Day 75

Well, it's been a while since I posted an update. Which is problematic, because stuff has actually happened! 

Cleared to bear weight on March 11th. The most annoying part was probably when the surgeon asked me if I had already started physio - no, you hadn't cleared me. Had you done so, I would have gladly started earlier. Oh well - he was very happy with my x-rays and said the fibula fracture (which I had plated/pinned) wasn't really even visible anymore. He also said that my hardware, which we initially hoped would just happily live on inside me, will most likely drive me nuts and need to come out, as I just don't have a lot of fat around my ankles and I do a lot of sports where I will likely rub against my screws. So we will cross that bridge when we get there, but I may get that removed down the road.

I moved from two crutches to one crutch a few hours after we left the hospital because dammit, it was time to get started on learning how to walk again. Balance was a definite issue, as was atrophy in a variety of places but in particular the stabilizing muscles in my foot. My arch had fallen and it was a really weird sensation to walk and feel like my entire foot was on the ground (it felt that way because it was...). 

The 12th was my first physio appointment, and I went with "my guy" (Miles), as I wanted to get things started off on the right foot before having to see someone else for my seven free appointments through Alberta Health (break some bones and have surgery, they give you some freebies to get you moving again, apparently). Mobility in the joint tested pretty well considering the severity of my injury. I started "skateboarding" on the treadmill - essentially my good leg on the side rails and my broken one on the treadmill, working through proper range of motion. This was painful, but very helpful in terms of re-learning movement patterns.

The 13th Marlies and I headed down to Calgary for my work. I was sitting without my foot elevated for a good portion of the week-end, and man, the swelling in my foot/ankle/calf at the end of the day was outrageous. The amount of pitting that I had (essentially, poke your swelling and see how big a dent you can make/how long it takes to go away) was hilarious and gross all at once. The 15th, while I was shuttling stuff back and forth in the soccer centre for medal ceremonies, was when I ditched my second crutch once and for all. WHAT A FEELING. Hobbling in the boot is frustrating in its own right, but it gave me BOTH HANDS FREE! This was amazing. 

The 16th was when I decided I was going to try driving. I wandered out to my car, switched from boot to shoe, and gave it a shot around the block. Felt that I had more than enough mobility to safely maneuver a car on city streets, and declared myself a motorist once more. This was great, because it took away needing to coordinate rides so I could get to physio, a thing I was dreading. The 16th was also the day that I decided I was going to deadlift something. I worked my way up incrementally and then stopped at 225, a weight that is still quite light for me. I had no pain, and actually felt really happy because I was finally able to do some semblance of something I love. This deadlift would become a point of contention between me and my other physio (Christina), and remains one of the reasons that I am waiting out my seven appointments with her so that I can go back to Miles full time. 

Between the 16th and the 20th I tried to spend as much of my indoor time as possible out of the boot. Scary outside world was still inside the boot. I was hobbling my way around out of the boot at Senior Provincials on Sunday and started to have a lot of fatigue related pain. Trying to be smart about things, I went back into my boot for some support. I did still have to walk around a lot over the week-end (especially on Sunday) and definitely felt it. 

I took my boot off once I was done at Provincials on the 23rd and shoved it in the back of the truck. I haven't been back in it since. This is going pretty well. Mobility and strength are improving. On the 26th, Miles suggested some compression to help deal with my swelling. I picked up a cheap (this is a relative term - they were $40 socks) pair of 20-25mmHg socks to see if they made a difference. I was secretly hoping they wouldn't, because $. Having tested what my foot/leg look like after a day in an ankle sock vs. a day in a compression sock, I have to say that the difference is quite substantial. So for the foreseeable future I am rocking a highly fashionable look of one ankle sock and one compression. It looks most awesome when I'm at the gym in shorts. 

My appointment on the 26th was also when I put Miles on the spot and asked him for a lofty yet somewhat achievable goal for me beginning to run again. He told me three months/end of week 12. I will be 12 weeks post-injury on April 12th. My goal is to hit at least 4.0mph on the treadmill by that day. Based on that, I've been adding 0.2mph to my speed during each of my daily treadmill sessions. This slow progression seems to be working thus far - last night I hit 2.4. If I can add 0.2 until I hit 3.0 (which would be Saturday), then I can go up 0.1 some days and 0.2 others until I get there. We'll see what happens. 

My appointment on the 31st was the worst. My appointments with Christina go so differently than with Miles. Miles normally has me on the treadmill to start (10-15 minutes) and then some rocker board and wobble board. Then we do some joint mobilization, followed by some needling of my calf (and then my left hamstring, since we are still finishing up treatment for that injury, too). Then I get stim applied to my ankle (which is always fun because I have nerve damage from my surgery, so if they line the pads up in the right spots I can jack the machine up all the way and still feel nothing) and finish with ultrasound. We'll speak frankly about issues that I'm having (currently achilles pain) and what needs to be pushed through versus what might be bad. I feel like we are on the same page and like I am getting somewhere and that we are being as aggressive as possible to get there.

Christina I start with some joint mobilization. Then I go on the bike for 10-15. Then I do all the exercises that I do at home, which seems like a waste of time, SINCE I DO THEM AT HOME. If things go exceptionally well, we maybe add an exercise, which I then have to demo for a student. Then there some stim and some ultrasound. These appointments take close to two hours (Miles I'm there about 90) and I feel like I get half as much out of them. The worst part of Tuesday, though, was when the student said "well you look pretty active, you've probably squatted before?" COME ON LADY. Because she's a student, too, she's less inclined to modify treatment based on the needs of the individual patient and more one size fits all. I have never squatted toes forward, and I will never squat toes forward. I am not built in a fashion to accommodate this, and despite what Kelly Starrett says in his mobility books, not everyone is going to squat this way. But anyways, trying to get me to not toe out while I recover from a major injury, when it's not something I would do when I'm healthy, really just not working for me. Both Miles and my third physio (Laurie, who owns the clinic where both Miles and Christina work) have said to just squat toes out. When I explained to Laurie what's been going ton with my squat in general, she told me that I was working through it properly (band assisted free squats to counter-balance pitching forward and then box squatting). 

Anyways, I've made the decision that since my time in physio is going to last at least seven weeks anyways, I'm just going to see Christina once a week, and then Miles for my other appointment. That was I can minimize my frustration and not have feelings that I'm not progressing like I could be.

My goal by the end of March was to sub-22 my 5k row. I did some high rep benching on Friday and then again on Sunday, so my pecs and triceps were a little fried so I delayed until the 31st and gave myself one crack it. Happy to say that goal is smashed - my 5k was 21:42. It's essentially just over a 2:10 500m pace (that would be a 21:40 5k). I'm going to have to get down to a 2:05 500m pace to get sub-21, so that's going to be fun. Not a bad goal to try and achieve though. Can't hurt in terms of trying to get my legs back.

I squatted for the first time post-injury yesterday. I box squatted 65# (box was three 45s and a 10). My glutes need to re-learn how to fire, but overall it was too bad. Honestly, in terms of restoring some of the ROM to my ankle joint, it was probably one of the most effective things that I've done. My treadmill session last night was my best one yet - well, after I got over some initial pain on my tibia side. Sometimes I just have to work through pain pockets around either of my fracture sites and then they go away. Pretty sure it has to do with swelling and scar tissue.

Lofty goal is to play football in 37 days. We'll see what happens.