Physical Therapy

Yesterday was my first visit with my new physical therapist, Holly. As I was explaining to her everything my ankle has gone through, she just sat there shaking her head. My ankle is going to take a lot of work and patience.

One of the first things Holly told me was that she couldn't do much while I still had open wounds. Much of the work she wants to do involves manipulating some of the ligaments and muscles in the ankle. Because of this, I won't be able to come back for physical therapy for about a month.

However, she gave me four pages of exercises to do at home. She said if I don't do them, I'll walk like a pirate.

Brooke and I both really liked Holly. She seemed like a good physical therapist. We appreciated her attention to other potential problems going on in my foot and ankle. She said I might have significant lymphatic damage, which would explain my fluid build up. Because of the edema in my foot, we're supposed to massage the fluid out of my foot to my knee.

She was also concerned that I take steps to avoid developing chronic pain syndrome. Since I've been in my boot, my tibial nerve has been stretched quite a bit. This is the nerve I damaged in the injury. But due to the stretching, I've had some awesome neuropathic pain in my big toe.

The good news is she said I will walk and snowboard again. Those were the only two goals I listed.

I'm not sure how people figure this out so fast, but she knew almost immediately to tell me to be patient. She emphasized that this will be a very long process.

Dang.