1 year 4 months - Feeling great! Friend gave me an elliptical for exercise! Calves are back to equal size!

Saturday, February 1, 2014 

Gung Hay Fat Choy! It's day 2 of Lunar New Year! 

Big dinner for two! Usual Chinese new year dishes to feast on haha.

I am excited for this new year and to see how I will progress in my ankle. Last year definitely was an emotional year being done with physical therapy and mentally being strong. I feel great so far! I feel like I am still healing though. I have no pain at all! I don't feel as tired walking longer distances. My ankle doesn't swell up. I do feel the cold or when the rain comes. The best way to explain it is that it feels like a toothache. Just an odd pressing feeling I am still trying to get use to. I did quit running on the track for now because it makes me feel really tired and sore after. Sometimes I'd limp the next day, so maybe I need more time to strengthen it before I try running again. This new year, I'd like to do more hiking.

A friend was so kind to give me his elliptical machine! It's great for my ankle! No pressure on my ankle. I've only used it a few times.

Most of my workouts are on my stationary bike. I love it! I've also started to do more jumping jacks. Jumping feels more comfortable now then it did 6 months ago. I wasn't able to jump as comfortably as I do now.

My calves are back to equal in size! Wow, looking back it's bringing back so many memories! How time has flown by and remembering how patient I was throughout this entire healing process. I'm just so happy to be back on my feet! You can read about my progress on the most memorable days in my timeline below. 

Broke ankle - Monday, September 24, 2012

Ankle surgery - Friday, September 28, 2012

Cast Removal Day - Wednesday, November 21, 2012

First Physical Therapy Session - Wednesday, November 28, 2012 

First time back on my feet - Monday, December 10, 2012

No more ankle brace! - Thursday, January 10, 2013

No more crutches! - Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Physical Therapy Graduation Day! - Tuesday, May 7, 2013

These were the only shoes I could wear with my ankle brace they gave me to wear for months after being out of the cast. 

                      December 17, 2012                                     February 1, 2014                          

 

I still have inside bruising that looks like will be there forever from the dislocation. You can see bruising clearly and the difference between the two inner ankles above. It's a good story to tell every time haha. Laying my ankle against anything like sleeping still feels sensitive and a bit uncomfortable. I can lay it against the bed for too long. Maybe about 5 seconds of it and that's enough, then I move to a new position where my ankle isn't against anything. I am still getting use to having things against my surgery side. Feeling the hardware against anything is a weird feeling, I can definitely feel every bit of the plate against my bone. Even wearing tight boots, getting into boots, and ankle socks against the surgery site is sensitive. I don't like it... 

Here's how my scar looks. You can see the plate protruding out a bit. The 9 nails you can see the little divots protruding between each nail if you look much closer. It's funny to see people get really grossed out when they feel it haha.

I'm excited for this new year! On to a better, fun, and more active year!

Day 325 - 1 Year Surgery Anniversary!

Saturday, September 28, 2013 - Week 53

Happy 1 Year Surgery Anniversary to me!!!

It's been exactly 1 year since I've had ankle surgery! I still have my plate and 9 screws in my ankle! My ankle feels great today! No limping, no pinching, no discomfort, no tiredness, no soreness, no swelling, and most importantly no pain! No matter what, this feeling of something squeezing my ankle lightly will never go away. It is because of the hardware inside that is stretching out my skin.  Today I celebrate what I have gone through to get back to close to 100%, and feel like I am still progressing with healing.  

I will never forget the day I broke it and the wait to get surgery 4 days later. And the unknown feeling of getting back to my normal self. It was the most nerve wrecking feeling in my life! I am here now and feel as normal as I can ever feel. I am just glad I do not walk with a limp! The only unknown now is how I will feel 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. at my 8 months mark, my surgeon did ask me if the hardware bothers me enough to hinder my everyday activities, I do have the option to remove it. I decided at that moment, the hardware did not bother me enough to remove it. Today, I can say I don't even feel it on my ankle which is amazing to say =)

I remember how hard it was to even go grocery shopping, I felt bad for taking up isle space from people and it was a huge hassle to get in and out of anything like cars, shower, and handicap shopping carts with the use of crutches. I don't miss that at all!

Today, my right calf is still a bit atrophied and not quite equal size to my left calf. 

I continue to do my stationary biking exercises at home for my cardio workout. One day I will go back to running on the track and hope to not be so sore. So far so good! I still do my ABC ankle exercises and often massaging my ankle at the end of the day.  

Dit Da Jow is still my friend, I continue to use it almost everyday. The entire year, I have swelled up only twice! Once hiking in hawaii for 2 hours, and an entire day of walking vacationing in NYC from 9:30am - 3am! I am actually shocked I haven't swelled up from running or other activities. It's mostly from very long walks or being on my feet for too long over a period of days from traveling. 

I am excited to be able to wear heels once again! The only downfall is that I can only wear wedged heels, no more stilettos. I would be too nervous to wear those and it doesn't feel comfortable or stable enough to support my ankle. I am still very cautious even in wedge heels. Must be careful! I can't break my ankle a 3rd time now. It would sadden my grandparents and mom. They were afraid I would never walk normal again after this second major break. (First one was on the same ankle with a heel hairline fracture, and torn ligaments on the same area on top of my foot, and was in a walking boot.) Seeing me in a cast really freaked them out. 

Whew, what a year! Moving forward and looking forward to how I will feel months from now. Cheers to myself! 

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 105 - TRX and Half Yoga Ball tired me out

Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2013 - Week 23

I woke up a bit sore from my exercises yesterday. This time I had a lunch session. I was starving! Colleen had me try some new balancing exercises today. I primarily used the TRX and the half yoga ball. Below is an image example of some balancing exercises I did on the TRX. I did some side stepping, squats, toe raises, and push ups. This really made me sweat. The stretches felt really good though. The top of my foot had some crunching in almost every bending movement I make.

Another new exercise Colleen showed me today were balancing exercises on the half yoga ball. I also did some arm rope pulls on the wall while standing on the half yoga ball. I also did some squats, side balancing step ups alternating my feet at a 45 degree angle. 

My calf is slowly gaining muscle and getting close to the same size as my other calf. I wonder how much longer it will take before I finally get there. I was extremely sore today and clearly I have a heavy limp.

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 63 - Went to Physical Therapy without my crutch for the first time!

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 - Week 17

I woke up feeling great today! I feel my ankle getting stronger! It started to rain today, boo... I went to class without a crutch for the first time! I also didn't wear my brace the entire day! Colleen congratulated me for finishing my last Pool Class I had this past friday! This was my 14th Physical Therapy session and she had prescribed for 20. She mentioned depending how well I do, she may have me join in on the exercise classes. Starting this week, I've also gone down to going to Physical Therapy once a week now! I can't believe how fast this has gone by and how much I have progressed. I am so happy to hear this news =).

Colleen did the usual ankle flexing measurements and so far it's improving and looking well. I told her about how my ankle scar feels tight when I lay a certain way in bed. It's like a tight pinching feeling where the skin on the scar area feels like it's pulling. It's hard to explain really. She does notice the upper half of my scar area on the leg is a bit stiff with less movement on and around the scar area. Then she suggested cupping. I didn't know they had that there. She said that it would help pull and loosen the tightness on the scar area. So I went for it and gave it a try. This was exactly what the cupping material she used looked like. She first put vaseline on top of the scar area near the top of my ankle where it was tight, and suctioned the air and then my skin raised and looked like a red bruise. She then moved the cup up and down the scar. So our individual rooms has an open ceiling which means people can hear our conversations. My sentences during the cupping session was, "ow, ahh. haha, ticklish but not really. Too much!" Haha! This one specific part of my ankle was very tender, clearly the part where it is tight. She did this a few times and it felt uncomfortably good. Colleen said this should help to loosen up the tissue underneath the scar. It was really red after the few cupping sessions. So far it hasn't bruised up.

Afterwards, Colleen had me walk from one end of the room the the next. She wanted to see how my balance was. I still clearly have a limp and can see that I am taking a smaller step with my right injured foot and not fulling stepping off and rolling my ankle. The then tested me on walking a line from toe to heel forward and backwards. I always seem to lean to the right, still unbalanced. Then she had me stand on my right injured foot to see if I can hold my weight. I still am not able to fully do it more then about 6 seconds before I need support. Then we went to the leg press machine and did some heel lifts. I was starting to feel more sore then. I realize my right calf is still not as strong as I need it to be along with the bottom of my right foot. I am still not able to put my entire body weight on it quite comfortably yet. She prescribed me to continue these toe heel balancing exercises at home along with the single foot balancing to build up my strength to hold my body weight.

Here is an image of what my ankle looks like from the top view. As you can see my right calf is still smaller then the left. You can also see my right ankle is bigger because of the metal inside. The darker skin area on my right ankle side is from the dead skin scabs I got from wearing the cast for so long. Colleen said that the skin in that area heals a bit slower so the discoloration may stay forever but will fade in time. I'll see her again in a week!

Day 37 - Fourth Pool Class

Friday, Dec. 28, 2012 - Week 13

It's my fourth Pool Class! I drove myself to class again =) This makes my 4th day driving and I had no issues. I was still sore from walking around in 1 crutch grocery shopping and walking around the mini mall by my house yesterday. This time, I used the stairs to get into the pool. Serena taught me a few new exercise moves and this time around I was able to walk around the entire pool circle during warm up. The shallow side on the left I was able to manage and was strong enough to hold myself up without any issues. However, Serena preferred I say in the right side of the pool, deeper end so I don't hurt myself just to be safe. 45 minutes of class is enough, I was starting to turn into a prune after just 30 minutes!

I looked at my chicken leg again and it seems like the muscles are starting to come back! Serena said it would take about 8 weeks for it to fully come back. It's been about 5 weeks now, Nov. 21 was the day I got my cast off. You can still see the bruise on my right inside ankle. I think that just will never go away. There is still a bit of swelling on the top of the right foot arch too. I wonder if that will ever go down over time? I'll see what 8 weeks will look like soon. I've got my entire January of appointments set up for twice a week physical therapy. Serena said I may not need anymore Pool Classes by end of January? It'll be just all land sessions there on out. We'll see...


            Nov. 21                                           Dec. 17                                  Dec. 28