Was-broken-now-healed Ankle Update

[sk8pics]

Well, i haven't posted in a while, and I have some milestones/news to report, so... thought I would update everybody.

This is my last week of PT. Which is both 8-) and :cry: . I've been going to PT since mid-November and I've gotten used to it and I like the guys I work with. So I'll kind of miss them. (I'm thinking I'm going to bake some cookies for them all for my last day there; they all love food, LOL!) On the other hand, it takes me so long now to get through everything there (at least an hour and a half) it really takes up a lot of time. It will be easier for me and a bit less time-consuming when I'm only going to the gym. Plus I'll go back to my pilates teacher so that will be nice.

So... the ankle still doesn't have a full range of motion, but it's not too bad. Still not as strong as it was, but not too bad. On Friday, my physical therapist that day had me walking really fast back and forth while he yelled instructions from across the room, like, "Walk faster! Take bigger steps! Don't think about your foot! Don't look down!" It almost felt like I was back at the rink again, LOL. But I was amazed at how fast I could walk. I had no idea I could do that! He told me afterwards that it is mostly the lack of strength in my left calf that is interfering with walking well. That feedback is something I will miss. Also, the way they know exactly how hard to push me to do something I don't realize i can do, I'll miss that, too.

The biggest thing is that today (and last night a little) I noticed that sometimes, when I'm sitting or standing in a fairly neutral position, my ankle actually feels normal, like there's nothing wrong with it! 8O 8-) That really shocked me when I noticed it, because until now, I was aware 100% of the time that my ankle was not well. Gives me some hope for the future.

Skating is still a ways away, but I do have some hope... I will probably have to have that one screw removed, though, (runs through my tibia and fibula) and that will delay me a little more. But progress is progress!

[icedancer2]

Which ankle did you break? Right or left?
Congratulations on your improvements!

[Terri C]

Not to hijack sk8pics thread, but I too have been seeing a PT for a lateral ligament strain on my right ankle. I have a appointment on Wednesday and I have a very strong feeling it may be my last one. I started landing all my jumps with no pain on Saturday.

However......
My father started PT today for his back- he has arthritis and spiral stenosis in the middle of his back. It had been dormant for years, but a fall putting things away in a closet right before Christmas set all of that off. It only took me a month to convince him to see a orthopedist.:frus: :roll:

[sk8pics]

Which ankle did you break? Right or left?
Congratulations on your improvements!

Thanks! It was my left ankle, which is my landing leg in skating.

Not to hijack sk8pics thread, but I too have been seeing a PT for a lateral ligament strain on my right ankle. I have a appointment on Wednesday and I have a very strong feeling it may be my last one. I started landing all my jumps with no pain on Saturday.

Yay, Terri! Good luck with your (hopefully) last appointment, and good luck to your father with his PT.

My physical therapist yesterday was very surprised at how much looser my akle was compared to last Wednesday, which was the last day he'd worked with me. He was working very hard to stretch me, and other patients were enjoying seeing him sweat, LOL!

[Isk8NYC]

Terri C: Glad you're doing well, sorry about your Dad, though.

Sk8pics: Are you still on blood thinners?

[sk8pics]

Sk8pics: Are you still on blood thinners?


Yep. Seem to be pretty stable now though, thank goodness. My next doctor's appointment is end of May-early June, which I presume will be right about the time they take me off the blood thinners... I hope...

[jazzpants]

sk8pics: GREAT to hear that you are progressing well enough where you won't be needing a PT. My suggestion is if you really really feel you need to continue on PT is to go find a good gym with a highly trained personal trainer that will continue to help train you. My husband had a similar situation to you on the ankle and opted to find a good personal trainer that does rock climbing and sprains his ankles ALL the time and know how to rehab it back for another climb. (That particular trainer also became my trainer for a while and got me doing a LOT of balance exercises on the Dynadisk.)

Just food for thought... keep up the good progress!!! We all look forward to seeing you on the ice again. (Maybe this Christmas? ;) )

[sk8pics]

Jazzpants,
Thanks for the suggestion. Actually I do belong to a gym already and I like the owner/trainer, so I was thinking I might ask him. Or, my pilates teacher is a former competitive skater and a coach so she can help me with a lot, as can her husband. They both work with a lot of skaters. So, we'll see. But for the time being, I know what I have to do and I'm dutifully doing it. I was at the gym this afternoon, in fact, doing my 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by biceps, triceps, adductors and abductors. (I need an angel smilie here!) I feel very virtuous.

[jazzpants]

I was at the gym this afternoon, in fact, doing my 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by biceps, triceps, adductors and abductors. (I need an angel smilie here!) I feel very virtuous.Good girl!!! Here are you ANGEL smiles!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/engel/a009.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/engel/e025.gif :halo:

[skatingatty]

Glad to hear sk8pics and Terri are both doing better. It's been 5 yrs. since I broke my ankle, and skating's been back to normal for some time now. That ankle still doesn't have the full range of motion as before, but it could be that I didn't do enough PT exercises.

[sk8pics]

Yeah, those evil PT exercises really do help! Today, I told my PT (Ryan) that someone at work had asked me if I had "the torturer today." So he wanted to know what I said, of course. So I told him, "Yes.... I knew that would make you happy!" because he is very proud to be called that, LOL. He wasn't really able to hurt me at all today (first time EVER!8-) ) so instead he was very sneaky in increasing some of the other stuff he had me do (giving me a heavier ball to toss, tying the theraband tighter so it was harder for me to walk, and so on). That was my last time with him so I guess he wanted to make sure it was memorable! Tomorrow is my last day with my other physical therapist. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. :roll: But it's all good and I'll miss them a lot.

[kayskate]

Broke my fibula 7/06. Dislocated my foot and did not need surgery. Lucky me. Got back on the ice in Oct. Had to turn down a job teaching grps which broke my heart, b/c I love doing that and want to build my skating resume for the future. I was physically unable to skate beyond beginner steps. Anyway...

I have been skating ever since as much as possible, which amounted to maybe 1x/wk. Skating is great PT for the ankle. I did conventional PT too but got to the pt where I was just exercising on my own there and got a massage and stretch from the therapist. I went back on the ice and took matters into my own hands. Doc said I was healed enough to skate anyway. PT said if I am skating, I am doing more rigorous PT than anything they had there.

At home, I worked on building muscle in my atrophied leg. Bought a Total Gym (think Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley). I love the thing. Great for legs and ankles. Also bought a used Nordic Track ski machine ($100). That is the best ankle therapy! I am regaining a full range of motion from that thing. Used a few times a day for maybe 5 min each time, I can keep limping and stiffness away.

Back on the ice, I am getting full aggressive knee and ankle flex extrance into spins on my formerly injured leg. My leg is no longer a performance barrier. But it has been 7+ mo since my injury. It takes a long time.

Wishing you the best recovery!

Kay

[sk8pics]

Yeah, I agree that skating is great PT for the ankle! Too bad I am not allowed to skate yet, but hopefully that will happen sometime over the summer. I was definitely ready to finish PT --neither of my guys was really able to "hurt" me the last two days, so that is a sign. Plus yesterday I walked the balance beam totally on my own (someone always had my hand for some support before that) so that is another sign. They gave me things to do to continue improving my balance and strength, boy they had lots of good suggestions. My PT yesterday told me to work on being able to walk on my toes and walk on my heels and to get that before I went too crazy doing other stuff. I'm very disciplined about this so I know I will continue to improve.

So, I'm happy but I was a little sad to leave them yesterday. Both my two regular PT's came over to say goodbye and I actually got a little teary-eyed. The whole thing has been a really emotional experience for me.

So, hopefully late summer I'll be able to get back on the ice... have to talk to my surgeon in a couple of weeks and see about getting one of the screws removed, but that can't happen until I'm off the blood thinners and I'm not sure when that will be... So it's a waiting game. But then my ankle still has a long way to go in its recovery. Still, I met some friends at the rink last night and demonstrated my new-found ability to walk, and actually I wasn't limping at all at that point, so that was pretty cool!