It’s been another week, so it’s time for another update!

I had another post-surgical appointment yesterday, and the news continues to be good. My doctor reports that the tendon seems to be very solid, and the healing continues.

The only minor complication is a slight amount of wound dehiscence; essentially, the dissolving stitches are dissolving slightly faster than the wound is healing, which means there’s still a bit of a raw area. My doctor doesn’t think it’s too concerning, but for this next stage, he asked me to wash my leg with a washcloth every few days to help get rid of dead skin and keep the area clear.

As I noted in past updates, I’ve been doing 5 minutes per day of range-of-motion exercises, and I’m able to flex my foot into a 90 degree angle, which is considered good. This meant that we could remove one of my heel wedges, which makes it a bit easier to hobble around in my walking boot. We’re now going to up the therapy to 10 minutes per day, in two sessions, to continue the ankle rehabilitation.

My doctor also asked me to transition away from the crutches and migrate to walking unaided (albeit in the boot). I practiced some one-crutch and no-crutch walking last night.

I think the combination of new stresses from the wedge removal and the walking practice exercised some muscles that have been idle for a month, because I had a lot more discomfort last night while I was trying to sleep. Nothing unbearable, but enough to disrupt my sleep patterns and cause an early wake-up. Hopefully I’ll find time for a couple of naps today.

I continue to enjoy a couple of visits per week, and I’m even starting to do professional meetings again, albeit in very controlled environments, and with help from others. For example, I attended a board meeting in person; I just needed to make sure there was an elevator to get me to the right floor, and an extra chair on which to prop up my leg. I still need to keep my leg elevated; after 30-45 minutes of regular sitting, I still feel some level of swelling/discomfort.

Alisha and the kids returned from their Japan vacation on Saturday night. I looked at all the pictures and watched all the video, but it wasn’t quite the same as being there. But it sounded like they walked a lot, and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to keep up had I been there. With my family’s return, my parents have been able to return to their normal lives. I couldn’t have managed without them.

From here, the regimen is more of the same. Wash the incision site regularly. Do my 10 minutes per day of physical therapy. Learn to walk in my boot. And remove another wedge in two weeks. The goal is to get the incisions completely healed, and transition from the boot into regular shoes in September.