Two months Post-Op: PCP visit and back to Work!

It is 2-months post-op as of today! Hooray! About 4 more months to go and I'm counting down the days. Of course, I still cannot drive as of yet which is very limiting but understandable. I had asked Dr. Wu when I could start driving and he did not give me a solid answer. He made a good point where if I got into a car accident, and people saw I was in crutches and foot casts, what would they say or think? I doubt my insurance would back me up in this case :-) So, no driving for X number of months....

The day after arriving home, one of the first things we had to do was to pick up the wheelchair that I reserved about two months ago. I reserved a wheelchair where I can wheel myself around, if needed, so I didn't need to rely on people all the time. This wheelchair rental is setup for a monthly payment and costs about $64 per month ($60+taxes). Not too bad and luckily the medical supplies company was not far from where I lived.

The next step was to go see my primary care physician (PCP) so she can check my progress and order my X-rays for the next month. Seeing the clinic at Stanford was a pleasant experience as when I got to the front entrance, we didn't even need to take out my rental wheelchair. They had many wheelchairs available for the patients to use, so the Stanford staff brought a wheelchair around and also wheeled me upstairs to my appointment. Once I was in my appointment, I explained to my PCP how my surgery went and she was quite impressed with the progress and material Dr. Wu and his team provided. My visit ended fairly quickly and again, the staff were courteous enough to roll me back downstairs to the car. 

The next day, I headed to the DMV to get a temporary handicap parking placard. I had asked my PCP to help me with this request and this placard is valid during the time I am healing. Definitely make an appointment with the DMV first so you don't have to wait 1.5hrs! They called me up to the window right on time and I was able to complete my task within 30min. This placard has been helpful when handicap spaces are available. It saves you from walking all the long distances just to get to your destination. Walking from one end of a parking lot to the front door can take quite a long time and lots of steps. Granted, you can also use the wheelchair, but having the placard is a plus.
 

As of today, I have been back to work a little over a week now. It has been an interesting experience, but I think I have now developed a good routine. I get dropped off as close to my office as possible. My rental wheelchair is taken out and I use it to wheel myself to my office. I have awesome co-workers so if any of them happen to see me in the hallway, they are always willing to help wheel me to my office. Having the option to wheel myself is better than not having any ability, but it still takes a long time. Wheeling myself long distances can be tiring so I empathize with those who are in a wheelchair long-term.

When I finally get to my office, I am able to park my wheelchair to the side so it does not take up too much hallway space (wheelchair can fold up quite easily). I use my crutches for short distances and walking into my department. The difficulties I have had is mainly if I need to get to meetings outside my department. This requires extra time and planning and I miss being able to walk/run quickly to a meeting. Today, I lost track of time and was late to a meeting because I had to open the wheelchair, then open the office door, then wheel myself to the other office, open the other office door, wheel myself in, park the wheelchair, and then go into the room for a meeting. Lots of steps to take just to go to a meeting!! I also still walk slow so it takes me longer to go into another area or another office. I try to consolidate my trips when I need to and again, my co-workers have been very helpful and supportive.

As far as my PT exercises, I am not as diligent as I should be, but having my own office helps. When I need to, I can take off my surgical boots and perform my toe stretches. I need to set a schedule for myself to do these stretches, otherwise, they will never get done. I try to do them before I get into work, 1-2 times while I'm at work and then 2-3 times when I get home. I find it easier to control my stretching exercises when I am not at work, but this is probably not good enough. The good news is that I feel my toes are becoming more flexible, so hopefully I'll see more improvement later. 

As for swelling, there is barely any swelling seen. I can keep my feet down for quite a long time without any discomfort. At times, there is some tightness around the cast on my left foot, but this tightness is probably from the cast being placed on a little too tight. The cast is slowly becoming more comfortable over time. The cast on my right foot has no issues. The cast also gets a little tight after I shower, probably due to the steam from the shower causing my feet to expand (not sure how true this is)?? I also notice that when I try to do my toe exercises right after I shower, they are not as flexible as during the day. I experience some minor pain when stretching my left toes. My left toes are still tighter than my right toes as they are not as flexible. This "stretching pain" is definitely very tolerable though. I still cannot shower without the foot covers, so the skin on my feet are still quite dry.

Within the next week or two, I'll be taking another X-ray. I'll be sure to post another update afterwards. Happy Holidays to all! Cheers!