Foot & Ankle Surgery Recovery Day 123

Posted by DetectiveEstes in Uncategorized      No comments

May
11

This is the ongoing documentation of recovery from Post Tibia Tendon (PTT) surgery.  Day 118 was a glorious day in the recovery.  Upon arrival my therapist, Matt, discussed the pain level with me and issues I am having.  I advised Matt that I was shooting shotgun a few nights previous and found I could not seem to hold my balance enough to stand still.  This made me nervous that I would be unable to hit much.  I was also worried about having another incident of my knee seeming to give out as I stepped forward to step up my shooting position.  I also advised Matt I was worried about shooting rifle in competition because one has to stand balanced for a longer period of time.  In rifle shooting, rather than the same problem in shotgun, I was worried that the pain would be too great to shoot in competition as many shots in long periods are required in the competition I participate in.  Matt considered this and advised that from this day forward until he said different, I was to have my brace on while on any shooting range, but any other time I was to only have my old orthotic (pre-surgery orthotic) in the shoe, and no brace.

Woooo-hooo!!!  I had looked forward to this decision for a while!!  The brace is certainly good for holding me in place, but it seems to encourage my ankle to swell when I’m doing any exercises or simply moving around.  Naturally, the brace has to be tight around my ankle to do its job.  The job is just done too well sometimes and after strenuous exercise the foot swells larger than the brace and pushes against the brace.  This causes more pain.

I ran a rifle match, today, that I wanted to shoot in.  I quickly found out why I still cannot shoot in these matches.  I use boots on my feet to assist me in standing still for a steadier position.  Well, I can’t get my surgered foot into my shooting boot.  It’s too fat even with no duress on it prior to putting the boot on.  I was sorely disappointed.  Perhaps the next match I can shoot in it.  I have to wait till my foot loses its all-the-time swelling.

However, I did get another bit of wonderful news from Matt the same day as the orthotic news:  I can shower barefoot now! YAY!!  Matt looked my foot over carefully and determined I have no exposed scars.  Everything is closed up.  This means water can cover my foot, so there is no danger of infection.  Yippee!!

I thought readers want to take a look at the scars on my foot now, as well as the surgered foot in comparison to the right foot.  I agree, the left foot looks like it was in a battle – and lost.  I’ll describe the photos as to what they show.

foot comparison

The above photo is a comparison of the left foot with the surgery to the right foot.  The left foot is clearly larger than the right one.  Notice how the scar on the top of the foot has healed to that of a bruise.

outside left ankle

heel

In the above line of photos top to bottom. 1 – 4.  #1 shows the left (outside) of the left ankle.  Notice the swelling.  #2 shows the same ankle except a downward looking photo to better view the swelling of the ankle.  #3 photo is of the inside (right side) of the ankle.  #4 & #5 are photos of the heel showing the location of the spike, which has now been completely covered but with a little dot of white showing the spike’s location.

I have an appointment toward the end of May with both the blood clot doctor as well as Dr. Cuttica to look at the surgery results.  I’ll post the results of both appointments.  Stay tuned.