I can limp without crutches! Whoo-hoo! I still need to use a crutch/crutches if I’ll be on my feet for very long, but it’s nice to be able to “walk” on my own again. I’m still pretty sore and the muscle is still very tight, but I’m making some progress every day. Keeping a compression bandage on has really helped. I realized that I had been wrapping it too loosely, under the direction of the Nurse Practitioner that I first saw (“don’t wrap it too tightly” and she wrapped it pretty loosely). Then over the weekend, we visited some relatives and Uncle Dan, the PA, wrapped it more firmly, but still not too tight, and that really helped with the pain and since then I’ve been making good progress. I still can’t flatten my foot , but I’ll get there in the next week(s) or so if I keep working it.
The bruising is still purple around my ankle and bottom of my leg, but that is starting to fade finally too. My ankle is a little sore, I assume from the bruising. I’m still icing it, especially after being up for a while, and elevating it when I’m sitting. I cooked dinner last night for the first time in a while. That felt great, but I was pretty tired and a little sore afterwards.
I’ve also been able to start doing some light strength work with a resistance band and pointing and flexing my foot. That also is helping with my flexibility. No standing calf raises yet, but I’ll work my way up there. Muscle tears are no joke! I’ve lost a lot of strength and flexibility in that muscle and I know it will take a while to get back to where I was, but that is the goal. After that, the goal will be preventing this from happening again by building more strength and increasing my flexibility. I can hardly wait to be able to take walks around the neighborhood again! It’s only 1.3 miles, but I know I’ll have to build back up to it.