This appointment took a little bit longer than my dressing change did, which makes sense given that I had to get x-rays. Not too long after we got there they cut my gauze open and split my slab cast apart so that it could be removed when I got to x-ray. I then waited a bit more.
When we got to x-ray, we finally removed the full slab. I was shocked to see my calf. My left has also shrunk over the course of the last two weeks given its usage is also way down, but seeing my right pretty crazy. The atrophy is real. Anyways, we moved me around this way and that, including a super awesome positioning where my lateral malleolus was pointing down. That incision is more sensitive than the other for sure.
There wasn't much waiting after x-ray before I was taken back into a room. They removed my slab completely and cleaned my leg, which was nice since I was still covered in betadine from my surgery. After a couple of minutes my ortho came in. I actually quite like him. He reminds me a lot of my physio. He told me the x-rays were looking good and that I would be moving into the boot. I have to wear the boot all the time, with three removals per day to work on mobility. I'm supposed to work my ROM at dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, eversion, inversion, and then work on circles both clockwise and counterclockwise. He expects me to regain my full pre-injury ROM and gave me a three month timeline for that (which is actually less than I thought).
He cleared me to lift (yay!) as long as I remain NWB (non-weight bearing) and let pain be my guide. I am also cleared for cardio as long as I am NWB. I'm pricing a ski-erg out, as I think it's my best bet for sure. The random spasms in my foot are normal, which I figured, and are apparently the muscles firing and stuff. He's not quite sure why I'm having pain in my big toe and poked around there a bit. He told me that if it's still bugging me at my next follow up they will x-ray my foot just to make sure I didn't break that too or anything.
Once we were done with the ortho, I had my stitches and staples removed. There were 21 staples in total (13 on the lateral side, 8 on the medial side). It wasn't terrible getting them out, but I definitely felt it. The lateral side was worse, particularly right overtop of my ankle bone. The staples were probably better than getting the stitches out, just because I felt that a little more. The staples was a pinch when she cut it. The stitches I could feel when she cut and when she pulled them out. I wrung my sweatpants in my fists a lot and wasn't too sad when she was done. She cleaned up my foot again and I was actually really happy with how the incisions looked, especially the medial one. My foot is colourful, but not as much as I thought it might be.
Next step was getting me into the boot, which was all kinds of fun. My foot needed to be at 90. It's probably been at 45 in the slab cast and, as one might expect, is very stiff. So we try putting my foot in and the tech is like "your heel needs to be to the back". I ask if it is and she pretty much laughs. She ended up putting a strap around my foot and having me do some stretching to get enough mobility and we tried again. Finally got it in. Success.
So I'm NWB and in the boot now for another five weeks. I had hoped for four, but my appointment is on the 11th of March. I asked my physio if I could start with him at six weeks and he told me to just wait the damn week. We'll see what happens. I do feel better in the boot though. It's much more robust and I can at least lean the heel on the ground when I'm standing in one place and take some of the pressure off my left leg.
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