Day 3 post surgery

Two appointments today - TWO - grrrrr oh well.

I rocked my 11am PT session on one leg - go me. Mickey (GoodLife Physical Therapy) has had to adapt it significantly for me now that I cant weight bear on my right, but we still managed to get all the resistance exercises and stretches until my calf burns in and my right foot therapy will start as soon as my stitches are out - JOY.

Emma is also joining me at my PT appointments with her own exercise regime. She had a bit of a bad trampolining accident a while back and has a recurring chronic sprain on her right foot, so for now shes doing "pick up with her toes" exercises where she has to pick up Legos from the floor - far more fun than my therapy I can tell ya :(

In between appointments we had lunch at somewhere new, Bonfire in Homer Glen. I thought it was like Famous Daves BBQ place but instead it had a very grown up menu which was quite delicious. I shared crabcakes with Nick then tilapia with a baked potato, I really enjoyed it and so did Nick. win!

Next onto Dr Vittori's office for another blast of shockwave therapy. My left achilles was lengthened and the scarring is affecting the flexibility when I stretch and its not improving. Theres also a lump on the achilles which I dont like so Dr V is going to kindly blast it away.


Its definitely going to take there treatments and todays went really smoothly and was over with in 45 minutes :).

Being numb on the left side and non weight bearing on the right side was a little interesting!! Thankfully I didnt have an accident :)

All shockwaved out

Its 8pm and my foot has almost woken up from its midday numbing and round 3 of shockwave therapy.

Last weeks numbing didnt go well, in fact my foot didnt numb, but the treatment was very tolerable. Ive even noticed some changes and dare I say improvements, as theres some sort of movement of the tendon underneath the outside of my ankle bone - Shockwave 1 - Surgery 0.

Todays numbing was uber successful. Dr Vittori injected directly into my incision scar which made me a little queasy, but it did the trick. 

Twenty minutes later my left foot was sound asleep and he could start the treatment.

I could definitely tell Dr Vittori was asserting more pressure than usual, the pulsing made a slightly painful vibration in my foot.

So now that I have completed all three of my treatments its back to my foot surgeon for the next step of my rehabilitation. Im still attending physical therapy three times a week and my foot's flexibility is improving if not very slowly. I actually left the office and headed straight to therapy for some Graston Therapy while my foot was still numb. 

Im far too impatient and the sooner I get back to running my miles and being badass again the better. :)

Shockwave Therapy Verdict.

Ive had a lot of treatment on my feet, probably too much, but Dr Vittori made this treatment very easy and straightforward. The time spent in the office was just over an hour, once a week for three weeks and I could walk/drive afterwards. Because my foot was numbed the treatments were covered by my insurance but check with the office before going ahead. The patient does not have to avoid putting lotion on their feet before the procedure.

I would definitely have more Shockwave Therapy with Dr Vittori if it was necessary.

Shockwave therapy

Im having post op problems with my surgery foot, a lot of problems and to be honest its pissing me off. My recent problem is reacting to the hardware in the two tendons in my arch.

My foot surgeon immediately put me back in my boot to rest the tendons. Which causes a multitude of other problems in the rest of the foot. We discussed steroid injections and a few other things and eventually it was decided that I would have shock wave therapy. 

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) is a noninvasive surgical procedure that uses sound waves to stimulate healing in some physical disorders, including plantar fasciitis. "Extracorporeal" means "outside of the body" and refers to the way the therapy is applied. Because there is no incision, ESWT offers two main advantages over traditional surgical methods: fewer potential complications and a faster return to normal activity. ESWT has been used extensively for several years to treat plantar fasciitis and other disorders. http://www.weil4feet.com/patients/education/shockwave-therapy.php

X marks the spot

15 mins later my foot is snoring

I arrived at Dr Vittori's office straight from my regular foot physical therapy. After examination I had two numbing injections and waited until my foot was good and asleep. Im not a huge fan of having my feet numbed, I never know how my nerves will react when they wake up.

Dr Vittori was kind enough to let me take pictures as he was performing the procedure. http://www.vittorifootclinic.com/

Once good and numbed Dr Vittori could start. It was very similar to an ultrasound, completely pain free and took around 10 minutes. The machine did startle me though because it sounded like a pneumatic drill.

I will be having 3 treatments over 3 weeks for maximum benefit and I have no exercise restrictions. 

Dr Vittori explained that pro sports players had the procedure often because it is non-invasive.

I was told the nerve numbing injection would last around 4 hours so I was very wobbly when it was time to leave. 

Thankfully my foot woke up around 7.30pm and my neuropathy was no worse than it usually is.

Verdict.

Pros: Non invasive, fast, easy, no restrictions

Cons: You may have to pay out of pocket for the procedure, if you dont like needles you wont like being numbed, if you arent numbed then you might have to have a lower frequency and you may not get as good a result.