Cast Off...

It was a big day today...we took off the final cast! I will be wearing a boot for for the next 8 weeks. This will give the screws and the heel long enough to recover. The first thing I did when I came home was wash the layers of flaky skin off of my leg. After that, I massaged the layers of dried skin around the incisions with coconut oil. The scabs just dropped off. As I continued to massage the areas, they became less sensitive and started to come back to life! The most exciting thing about today was starting my stretches! I'm very familiar with the stretches I need to start out with. They have been a part of my life for almost 3 years now. The doctor told me to take it easy and not to be a hero. He assures me this is going to take a while. I'm really not happy about that part but I'll do what he says. After all, I only get one foot! I will begin physical therapy on Thursday morning.  Next Wednesday, I'll be able to start putting weight on my foot again. I start with about 10 pounds of pressure and continue to add more as tolerated until I'm able to walk almost normally with with crutches.  I'll be using crutches to keep partial weight off of my foot for the first 6 weeks of walking.  I'm wrapping my foot in a bandage and a brace tonight. I'm finally going to bed without a cast and with a little less pain!