Day 160 - My ankle hardware did not beep at the airport!

Monday, April 29, 2013 - Week 31

I went to VEGAS over the weekend for my friend's bachelorette pary. It was my first mini trip since injured! I just got back today and surprised how well my ankle handled so much walking. On Saturday morning, I was anxious to find out if my ankle hardware would beep going through the TSA body scanner. My surgeon said it was too small to be detected but some say it still beeps! The answer was no beeping! Not actual picture of me below, but this was what the machine looked like at the airport. I walked out so excited haha. Mostly because I'm on my first trip! I healed up just in time for this planned trip. 

During my stay in Vegas, we did a lot of walking at the mall and around the area by our hotel at the Palazzo. I was limping just a bit but I was able to walk for a few hours. I eventually got tired and had to sit down from time to time to stretch. On Sunday night, I stayed with another friend at her timeshare and it was the first time I went into the Hot Tub with my new ankle hardware! It felt just like the heated pool at PT except there were jets. I did my ankle exercises and the hot water felt really good and relaxing after a long day of walking.  I accidentally walked passed a jet and it blew against my scar area. I felt a quick pinch and it was definitely uncomfortable. Too much pressure, and my scar area still feels sensitive. My trip ended Monday night and my ankle is completely fine! That also meant, I had 2 days off from doing my ankle PT exercises. It was a nice break! I still did some stretches but that was all I had time for. No pain, just a bit of ache and more tired from walking. I'm so happy! 

Day 157 - Discovered ankle socks bothers me

Friday, April 26, 2013 - Week 30

I woke up feeling sore today! But sore on the thighs and not in the ankle surprisingly form running last night. I'm so happy! I discovered that ankle socks bothers my ankle. It cuts off my circulation and a bit of swelling builds up. I feel this pinching pain whenever I wear ankle socks but realized it more then usual last night. It's like I can feel the metal protruding out of my ankle against my ankle bone more with the sock over it. Pretty uncomfortable. Once I moved the sock down I felt free and my limping went away. Here's what my ankle looks like, you can see the sock crease and the bit of swelling from the top view. You can see a bit of swelling from the top view too. It aggravates my hardware area. 

My grandma gave me a new bottle of Chinese medicine, the stinky Dit Da Jow does wonders! I feel fine the next day after a workout. It keeps the aches away! This big bottle costs only $6.50 bought from Chinatown. I love it!

Day 156 - First Running Progression Exercise Homework

Thursday, April 25, 2013 - Week 30

Every thursday is gym time at my friend's apartment. This is the first time I did my Running Progression exercise homework! I was so excited and curious to how long I will last on the treadmill. At PT 2 days ago, I was only able to run 2 minutes of my walking/running intervals. So I began my warm up with a 4 minute walk at 3.0 speed. I started my running for a minute at that point and alternating walking/running every minute until I hit my 15 minute point. That's when I started to feel more tired. At that point I have done a total of 6 minutes of running and felt a quick tiny pinch on the top of my foot, oddly not the ankle bottom area where I'd expect it. From 15 minutes on, I  extended my walking to 2 minutes in between my 1 minute jogs at 4.2 speed. I started to feel heavy and the top and inside foot ankle area started to feel pressure and some snapping/crunching type feeling. I was not in pain! No painful pinch or discomfort. I just felt heavy and small bits of pressure build up in my runs. I finally stopped running at 27 minutes. That's a total of 10 minutes of running! I was afraid to do more because I really did start to feel tired and noticed a bit of limping in my strides. I notice my duck waddling pace too as I progressed in my running. It took me by surprise that I was able to do more then the 2 minutes. I guess it's because I ended my PT session with the run after about 30 minutes of other exercises prior. I was so happy to have made it that far!

After that last round of running I continued to walk at 3.0 speed for another 13 minutes. At this point I was getting really tired and ended at 42 minutes. I was so amazed to see I was able to walk in a fast pace for that long. I'm just so happy and excited to be able to get back into running finally! 

For the next hour, I spent my time working out on other machines and the seated stationary bicycle. It was a very good workout day. Surprisingly my ankle felt fine! Just tired but not achy at all. I'll see how I feel tomorrow!

Day 155 - I had a horrible dream I re-broke my ankle...

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - Week 30

I had a horrible dream last night. I dreamed I re-broke my ankle... I don't know how I broke. All I remember from the dream is that I went into my surgeons office for an xray, and he confirmed it was broken. Said it appeared to be just a hairline fracture. Then gave me a walking boot. I was at least happy I didn't need any crutches! I woke up so sad... It's cold out today too, so I can feel a little ache in the ankle metal area. Maybe it's just that.

Today will be my first day on my own to do running progression exercises! 1 minute walking, 1 minute running and alternating. If I get tired then I'll add more minutes to walking vs running. I'll find out how I do tonight. I also planned to go in to the PT gym to do some prancing on the leg lift machine. That was also one of my homework to do's but haven't had a chance to go because they close too early and I don't get out of work in time. I'll get off a bit early today just to do it. Hope I don't feel too sore tomorrow!

I think maybe the dream happened because I am going to Vegas this weekend for my good friend's bachelorette and nervous about being on my feet for a long period of time, and also afraid people will bump into my ankle. I'm so excited to go since it will be my first real mini weekend vacation since my injury happened 7 months ago! I will definitely update how I feel after I get back. Off to Vegas!

Day 154 - Exactly 7 months since injury and RUNNING on a TREADMILL for the first time at PT!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - Week 30

I can't believe today marks exactly 7 months from the day I injured myself. It's been quite a journey with this healing process. I woke up a bit sore today because I tried running on a treadmill for the first time at PT yesterday! Sore with a bit of stiffness in movement so I got out of bed with a bit of a limp. Just have to warm it up and I'm good to go.

Before I ran, Colleen had me do a bunch of new jumping, skipping, and block hopping exercises to see how my balance was. This time I was able to jump 12x on my bad ankle! 2 weeks ago, I could only do about 4! Then she reviewed the usual balance exercises I do for homework. And she said the magic words. Let's try running on the treadmill! So we started off finding my comfortable walking pace for a minute, which is at 3.0. Then next minute, I will find my comfortable jogging pace, which is at 4.2. I felt fine in that first round and was SO happy! =) This was what I have been waiting for and it's finally here! No pressure but it felt weird because I haven't ran in so long! I felt very heavy. The second round came and I definitely felt tired and a bit of pressure build up in the ankle. No pain though which is great! No crunching, or popping in the ankle either. Once that round ended, Colleen had me stop because she noticed a difference in my steps and saw that I was more slow and tired. She said that because of my balance not fully there yet, it looks like I'm waddling. Waddle running haha. I guess it clearly shows my balance isn't all quite there yet, so for now I'm like a waddling duck! Then even better news came! Colleen gave me a Running Progression plan to do for homework! Run on a treadmill every other day with 2 minutes of walking and 1 minute of jogging at that same pace and do as much as I can! In 2 weeks when I see her again, if I follow all of my homework and do well in my running assessment, I may be able to graduate! That means no more PT! YAY!

To celebrate, I decided to finally remove my final crutch out of my room. I don't need it anymore! It was just sitting there behind my room door. I hope to not have to ever use it again! However, Colleen did bring up removal of my hardware if it does bother me to a point it's debilitating. Now I am reading up and have so many questions on the pros and cons of removing it. It makes me nervous and I ended up staying up til 330am education myself. I'm exhausted today!  

Here's what my calf looks like now. It's almost equal in size! It's taking longer then expected, I need to do more one legged exercises to build it up. I'm just so happy I now have running exercises!

                                               Nov. 21, 2012                         April 24, 2013

                                    

Day 145 - Decided to remove my 1 crutch out of my car trunk

Monday, April 15, 2013 - Week 29

It's such a nice day today! I woke up feeling great! Almost can't feel anything in my ankle! So far this is the best I've felt! I really do miss my handicap placard. It's been exactly 10 days since it expired. It took me about 30 minutes to look for parking around my work place! It's good for me though, I get in some walking. When I got home, I finally decided to remove my 1 crutch out of my car trunk! I can't even remember the last time I used it it's been so long. Sometime in February? Another milestone for me. Slowly removing things I don't need anymore feels really good! 

Day 139 - Got an ankle massage using a Fibroblaster

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - Week 28

I woke up today still a bit sore from walking Pebbles at the beach this past weekend. I went to PT today and told Colleen that and she had me do a few exercises to see how my mobility was. We did a round of two feet hops and then single foot hops. I was able to do a few and no pinching feeling this time around. However, clearly I am still weak on the right leg. Next she had me remove my shoes to give me an ankle massage using a Fibroblaster to loosen up my tissue. I saw the tool and immediately thought what is this?! It looked like a sharp knife! What are you going to do to me? I joked to Colleen and asked if she was going to poke or cut me? Haha. It felt extremely weird when she went over the area where my metal is. I can feel the bumpy nails on my bones as she went over it with some pressure. It wasn't painful, but it was sort of a weird uncomfortable type of pressure that felt good at the same time. It made me sweat too haha! It is a tool for Physical Therapists, designed to reduce hand fatigue when giving massages. Once she was done, I did feel better and more mobile. I felt warmed up and was able to do my exercises with more ease and less stiffness. I felt great! She said to go ahead and massage my ankle before doing my exercises to warm it up.

Next, Colleen had me go over some of my resistance rubber band side steps and forward steps. She taught me a new balance exercise to help improve my joint movement as well. One legged stands with the other knee lifted up to a 90 degree and rotating my entire hip from left to right and back. I definitely felt the pressure on each leg stand and my ankle began to feel hot and this burning sensation, also some pressure build up. I should lose some weight so I am not so heavy haha. This is a new exercise to add to my homework. 

Finally, as usual we end our session with the leg press machine. This machine will control how much body weight I will be using for leg presses or whatever other types of exercises I will do on it. She taught me 2 new exercises to add on to the days I am able to go in to use the gym myself after work. She said just do 2 sets of each every other day. One of them were one legged alternating jumping/prancing and rest for a minute. Second one was to do 2 legged even jumps. This is done to build up my leg strength to actually do real jumps with my 100% body weight. I hope I don't get anymore of these pinching type feelings, it is very uncomfortable. That 5% of immobility can cause issues and will tire me which is expected. Colleen said if it bothers me enough to a point where I am unable to do my day to day things, I can request to have the hardware removed. It appears I should be fine and surprisingly do not swell up. She mentioned that some patients do still swell at 9 months. I'm at my 6 month and a week and my ankle looks completely fine. I wonder if the Chinese medicine had anything to do with it. I will see how I feel in a few months. However, she did say I am healing faster then she expected and progressing very nicely. She is very confident. She think's this is still early for running and believe I should be fine later as I heal up and am ready. This is also the first time I left my PT session without any ice!

Day 137 - Finished my bottle of Chinese medicine, and very sore from walking on the beach

Sunday, April 7, 2013 - Week 27

Sunday's are dog park days for Pebbles! I try to bring her as much as I can whenever I am free. Pebbles was one happy dog today! She met a new friend named Henry that is also a Beagle and same age as her.

We had a nice long walk, maybe for about 2 hours. My ankle became really sore towards the end. I stepped on some very uneven sand and it caused a bit of pinching and uncomfortable quick seconds of ankle bending pain. I started to limp towards the end too. It started to get cold and cloudy, so we headed back to the car to go home. There were a lot of Paragliders out today too. It was fun to watch. 

Right when I got home, I had to lie down! Took a shower and finished my bottle of Dit Da Jow, this Chinese medicine my grandma gave me to get rid of aches. I think it really does work because I haven't really gotten any type of bruising and I do feel better the next day. Maybe it's time for a new bottle.

Day 135 - Handicap Placard Expired today!

Fri, April 5, 2013 - Week 27

I'm sad and happy today! Today marks the day my Handicap Placard expires, as you can see in the hole punches! I'm happy because I feel like I've graduated and Colleen my Physical Therapist said I didn't need it anymore and need to walk more. I can say my limping is pretty much gone, unless I exercise or walked a lot that day. Dr. Lundy did say in about 9-12 months time I'll be as close to 100%. I'm at 6 months now and makes another milestone achieved. I'm sad because I will miss the great parking. I now have to look for parking at work haha. 

Yesterday was the last time I used it. =(  Rest in peace Handicap Parking Placard, it saved me a lot of walking and was very useful. I am very thankful for all the great parking. I will miss it and hope to never have to use another one ever again! Thanks!

Day 132 - RUNNING on the Alter G and Total Body Fitness Group Class for the first time at PT!

Tue, April 2, 2013 - Week 27

I woke up excited this morning! I had a 10am appointment for a free session to try out the Alter G. I got into the room and see this huge machine! Something I've never seen before.

Next, the assistant had me put on these tight biker shorts with zippers attached to the waist. This is for when I step into the machine and zip up, the machine will have air to give me gravity for controlling my body weight to run.

Once I got into it, I was eager to run! The assistant then left me in there to run for 20 minutes after helping me set up for it. I had control of my body weight so I can set the gravity to however many % weight I want to use for running. It felt weird at first because it just felt like air was lifting me and I started to float at about 40% body weight haha. Then I tried more % and was able to run on 65% comfortably. Colleen came in and saw me running! She said that she couldn't even tell which was my broken ankle! I was doing well. Then I tested it more to see how far i can push myself. I've gotten myself to job at 96% but felt a lot of pressure and a bit of a pinch on the ankle so it wasn't good. However I did feel comfortable around the 75% point. As time went, I started to feel more tired and sweater waterfalls down my face. It was very exciting for me! I felt like I got a good workout out of it! Below is an image example of what it looks like. I don't think I will do it again, it felt like I had no where to swing my arms comfortable while running. When I got off, I actually felt a bit dizzy. No good. At least I tried it and got to run for the first time in 6 months! I was very happy =) Colleen also gave me a free one class trial for the Total body Fitness class later at night which I loved too! It was like these 1 minute workout stations around the entire gym. Most of the workouts I can do at home so I may not do that as well. Maybe, we'll see what Colleen says when I see her this coming Tuesday. Crazy workout day but I feel great!