Cast Change

Today, amidst the frigid windchills in the Twin Cities, I had my first cast off, a check-in with Dr. Koop, and a new cast put on. The most important questions I had for Dr. Koop were how he thought my recovery was going, and what the timeline looked like. Everything is going as expected from his view, and the casting people were also pleased with how well the cast held up and how my foot was doing in it. There were no signs of infection by the three incisions, and the foot was more or less the same color as the rest of my leg. So, just keep doing as I’ve been doing was the basic advice. This is a great relief to me, because I’ve been worried that maybe parts of what I’m doing weren’t as good, or that things weren’t quite right, but it turns out that it is all good.

This new cast will be on for a few hours less than 2 weeks, which is nearly half the time the last one was on for. At that time the plan is to get X-rays and based on those and the progress of swelling diminishing determine if it is time to mold an AFO, and what the timeline to weight bearing is. The pre-surgery information regarding non weight bearing was really 8-12 weeks for an adult, but 6-12 is the full window. This next appointment will be the 6 week mark. There will be at least a third cast while the AFO is made.

We’ll see how it goes. I’m taking my recovery day by day, and mostly with no pain (just stretching that I’m feeling) my days are both a normal pattern, and a good way along back to doing normal activities (that is, spending time at my desk doing the consulting work I do). I’m still just on the second floor, but life is getting along towards normal. As such, there simply isn’t much to report here in between follow up appointments. But I will still report following appointments, if something comes up, and if I have advice for others in similar recovery processes. Feel free to reach out to me as desired.