I got my cast off last Friday morning, and got a boot to replace it. Life is better now, both for me and for those around me.
For me, it’s better because I can get around better now that I can put weight on my right foot. I can make do with one crutch if I need a hand free, and can even hobble a few steps without crutches. Now that the cast is off, I don’t have to spend time sealing a plastic bag over my leg to take a shower, so I’m not only taking them more often, but I’m able to scrub my right leg, and let me tell you, it needs it. I’ve got so much skin coming off it’s like I subjected my lower leg and foot to multiple sunburns.
The leg is ugly, though. Between the swelling and the loss of muscle tone, it looks like a flabby pipe – pretty much cylindrical all the way down, and no definition visible. That’s going to change as I accustom myself to using it again. It’s slow going, though – after two months of “don’t use the right foot,” I find myself forgetting to put it down and suddenly realizing that I’m moving around on just the left leg and the crutches.
I don’t wear the boot all the time; I have to exercise the ankle joint for flexibility, and the boot prevents that. Dr. Shannon talked about “writing the alphabet” with my toes, but I tried that once, and decided that I preferred just doing twists, tilts, and rotations. They seem to force a greater range of motion than practicing “air penmanship” with my foot. Then again, maybe some Palmer Method exercises … ?