It’s been five months since my surgery. It really doesn’t seem like it was that long ago. I think I say that every time I reach a milestone, but it’s true. Looking back, time just slips away so swiftly, but day by day it seems stagnant sometimes. I’m happy that I’ve made progress in my recovery, but it’s been a lot slower than I was expecting.

I had my follow up appointment with my surgeon today. I was hoping to get some answers to some of the issues I wrote about last time, but all he said was that they were all related to the surgery and should get better in time. He didn’t look at my foot very closely; he just tested the strength by having me push my foot against his hand and that was it. I can see how the heel problem would be related, and it’s trying to get better now that I wear shoes with a gel heel cup in them all the time, even around the house. I still can’t walk barefoot without feeling like I’m walking directly on my heel bone. The issue with the swelling over the outside ankle bone, however, was giving me trouble before my surgery, so I’m not even sure it’s related. All I know is that after working on it all day, it’s swollen and painful and holding me back from being able to move my foot normally.

I’m also pretty sure there’s something going on inside my ankle in one of the joints. I still can’t walk properly and I limp if I’m walking for too long. My limp was awful at work last night. At physical therapy yesterday, my therapist pulled on my ankle and got some good pops out of it, so hopefully it will stay loose for at least a little while. I’m so tired of being in pain. I didn’t expect an easy recovery; I knew it would have its challenges, but I didn’t think it would be quite so bad. I definitely didn’t expect to be having new problems. Even my physical therapist was perplexed when he was doing my reevaluation yesterday. I’m going to ask him if he can talk to the doctor about my case and see if there are solutions they can come up with. I guess maybe it might have been advantageous to have him sit in on my appointment. If I’m still doing physical therapy in two months when I see my surgeon again, I might have him do that if these issues persist.

Despite all the frustrations I’m having, I’ve at least been able to bike. It’s been painful at times and I’m trying not to push myself too hard, but being on my bike is my happy place. I want to be outside as much as I possibly can be. I’m on track to have my highest mileage this week since I’ve been recovering, so hopefully I’ll hit it. Another positive thing is that I’ve worked a week without my walking boot. I’m not sure my foot is all the way ready yet, but I’m going to keep trying as long as I can tolerate it. I’m working three hours longer than usual tomorrow, so I’m expecting a little difficulty, but I’m off Sunday so I can recover and get it feeling better.

One day I might be able to go for a walk and actually enjoy it. There are so many metroparks close by that I can’t really enjoy. It’s hard to want to hike wooded trails when I’m having a hard time with flat surfaces, let alone uneven ones. I still can’t even go up and down the stairs properly, so I’m ready for the day I can do something that simple again. Being able to attempt a 5k or play tennis again feels so far away right right now. My surgeon told me that when I can do a single leg calf raise on my right side, it would be fully healed, and that usually happens 6-9 months after surgery. Here’s hoping that I’ll get there soon, but I have a feeling it’s going to be on the later end of that spectrum.