First, they cut off the my cast and then took 3 X-rays (see the attached pictures). The swelling looked pretty good given the surgery was two weeks ago everybody said.
Next, they cut off the stitches, cleaned the foot area, and put on small band-aid looking strips, which they said to leave on a week.
Next, Dr. Elliot examined the foot. He said that I will now be in a boot vs a cast and should not put any weight on it for the next 4 weeks. He said that I can sit down on a chair in the shower and can put my foot down on the ground to let the foot sit. Overall, he wants me to have the foot sit in the hanging position now vs. elevating it (unless in a lot of pain, then I can elevate it to relieve the pain). I still have a fair amount of pain in the foot, which he said is to be expected. My pain is worse before bed and I take pain medication when needed. He also wants me to rotate my foot in and out a little bit everyday to stretch the tendon. Overall, he said that I should be in the boot 23.5 hours a day for the next 4 weeks with no weight bearing activities.
I'm getting a little better everyday and I'm excited about that. The last 2 weeks have been much tougher than I thought they would be, but I know I did the right thing by having the surgery, as Dr. Elliot has pointed out a few times.
I asked the doctor about when I can expect to so some endurance events. He thought a year or 18 months to a marathon and that waking the NYC marathon in November (7 months) is extremely ambitious and 26.2 miles is
a long way".
I also asked him if I would be able to walk some 3-5 mile races so I can get my 9 races in to qualify for the 2014 NYC marathon. He thought I would be able to start doing this in July/August.
Check out the pictures below from today. I was particularly surprised at the size of the screws in my heel used to fuse my heel back together after the doctor broke the heel and moved it over (he said he used an electric saw to break it). Crazy. He said that it is likely that I will need to have the screws removed because I will likely be able to feel them when walking/running. I can probably have them removed in 4 months, which would be the end of July. I think I can feel the screws now.
The "scooter" I use to get around is absolutely critical for me. I love it and don't know what I would do without it. I've been scooting all over the place. Today, I scooted from my apartment (66th and West End) to my doctor's office (72nd btw 1st and York), about 2.2 miles, and back home. Well over 5 miles overall. This is definitely good exercise and my glutes are getting serious exercise. Hopefully this will benefit my running in the future!!! :-)
Going back to work tomorrow (4-12) after 2.5 weeks off.
A few videos of my foot/ankle from today:
Dr. Elliot said that physical therapy will start in 2 months, twice a week to seat out.
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