less painful.  Anyways here are some pics of how it looks 1 month after surgery.  I will keep posting updates as I progress!!

Well tomorrow is my 4 week post op check and I will see where I go from there.  I have been in and out of the boot for 2 weeks. I am not really moving it to much just letting some air get to it .  I have a few issues I will need to bring up to the dr tomorrow.  One of the problems is my foot gets really red and swollen when I am up for 3 minutes or more.  I know the common reason for this is because blood is rushing down but I will see tomorrow. The other issue is my toes are curled up and stay that way.  I can move them down to were they are level but then they just return back.  I don't know if this is because they are just stiff from me not using them or what.  Other than that I am feeling good.  I don't know if I will return to work light duty or off for another 2-3 weeks.  I work on my feet 8-9 hours a night on concrete floors and that is my biggest concern as I would hate to re-injure it because I went to work to early.

Here is a picture showing the difference in color

Here is a picture of my normal foot 

Surgery foot with curved toes (looks weird)

update

Today has been 3 weeks since surgery and pain is completely gone as far as the surgery itself.  I now have been able to get a half way decent nights sleep without to much discomfort.  The only discomfort I get is when the boot seems to push on the incision at certain positions making it difficult to stay comfortable for very long.  The dr. has allowed me to remove the boot when I am in a controlled environment such as on the bed but must have it on when walking around to prevent from hurting it in anyway!!  I do try and stretch it out some but not a lot.  just trying to stay moving around some so no blood clots form is all.
The incision is starting to itch some and that is a good sign that everything is healing!!  I am so ready to start walking some and be able to start swimming and cycling soon after.  My calf has dwindled to nothing and is very upsetting looking at. My next appointment is in 1 week and he said I will be starting physical therapy and possibly start putting some weight on my leg.

Recovery

About 7am the following morning I noticed I was starting to get the feeling back and was able to wiggle my toes some.  That was a good feeling cause I hate not being able to feel something or able to move it when I try.  About 5 days after surgery I started noticing that the splint was getting a little to tight for my liking and that the pain was the worst it had been.  I decided to take off the ace bandage to relieve some tightness in which it helped out a lot but still felt a little to snug for me so I called up the Dr. office and asked to have a new splint put on.
On July 12th I went in to have a new splint put on and would you believe it or not it felt worse than the first one.  Not tightness but just the pain it was causing me overall.  I would have said something to them but it wasn't that bad when I left, it wasn't until we were riding home did I realize it.  I got home and immediately removed the ace bandage and then reapplied and it was ok but not great.  Through the course of the next 8 days I was a hurting man off and on.  I couldn't sleep because I couldn't find a position I and my leg were both comfortable in.  It had gotten so bad I was thinking of cutting it off and putting my walking boot on instead. When I am saying pain it was more of a pressure pain instead of hurt pain.  It basically felt as if the splint was pushed up against my incision an making it hurt.  Well that and along with it also pushing on my heel and inside of ankle.  I thought for sure maybe a staple had come out and was jabbing me in the side and causing this pain cause thats exactly what it felt like.

July 20th couldn't come fast enough and was so excited about getting the staples out and this darn splint off!!  I arrived at 8:15am and his assistant came in and removed the splint and sutures (not staples as I had thought).     I felt so much better after that splint was off let me tell you!!  The sutures didn't hurt being removed they kinda tickled some.  The Dr came in and looked at it a said everything looked great and wanted to put me in my walking boot for an additional 2 weeks with no weight again.  I still have to use crutches!!  He did say though I am able to remove the boot if I am in a controlled environment but I have to keep it still and dont move it to much.  When I go back on Aug 4th I will probably be able to start putting some weight on it as well as start physical therapy!! My calf has dwindled away to nothing now.
Anyways, here are some pics of the incision with the sutures

Here it is with sutures taken out

Me chillin after getting sutures out!!!

Once I took a shower this is what I saw, YEP DEAD SKIN!!

After some scrubbing it looked better and felt better!!

SURGERY

That afternoon I had to be there at 1:45pm to get prepped  for the surgery around 3:45pm. I had not eaten or drank anything since midnight (13+ hours) and I hated it cause I was not used to not eating or drinking anything for that long.  Anyways, I get called back after checking in.  Once I was back there a nurse came in and was told to lay on the gurney and that an IV would be started.  She numbed the area on my right hand were the IV would be placed  and got me started with some fluids.  A few minutes later she walked in and gave me a pill and a small sip of water and told me the pill was to help with the side affects of the anesthesia.  After she was done the anesthesiologist came in and briefed me on what all he was going to do to give me a nerve block on my leg.  The nurse came back in to scrub and clean my whole leg up to the knee.  After all that was done the anesthesiologist came in and joined the nurse to prep me for the block.  They had me roll over onto my stomach and then the nurse said she was going to be injecting some meds into the IV line that was going to make me feel relaxed and in lala land, hahaha.  As soon as she said that I started feeling weird and just placed my head on the pillow and just kinda gazed off at the wall.  I started to feel pinching below and around my knee for the next minute or so.  Once that was done they had me roll onto my back and relax until the block kicked in.  About 45 min later my leg from the knee down was numb and I was so relaxed I didn't care, LOL.  The surgeon and his team came in to get me and wheeled me off to the o.r. soon after.
 Once I was in the o.r. they had me lay on my side and then they proceeded to make me as comfortable as possible.  During this whole time I think I was being injected with the drugs into my IV line that make you go to sleep.  I say this because I was starting to feel a burning sensation in my hand were the IV was inserted.  The nurse then asked me if I was feeling OK and I told her "NO my hand was stinging" and she then told me "it will go away in a few minutes".   That it did cause I was out!!! LOL.

Here I am after having the nerve block and ready for surgery.

After surgery was done I was brought to the recovery room for roughly an hour and was sent home with meds and instructions.  2 weeks later on July 20th I am to have my 2 week post op visit.  Once in the recovery room I started to come out of it and has repeating myself like for my GF to take a pic of me holding my drink, LOL  "Take a picture of me with my drink"!!!  

Here is a picture of it

 Once I was awake enough to go home I quickly realized that my right leg below my knee was so numb and paralyzed that I couldn't even wiggle my toes!  Anyways, when I got home I laid down and started my recovery. They had put me in a splint to keep my foot still and to protect it. I was told to have no weight put on for 2 weeks and to use the crutches to get around. 

Here is my splint for 2 weeks

I was prescribed Oxycodone and Ultram as my main pain meds.  I was to use the Oxycodone for severe pain and then go to the Ultram once the pain subsided some.  When I was taking the Oxycodone I was very nausea and had hot flashes were I would be sweating real bad.  In that case I would take some Promethazine to help.  

How It All Started

• March 7, 2011:  The weather was cold and rainy that morning and this being my first triathlon I knew I was in for an exciting day.  As I was coming into the transition area and getting off of the bike, my right foot slipped on the wet pavement causing me to twist my ankle.  Unfortunately, I did not feel any pain at the time and continued on through my run to finish the race. 
• March 8, 2011:  When I woke up in the morning, my ankle was a little sore.  It didn't seem swollen or tender at the time. That evening I had to go to work and I knew that being on my foot for 8+ hours was going to be a long night.  By the end of the night, I was in such excruciating pain that I could hardly walk.  My ankle was swollen and very tender. 
• March 9, 2011:  I visited the Podiatrist.  He had my ankle X-rayed during the visit.  He concluded that my ankle was sprained and to ice it and take it easy for several days.
• 2 Weeks Later:  I saw the same DR again since I was not healing.  He basically said nothing was wrong and to give it time.
• May 1, 2011: The pain at this point is bearable and decide to continue on with my 2nd sprint triathlon. I decided going into it that if it started to hurt bad I was going to not do the run and get a DNF.  This swim was good as well as the run from the swim to bike.  The bike also was good.  The run was a different story.  It hurt when I ran (jogged) but deep down inside I didn't want to quit since I had already gone this far, that plus it was only 3.1 miles!  Anyways I finished the race and was pretty sore for the next 6 hours or so!! 
• Mid May 2011:  At this point, I am still in a lot of pain.  I finally seek out a 2nd opinion.  Xrays were clear again at this appointment.  This DR said something is definitely wrong since the ankle was not healing.  He sent me for an MRI. 2 weeks later, had the MRI.  MRI report showed possible tears in the peroneal tendons but wasn't for sure cause MRI's can be misleading.  He then referred me to an Orthopedic surgeon.
• June 22, 2011:  I visited with an Orthopedic surgeon.  He reviewed the MRI and explained to me that an MRI is not always accurate too.  He said having surgery is the only way to truly find the problem and to see what was going on.  He gave me options of walking boot, physical therapy, or surgery, however, the surgeon felt surgery was the best choice because the exam he gave me said the symptoms were leading towards some kind of tear. They then scheduled me for surgery on July 6, 2011.

Here are some pics of how my ankle looked prior to surgery. Swollen and red under ankle.

I even used KT tape for about 2 months and it helped out a lot!!