day 42

Whoo Hoo! Got the pins out and can begin progressive weight bearing while still using crutches. First the pins. He began pulling one out and I got a bit nervous and verbal - no swear words. He stopped and I took a second to think and realized, "Ok, this is how it feels - weird but not really painful - I can deal with this." He pulled them all out and that was that. The pins were about 3 inches long! Yeouch! That's more of a psychological yeouch than a physical one. I thought they would be half that length. They said my X-Rays looked good; I do have a lot of hardware in the poor foot. From there I went to physical therapy and we practiced walking with up to 50% weight, she manipulated the foot, then gave me some exercises and massages to do and sent me on my way. I have the go ahead to do light yard work and ................................WALK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very exciting. By the end of 6 weeks I should be 100% weight bearing. At that point, I go back for another post op appointment.

I'm a bit nervous about walking for a few reasons. First, it feels awkward since that foot has been so out of commission. Putting it on the ground is a bit scary. Also, so many people have said that when they began weight bearing, the pain came back. I'm low on meds so asked for more. He was reluctant (Damn those people who abuse these things), but did give me a script for enough to see me through. Both the doctor and the physical therapist said that if I get pain, that means I've pushed it too far and to back off. One piece of advice I've gotten from them a few times is that if I wake up in the morning and I am still swollen, it hurts or is not better than whatever it was in the evening, then I've pushed it too far. That makes sense to me and is easy to monitor.

Pain - not up to a 1, but I took two Vicodin before the appointment because I was scared, Swelling - 2 to 3.