I am a physio graduate

I went to physio tonight and Michelle told me that she had done all she could do for me. My plan from the beginning was to move from physio to the gym. That has happened. Michelle told me to keep doing my balancing exercises and my treadmill. She was happy that I wore heals yesterday and suggested that I just wear them for four hours a day instead of trying to to the whole day. I guess thats why they're paid the big bucks, I never thought of that.

I was sad that Justin wasn't there for my last day, I'll have to go back just to thank him. They were a real fun bunch and they helped alot, physically and emotionally. I'll miss them, especially Michelle's foot rubs.

I have legs!!!!!

I wore a skirt to work today. First time since October. There is still a 1" difference in my calf but not really noticeble if you don't know. I wore my heals too. That is until about 2:00 p.m. Thank God I had a flat pair of shoes at work. My foot was horribly swollen and not at all happy about the heals, best to put that idea on the back burner for a while.
Justin, my physio guy, told me to massage my foot by rolling a tennis ball around. That would break up the scar tissue and stuff. Well I have been doing that this past week. I have a tennis ball under my desk. There is a fine line between pain and pleasure. The more I dug that ball in the better it felt but today the bottom of my foot is so very tender. I really must learn the value of 'gradual'. I seem to cause myself undue pain by going all out too soon. Maybe that's my lesson for today.

Physio progress - March 25, 2008

I have been going to physio three times a week up until last week. Now I am going twice a week. I started out with some balancing exercises. At first it was very scary to balance on just my right foot. I had to make sure there was something at hand that I could grab for balance. I could maybe count to 10 before losing my balance. Today at physio I can stand on a foam form and throw a ball against the wall 10 times.
I started going on the treadmill after a week or so of physio. At that time I could only do 1 mph for a few minutes. Today I had it up to 3 mph for the first time and went for 5 minutes.
Doing toe raises is still quite difficult and painful. I can do them 50/50 but trying to put all my weight on just my right foot to do them is very painful. I can do 5 if I work myself up to it. Justin thinks its better not to push it right now if it's too painful.
I also walk forward and backward in front of a mirror for balance and to make my foot do a complete 'roll' when I walk. This is also more difficult backwards but I can do it.
Since the swelling has gone down a bit this past week I seem to notice individual weaknesses in my foot. My arch is very tender and my ankle seems weak. Justin asures me that it's not weak but is sure it just feels looser since the swelling has subsided a bit.
Progress has been very slow but there has been some.

Return to the Gym

This week I have returned to the gym. Unfortunately I can't do more than 2.5 miles per hour on the treadmill for 5 minutes. That's my max. I have had to go to the bike. That I do for 20 minutes at the least resistance, but it's something. I am finding my ankle is pretty weak. The swelling is still an issue but not quite as much as before. Stiffness is still bad and I can't squeeze my toes properly. Progress since beginning physio has been painfully slow.

Shoes, glorious shoes

This continues to be my plague. My foot is either swollen, there is some calcium build up around the wound, or the horrible orthotics that take up a lot of shoe space that make it difficult to wear dress shoes. I have been wearing running shoes to work every day exept, so far, two days that I have been able to wear shoes. My foot is still very stiff. It is always 'sore' to walk although there is no real pain. Patience is something that runs very thin when you're trying on every single pair of shoes you own every single morning, praying that something will fit and feel right.

Total Physio - January 29th - March 27th, 2008

I called Total Physio because they are close to home. I spoke with Michelle who is the physiotherapist. She had never heard of a lisfranc injury so I asked her to do some research before my first appointment. She said that she knew she had heard of a lisfranc injury and remembered as something bad. When we met she said I have quite a bad injury. She proceeded to check my foot for flex and (whatever the opposite of flex is LOL). She looked at me like I was pulling her leg. Flex up is the same in both feet and flex down is close. There are some muscles in my foot that need to be strengthened but she was amazed at how much mobility I had. She said she fully expected me to come in with absolutely no movement in my foot. I explained to her that I was very stubborn and had been moving and exercising my foot often. She said I had probably done 90% of the physio I needed all by myself! She doubts I will need a month's worth of physio. I ROCK!!!! Plus, I am a very good healer. Go figure. She will do what she has to then give me direction when I can get back to the gym. As usual, I am thrilled with the progress. PS - had an appointment with Allison the Occupational Therapist and she is also blown away by my progress. She knows of another woman with lisfranc injury (last year) who has resumed running and is wearing heals and doing perfectly well. Allison said that she wasn't doing as well as me at my stage now. Ya baby!!

Dr. Petrisor - January 22, 2008

Dr. Petrisor is very happy with my progress. Xrays looked good. He said I could start physio and I could start wearing shoes in 2 weeks.