Sometimes you break yourself, part 3

Broken foot, days 6-8

This entry rounds out the first week of my broken right foot saga. While there is ZERO FUN about this experience, I am happy to report that there has been good progress in the healing process.

Using a cane

On Thursday (day 6), Chris found a walking cane in the garage. It was one of those silver gray medical ones that I told him not to get at CVS when he picked up the shower chair because people who are 80 use them and my hubris was too stubborn to even consider one of those things. Three days on the crutches changed my mind right quick. Since I was able to walk on the boot crutch-free, I thought the cane might be good for any outings where I’d have to walk around, just for a little more support and stability, hubris be damned.

I used the cane when I went out to dinner with a friend. It was hard to find a good place to put it where some unsuspecting waiter or diner wouldn’t trip on it and break their own foot, but it was certainly better than finding a place for the crutches, so it was a leg up (get it?). Technically, I didn’t need it, but I’m all about a little extra safety.

The ugliness of injury

I am starting to notice a few other places in the foot and ankle that are likely sprains, separate from the break, than will need some time to heal. I notice it most in the morning, and when I am testing my range of motion. These areas get sore very quickly, especially after a period of resting and I start moving it around again. When I take off the boot, I feel it a lot.

I’ve noticed that night time and mornings are much tougher for the foot than midday. At night, there is more swelling and soreness from all the work I’ve been doing and I spend a lot of time with the ice pack. There’s also some ugly discoloration by my toes and the inner heel from the bruise breaking down. I’ll spare you the actual image. What helps is that I have one of those beds where the head and foot raise independently, so my foot is completely elevated above my heart all night. This helps ease the swelling and lets gravity do it’s thing of keeping it to a minimum.

The need to warm up

In the morning, it takes a good solid hour of warming it up: wiggling it slowly, putting the foot flat on the floor, and treading carefully for a while to get to a less painful place. The first couple steps are tough to break through the nighttime stiffness, and standing in the shower with the warm water really help to be able to slowly put more weight on it. I also notice that when I rest for longer periods of time, I have to re-warm it up to get more comfortable again.

Progress

Thankfully, I am seeing daily improvements, even in the first week. Like I reported in part 2, I have been able to bear some weight in the boot since day three. There have been other milestones as well:

• On day 7, I took a standing shower. I did bring the chair into the shower that day, just in case I got tired. On Saturday, I didn’t bother with the chair and used the cane sparingly and the counter to hobble around the bathroom. I could put my injured foot down flat without pain and that allowed for a more comfortable and stable standing position.
• I started going up and down stairs on both my feet (in the boot), alternating each foot with each step. I started out slow and holding the railing with a protective near death-grip, but it wasn’t super uncomfortable and it got much smoother as the days passed.
• I’m getting more ankle mobility in all directions and have started to use my Thera Bands to build more strength while pointing and flexing my foot. Again, my goal is to drive sooner than later and I have to be able to do an emergency stop to do that. If I can’t flex and point my foot with some resistance, that won’t happen. I’ll also have to be in a regular shoe.
• Once my foot adjusts to being on the floor, I can actually walk around without the boot for a little while. This time is for taking the shower, getting dressed, and puttering around my bedroom. Once I’m ready to go downstairs, the boot goes back on.

I continue to do non-weight bearing exercises to strengthen the quads, hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors to keep everything else in good working order. The internet has lots of exercise suggestions for the taking. The last thing I need is to rehab the foot with more back and hip problems. I’m also getting my shoulder work done so I don’t backslide with the progress I’ve made all summer.

Managing big events

This is a year of big changes for me and my husband. For the first time, both of our kids are going to college and we are looking at a temporary empty nest situation. We moved our older daughter in the weekend just before I broke the foot. That was, comparatively speaking, easy. Moving my younger daughter in the week after I broke my foot was more of a challenge.

Fortunately, she’s in a program that allowed us to drop the bulk of her stuff into her dorm room two days before the official move-in date, so we did that on Friday. I did some light carrying on the non-boot/cane side, which was fine. I also managed to climb steps and navigate around the campus to get to the orientation without any issues. When we got home, I parked myself on the couch, iced my foot and took a nap.

Sunday was the big move-in day with all the campus events to greet incoming freshmen. For my foot, it was a marathon. While there wasn’t much carrying of stuff, there was a lot of standing, walking and turning a dorm room into a home-away-from-home. There were a few cross-campus treks, where my cane came in handy for occasional support. Towards the end, I started to feel the foot ache; while I did have some extended sitting time during lunch, I hadn’t iced it all day. Let’s just say, when I got home the ice went on and stayed on for hours.

After just a week, there has been some good progress. I think I’ve done everything I can to promote healing and mobility. Next step, follow-up ortho visit and X-ray to see how it’s healing. Stay tuned!