Today is Monday, July 12.  Well, I’ve met my first two goals – walking without assistance in less than four weeks of weight bearing, and increased flexibility.  I can walk without my crutches, but I don’t want to do it for very long.  I am still riding the bike and utilizing the shuttle.  I’ve also added some lunges and back to some of the “prancing” I discussed in an earlier entry.  I am headed in the right direction and I hope to set some new goals at my next session.  I will fill you in soon.

Today is Wednesday, July 7.   Three weeks into bearing weight, and what  a roller coaster!  I think I have felt every emotion under the sun in the past three weeks.  I was feeling a little discouraged over the holiday weekend.  I did climb on my daughter’s horse (don’t tell my doctor) because a good ride always cheers me up.  However, I couldn’t keep up my usual pace and had to have a lot of help for my annual barbecue.  But that discouragement make me work even harder.

My dedication showed in yesterday’s therapy session.  I was able to bear 100% of my weight on my foot, and because of that I got to explore the adventure of new exercises.   Climbing stairs, standing on one foot, and rotating a platform with a ball under it.  Side to side didn’t go so well, but front and back was successful.    Daranee worked on my calf muscle a little, which seemed to loosen up quite a bit more.   And oh yeah, I can now wear my regular shoes as often as I want.

I am very excited to be headed toward walking.  Should be there before I know it!

Last night I dreamed I forgot about my injury and starting walking without thinking about it.  After a while I said “hey I am walking”, and everyone in the room said a cheer and then went about their business.  Next Daranee, my PT rang my door bell and said a little cheer.  But alas, I eventually awoke and realized I have a lot more work to do. 

Yesterday was productive.  I truly feel like I am making some progress.  I increased my bike ride to ten minutes which not only made my foot hurt, but gave my deteriorated calf a workout too.    Shuttle, stairs, and then we did a couple new exercises, one was curling my toes and making my arch flex, and the other one was stepping backward from ball to heel of my foot and flexing my ankle.  Daranee also worked on my calf a little to help it relax.  I had a nice visit with the lady next to me while that was going on.  I am glad I had a distraction.  After that my flexibility seemed to increase some which was encouraging.  Today we switched to cold from the heat.  With it being 100* out I didn’t mind.  The machine not only provided cold air, but also pressure.  The combination took most of the swelling out of my foot in just a few minutes.