Day 13 (153): Surgery II Post-op Appointment #1

After staying up really late, or really early, working on my dissertation edits, I couldn't go to sleep.  I was as nervous as I generally am going in to appointments with my surgeon.  I finally went to sleep around 4 am, but had to get up at 6:30 am to have time to get ready for and make it to my 8 am appointment.

I got called back rather quickly this time.  I think it is because I was one of the first patients today, since my appointment time was so early.

An athletic trainer cut off my surgical splint/soft cast and removed my stitches.  Then she put steri-strips over the incisions.

My calf didn't atrophy as much this time.  Probably because it was so strong from being the primary weight bearing leg for quite some time now. The swelling in my foot is also minimal.

X-rays.

It looks like they added an extra pin where they put in the bone wedge.  I'll have to ask about that at my next appointment.

My doctor wasn't there today, so his PA handled my appointment.  He said that he talked at length with my surgeon about whether or not I could go to a boot instead of a cast this time.  He went through the pros and cons and instructions related to both choices.  He was very firm with saying that if I go to the boot, I still have to treat it like a cast.  I have to wear it at all times, except for showering or icing my foot.  I am also completely non-weight bearing for another 4 weeks. He wanted me to know that I had to treat the care of my foot seriously as if it were casted.  No matter what he said, I already had my mind made up.  I chose the boot, of course.  There is nothing worse than being stuck in something you can't get off.  With the boot, I'll be able to return to showering, clean and lotion my leg, apply ice directly to the wounds, wear more of my wardrobe, and most importantly, get to itch my leg!

Questions

1) Schedule of NWB/PWB/FWB?  Same as last time.  6 weeks NWB (4 weeks left to go), 2 weeks PWB in boot, 2 weeks FWB in boot, then on to FWB in tennis shoes while wearing an ankle brace.

2) When can I start PT? At week 6.

3) Can I ride a stationary bike with the boot before the 6 week mark?  No.  Well...that just means that I'll have to use my crutch to move my right pedal, the same as I did for my left with the last surgery.  Either way...I'll be returning to riding my road bike on its indoor trainer this week.

4) When will I be able to drive again?  Somewhere around week 7 or 8.  I'll still be in the boot, but I will be allowed to take it off for driving and will have to put it back on when I get out.

I found out that the boot that I had for my first surgery works for both feet.  If I had known that, I would have brought it with me to the appointment.  Since I didn't have it with me, they had to put another temporary splint on to protect my foot on the ride home.

There was some bleeding with the removal of the stitches and my not fully healed wounds, so I stopped by the pharmacy to get gauze pads and some medical tape to cover my incisions before stuffing my foot in a sock and then the boot.  This is one thing I didn't have to deal with last time. By the time I got the cast off at 6 weeks, my incisions were fully healed.

When I got home, I removed the soft cast and wrapped my foot back up to be placed in its new home...the boot.  It took me quite a while to get my foot fully down in the boot with my ankle at 90 degrees.  Once I did, it was pretty comfortable for the rest of the day.