My pleasure was short lived though. My left calf is covered in saggy skin with much of the muscle underneath having wasted away. My ankle has virtually no flexibility and no strength at all. There was also a significant amount of dried blood in the area, presumably from Towel Rail-Gate (see Feb 22nd). I was slightly bemused by the arrow drawn in permanent marker down my left shin, which was applied pre-op to avoid any confusion in the operating theatre. And even more bemused when I realised the lower half of my leg had been shaved - and not with a Gillette Venus judging by the uneven stubble.
The good news though, is that the incision has healed well and all seems to have gone according to plan. More will be known when I visit the surgeon next week. I was then fitted for an Aircast boot, a plastic version of my cast that looks like RoboCop’s lower leg. This is inflated and deflated using a small pumping bladder. For a few seconds I had flashbacks to my youth, recalling Reebok Pump basketball boots and my first pair of Nike Airs.At this stage, I had assumed that I would now be able to start bearing weight, perhaps even with just one crutch. Unfortunately, it became clear that I had been very over optimistic. The nurse gave me the low-down on the next stage - the cast will stay on for 4-6 weeks essentially just as a more comfortable and removable version of my plaster cast; it has to be worn most of the time and always at night; I still need to keep my leg elevated much of the time; and most importantly, I cannot put any weight on it and need to use both crutches.
What I do need to start doing is just touching the base of the boot to the floor as I walk and rolling it forward without putting any weight on it. I gave this some practice with the nurse watching and must admit, it was an unsettling experience. I had no confidence in touching my foot to the floor and was terrified my ankle would somehow give way, even though I wasn’t putting weight on it. With a bit more effort though, it has become more intuitive. It has now become brutally clear to me just how long it is going to take to fully recover, starting with several weeks before I can even walk.
Undeterred and somewhat laughably, I have recently invested a couple of hours putting together updated playlists for my iPod labelled ‘Gym’ and ‘Running’. Highlights include Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf), Highway to Hell (AC/DC) and The Reflex (Duran Duran). These might actually be retro kitsch remixes by the time I’m exercising again. I am unashamed.
My plan is to return to London on Sunday. Although still fairly immobile, it makes practical sense to be able to get to appointments with my surgeon and physiotherapist. My mum, of course, was visibly dismayed at the news having enjoyed playing mother to me again for the past 2 weeks; I probably haven‘t been this dependent on her since before puberty. She even bought me new underwear from M&S yesterday, clearly unaware that a fully grown man finds this a little embarrassing and somewhat emasculatory. I’m starting to feel like James Caan in ‘Misery’. Sometime between now and Sunday, I expect to wake in the middle of the night to find my mum standing at the end of the bed, smiling maniacally and framed by a flash of lightning, preparing to smash my ankle to pieces with a heavy duty rolling pin.
An observation, completely detached from all of this, is the current Comic Relief challenge to climb Kilimanjaro. I read a few weeks ago that several B-list celebrities are climbing Kili to raise money for the charity event, including Chris Moyles, Gary Barlow and two members of Girls Aloud. The idea that my 7-day ordeal last October could be completely undermined by the gluttonous and slothful Moyles reaching the summit, made me feel physically sick. However, a rudimentary Google News search reveals that Cheryl Cole has been crying, Fearne Cotton is struggling with altitude sickness and Aleasha Dixon tumbled down the mountain whilst urinating behind a bush. I feel better now. Is that wrong?
Highlights & stats:
Cups of tea per day: 4
Days until brother’s stag do: 28
Current reading: Free Lunch
Music: True Skool, Coldcut / Roots Manuva
New films watched: 1 (Death Note)
glad to hear you're moving around, mate, we're looking forward to having you back on the sidelines. er, back on the pitch. whatever.
ReplyDeleteEnough photos of the foot tho, let's see a pic of the beard!
I can't believe how quickly you healed - that is seriously impressive. I have recently had my bandage taken off, 11 days after groove deepening and retinaculum repair surgery on my left ankle, and my ankle looks so much worse with than yours did. Maybe your surgeon had the right idea to say no weight bearing, whereas I was instructed to walk the same day of my operation onwards, with the aircast, and was only given crutches the following day. My wound is nowhere near as healed, my ankle is more swollen, i'm covered in bruises and have severe numbness along the outer side of my foot.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is extremely useful, so thanks for posting it. I was just wondering how long it took for the swelling to go down completely with your ankle?
Hi Tash. I can't remember how long it took to go completely, but I recall it was quite a while. What you'll also find is that as you start rehab and putting the joint through more and more work, it will swell or get puffy again on occasions, but this is part of the healing process.
ReplyDeleteI'm obviously no expert, but I'm really surprised you were advised to weight bear so soon after surgery. I was under strict instructions not to - I was also in plaster before getting an Aircast boot.
With the numbness, perhaps worth keeping an eye on that. Some numbness is normal - my surgeon advised that because of the incisions required for the op, there would be some nerve impact which would make the area feel numb for a while. The feeling returned eventually, and the numbness was localised to where the incision was made. If your foot is feeling numb, you may want to ask your doctor about it just to be sure.
Good luck with your rehab, keep posting so we can see how it goes!