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 70 - No more Crutches and Ankle Brace!

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 - Week 18

Today I woke up to the same tender bruised feeling around my ankle. More of course on the right ankle side because that's where the metal is. I do the usual quick ankle turns and stretches before stepping out of bed. I'm noticing the tender bruised feeling is narrowing down and less spread out. It's now more on the area closest to the scar and ankle joints on both side of my right ankle. I didn't use my 1 crutch or ankle brace since a few days before my last week's Physical Therapy session. 

I got to Physical Therapy 15 minutes early this time. This time, for the first time I warmed up on the Elliptical! I did feel pressure on the ankle whenever I took the step down to maneuver each step. No resistance added to the machine. No pain, just pressure on every push off. It felt like a pretty good warm up because it sort of took my limp away. Yep, I still have a visible limp that is slowly going away.

Colleen did the usual measurements and said that my range of motion is looking very well and improving. She asked me about walking, how far I can walk and if I am in pain. No Pain and I told her I am confidently walking around without the need of my 1 Crutch and ankle brace! I do by the end the day with a bigger limp and feeling a bit achy. As expected by her and my surgeon, I will be off of it by the end of this month! Well, I still keep a crutch on my passenger seat just in case I do get too tired. So far in the past week I was ok and didn't need to use it at all! Good bye to my crutches and my ankle braces!

Next she asked me to do some squats. This time, I was less stiff on the top of my foot where it bends. I still can't fully bend it evenly with the other foot. Then she had me walk in a line from toe to heel forward and backwards. Next she had me try out a new heel raise exercise by placing my toes on the edge of the stair step and doing leg lifts. I am still wobbly and unbalanced as I always tend to lean to the right. Even with the standing with just my single right foot baring my entire bodies weight. I can only hold it for about 6 seconds at max and then I start to lean to the right. Again I feel the pressure tender bruised feeling. Clearly I need to work on my right leg muscles to get it strong again. Getting there. She also had me do some heel lifts on the Leg lift machine (behind the Elliptical machine in the picture above) using my own body weight. This time, she added one extra bar of weight and I didn't even know it! She wanted to test me out and clearly in just a week my ankle and leg is getting stronger. My right calf still is a chicken leg compared to the ginormous left calf. I wonder if the Chinese medicine really does work? I have to keep up with my exercises and stretches. I'm healing well so far, and hope for the tender bruise feeling to go away soon! I end my sessions with the usual bag of ice which I take to go with me after 10 minutes of icing it. I went outside to schedule my last 4 weeks, once a week sessions with Colleen! This makes my full 20 sessions! So far, Colleen didn't ask for more. Does that mean I'll be done after these last 4 coming weeks? I hope so!

Day 67 - Chinese Herbal Soup

Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 - Week 17

I woke up to a sunny day. As usual, I feel the stiff tender bruised feeling on my ankle. I do a few ankle turns to warm in up before stepping out of bed. Since my Physical Therapy session on Wednesday, I haven't used my 1 crutch and ankle brace! I'm feeling better by the day and improving. I still continue my ankle exercises and using the Chinese medicine. 

My mom calls me to pick up some Chinese Herbal Soup. She said it was good for my ankle. I never question her and just drink it. I never know what's in it. Sometimes I don't want to know. The last time I went to my grandparents to have dinner, they gave me soup and said it was good for my ankle. I asked what was in it and they said they'll tell me after. They told me it was frog! It's just so gross to me haha. I am very Americanized but still will respect their ways. It didn't taste too bad.

As I was walking back to my car after eating dinner at grandparents, I saw a handicap sign that made me sad and laugh at the same time. What does this mean haha?!

Day 58 - Last Pool Class!

Friday, Jan. 18, 2013 - Week 16

I woke up feeling good on my ankle today. The only thing that bugged me was my ganglion cyst on my left wrist haha! It came back from using the one crutch. This time, it is bigger then ever! It irritated me and I sort of felt the pain of it squeezing against my nerves. I'll try not to use the crutch so much and will need to massage the wrist so it goes away. Dr. Lundy said that he could drain it for me with a needle but only if it really bothers me. I'm ok for now.

I still wore my ankle brace and used my 1 crutch to get to Physical Therapy. There's this hill that leads to my Physical Therapy and using a crutch will help me get up that hill just a bit faster.

I came in early and ready for the Pool Class. I can't believe it was going to be my last pool class! I was so happy! I got in the pool and no pain! I was able to take the warm up lap walking around the entire pool circle and not needing to stay in the deep end anymore for the weight support. I was able to do all of my exercises without any bar support as well! I've really improved and Serena can tell. She's so proud of me! I've kept up with my homework and listened to Serena and Colleen with the continued homework therapy I needed once out of there.

My scar is also starting to look better by the day. Maybe Cocoa butter is working? I still see a bit of the rash scarring, the dark spots around the scar. 

Day 56 - New Standing and Balancing Exercises!

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 - Week 16

I think I had a little too much fun being out and on my feet for too long on saturday for a few friend's 30th birthday. I have been sore ever since! It's a lot better today though. I've been using my one crutch and ankle brace for the extra support. Was feeling achy, bruised, tender, and the weird cold metal feeling. The best way to describe this feeling is like getting a shot of novacaine in your mouth. That instant pinch.

For the first time, a police officer came up to my parking spot and checked my handicap parking placard and my ID! I was able to get around without using my one crutch today in my session. Serena gave me a really good ankle massage this time. My measurements with the ankle bending up and down continue to improve. She's very impressed with my progress. Then she had me do more standing and balancing type exercises. She also looked at how I'm walking and correcting my steps by reminding me to use my thigh muscles to step fully and rolling off my foot from heel to toe when stepping. After the massage, I was able to walk with pretty much no limp! So exciting! Serena was very happy to see my progress. Next she had me walk up and down stairs. I was doing completely fine. Surprised how well I did, I even rolled my feet evenly stepping through each step. Then she had me try out the elliptical machine and I was so excited to find out I am ok with it. No pain!

Then she had me try this new exercise stretches using the TRX. This felt really good, got some good upper body workout too. After today, I was more sore then usual. Ended up limping a bit after my last exercise with the toe raises. Got some ice and off to work I went! I'll go home and continue my homework as well as using my Cocoa Butter on the scar and the chinese medicine my grandma gave me. I'm getting really close to walking without a limp!

Day 50 - First time without an ankle brace!

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 - Week 15

Today was the first day I went without an ankle brace! I woke up and felt even more better as each day passes. I was less stiff and did a few warm up movements before stepping out of bed. I was able to walk to my car without crutches, which I have been doing the past few days, and still brought a crutch to get to work in case I got tired at the end of the day. So far so good! Once the end of my work day came, I started to feel more tired and limpy. Yes, I still have this undeniable limp. My steps still look a bit wobbly. I just need to keep reminding myself to flex my right thigh when taking a step and the limp sort of goes away.

I started to massage my top of the leg next to my scar more. Since yesterday's physical therapy session with Serena, you can see, feel, and notice that it's a bit swollen and stiff. It feels a bit like a bruise on that area too. It is also a bit stiff and hard. After massaging it out, I do feel sore. You can see a bit of the swelling to the right of my scar just above my top arch. Notice also the tiny little bulge under my ankle, that is the part where I feel the tender bruise most whenever I walk. There's still pressure there. On the top of my ankle, you can sort of see a little bulge/indent, that's where the metal end begins. I've already put on some Cocoa Butter and continue the Chinese medicine. I will continue to massage my foot and scar, as well as keeping up with my ankle exercises everyday. I look forward to my pool class tomorrow!

Day 49 - Tenth Physical Therapy Session

Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 - Week 15

I felt good waking up this morning. Not as stiff as usual. I got around without using crutches! One of the crutch is in the car and the other one is downstairs in the living room. I'm getting around slowly. I made it to my 9:15am appointment with Serena for some land physical therapy. I only wore my neoprene brace to physical therapy and kept it off the rest of the day. She sees that I am doing well and can walk without my one crutch I brought! I got the usual measurements before and after the warm up stretches and massage. This time, the massage on the top of my leg really made me sore. I was pretty stiff on the top of my leg this time. It felt sooo good after. I was really warmed up and walked with less of  a limp. We now started more balancing exercises. I stood on the half yoga ball to balance. Did the side steps, foot in front and back, walking in a straight line toe to heal and backwards, and finally the leg weight machine to push my body while bending knees. Serena watched me walk and reminded me to flex my upper legs when taking so I am more balanced. It's weird to have to relearn to walk. I just had to remind myself to flex and the limping sort of went away. I'm still a bit wobbly but getting there. She took a look at my scar and notice it fading away.

I've started using Cocoa Butter on my scar since last week. I'm still waiting for the darkest part of the scar to fade away. This was the part where it bled when the surgeon removed the dressing the day I got my cast taken off. I still use crutches or one crutch for longer walks to wherever I need to get to because it's just faster to get around with. I'll continue to use the chinese medicine grandma gave me. My next session will be in the Pool. I love it!

Day 35 - Graduated to using one crutch!

Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012 - Week 13

Today marks my 8th physical therapy session. I woke up early, felt great, and drove myself to physical therapy for my 9am appointment! What a great Christmas gift to myself! I felt completely fine. I arrived 15 minutes early and enough time to warm up on the bike. Serena, my physical therapist, started me on standing exercises. More stretches using the rubber band, massage, and stepping on the half yoga ball balancing. Again, more measurements to see how much I have improved on my movement and still the side to side movements are still not quite there yet and stiff. Then she asked me how much I'm walking, and wanted to see me walk. Said that I may try one crutch so she can see how well balanced I am. You can definitely still tell my leg is weak, but I can put about 80% weight on the foot and walking quite well. She graduated me to using 1 crutch in non busy areas! If I do go to the mall, I should use 2 crutches to be safe. I'm so excited! First the driving, now the 1 crutch! New years is next Tuesday, I wonder how well I'll feel then. My goal to walk without crutches is near. Almost there!

Day 26 - I walked today...without crutches!!!

Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 - Week 12

I went to my second Pool Class today and felt really good. No pain today either. My ankle and foot bottom felt really strong today. I still feel a bit sore from the weekend shopping though. So far so good.

I still have a chicken leg though. It appears I am gaining my muscle back from all the walking I've been doing.  I feel some muscle. Actually it looks like my left calf is getting more muscular and the right sort of look the same haha. I swear I feel the muscles when I flex my right calf. You can still see the bruising on the inside ankle. I wonder when that will go away.

                         15 Days Ago                                                      Today

My scar is also looking well. However, my skin is still a bit discolored from the rash I got around the area.

OMG!!!!!! Ok, so I was hungry for some dinner. I went downstairs and felt really good walking. I was just sick of moving my crutches around the kitchen and then I did it. I walked from the kitchen to the living room, back to the kitchen, and downstairs to lock the door to the yard! I was ok walking on stairs, still with rail assistance of course. My ankle is stronger then I thought hahaha. I just got too excited and needed to share the news! Time to text my friends =). I have a limp but I don't care! I walked without crutches! I am so happy! I feel so free!