Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Pain level after 17 weeks recovering from lisfranc surgery

 Remember the last time your foot "fell asleep" and you tried to stand on it?  As it wakes up you feel tingling and eventually it feels like needles being poked into your flesh.  As the nerves in my foot regenerate, I have had that feeling multiple times on the top of my foot and especially in my big toe.  

But lately, the feeling has become more intense. For the last couple of days, my big toe feels like it is being stung  numerous times by small bees, not just on the top of my big toe, but underneath as well.  It is a different kind of pain than the feeling of needles in my foot.  It is a sharper intense "ZING" sort of pain which makes me suck in my breath.  It only happens when I am at rest and not when walking on my foot.

I talked to my physical therapist about this today and he said this was great news! To be able to feel sharp intense pain in a toe that has been numb for 17 weeks means my feeling is starting to come back in full force.

In addition, regaining feeling in my big toe is integral to being able to put weight properly through my entire foot.  When I can't feel if I am transferring weight through my big toe, I cannot make the proper follow through for walking. 

My therapy session today included .13 miles on the treadmill (1.5 miles per hour for 5 minutes) and 1 mile on the stationary bike.  I also did leg lifts, calf strengthening and lots of balance work on the bosu ball.  My new therapist is gentle and kind but makes me work up to my potential.  I am so glad my insurance cleared me for 8 more therapy sessions, which means my total for lisfranc surgery recovery will take 28 sessions.  (I have also had 36 HydroWorx sessions as well.)

As far as pain free walking goes, I tried walking through Macy's today without my cane and in my sneakers.  I had to walk slowly and very carefully, but I was able to do it with a minimum amount of pain!  I was stiff,  but it felt more like when you first wake up in the morning kind of stiff and not the "I have to sit down right now" kind of stiff.

 After Macy's I went to Kohls and also left my cane in the car for that errand.  There again, I walked at a snail's pace, but I did it!!!  I cannot tell you the amount of pleasure I got from walking through 2 stores without any assistance and almost pain free.

I am spending the rest of the day resting in my chair, (with ice) but I am satisfied, happy and have a sense of accomplishment that I haven't felt since before my lisfranc injury.  There is light at the end of this lisfranc recovery after all!!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment