Ankle pain (OMG not again)

[ny biker]

I remain in forced sedentary status due to the ankle tendon issue. Two weeks down, two more to go wearing the boot. Will be a total of 8 weeks of almost complete inactivity by the time I take it off and hope the pain is gone for good. My mood is now a constant state of blah and I've gained two pounds.

I'm working on crocheting a scarf for myself using a mushroom-brown worsted wool. The pattern I started with (alternating two types of stitches) didn't seem to look right so I'm improvising one of my own, mostly single crochet stitches with some double crochet rows every four inches or so.

The boot is causing some discomfort (sometimes outright pain) in other parts of my ankle and leg. I've tried to add padding inside it but that seems to alleviate discomfort in one spot while causing pain in another. Frustrating. Had to put a plastic bag on it a few days ago so I could go outside and clear the snow/sleet/ice from my car and shovel the area around it. My foot was very cold.

I can't stand being stuck in my house all weekend with the stomping neighbors upstairs so I've been looking for excuses to get out. So far I've seen Logan and La La Land. Trying to decide what movie to see this weekend and which theater to go to. Also I'd like to finish up the bedroom furniture painting, which will necessitate wrapping the boot in plastic again to keep from getting paint on it.

I so hope the tendon is healing!!

[Pax]

There are many downsides to living in FL, but one big upside is the kayaking. I get so tired of being held hostage by my bum leg "is it okay enough to ride or walk today... how about tomorrow". My upper body still works fairly well, so I can almost always paddle!

[emily_in_nc]

Sorry NY and Pax! Having a bum leg, ankle, knee, whatever, is really a pain in the ...!

[Crankin]

I empathize with both of you. Since I am hopeless at any handwork, finding that kind of replacement for sports would not work for me! Having a stress fracture (twice) and flantar fascitis pushed me to the limit, because usually if I am tired or hurt, walking is my go to thing. I couldn't do that with foot problems. The first stress fracture and plantar fasciitis, I had a pool, so I swam. Since I can barely swim, it was a good thing the pool was in my backyard. It was 5 AM and I was blasting aerobics music. Thankfully, it was still September in Phoenix, so the AC units were droning away, drowning out the music.

[ny biker]

I am definitely lucky that cycling is generally considered an okay activity when you have ankle problems. I will try to ramp things up slowly once I can stop wearing the boot, because I don't want to end up hurting something else due to trying to do too much too soon. So I'll probably start with easy rail-trail rides on the mountain bike with flat pedals, then if all goes well will progress to relatively short flat road rides.

If I couldn't ride my bike, I think I might look into swimming, even though I suck at it and look hideous in a swim suit. And I actually do want to try flat water kayaking one of these days. I'm glad it's something you're able to do, Pax. I know some people who have had leg injuries that prevented them from kayaking because they were not able to get in or out of the boat. Also I've thought about your reluctance to get a handicapped placard for your car -- more than once I have wished I could park in a handicapped spot over the past few weeks. Most of the time I'm fine when I'm out shopping, but sometimes I am just tired and the boot is just not comfortable. And we don't have reserved parking spaces at my condo, but if you have a handicapped placard the management office will designate a space near your door for you to use. Since I typically get home late, I usually have to park several doors down from my building and I'm always carrying stuff and there's just enough of an incline in the parking lot to make it hard to walk with the boot. So I completely understand reasons for not wanting to get that handicapped tag, but at the same time if this was not a short-term thing I would already have asked the doctor to fill out the form for me.

Meanwhile, one thing I am still able to do is upper body weight training at the gym. I'm going tonight. Still have to do a modified version of the workout I was doing before, but that's certainly better than nothing. Another thing that I've thought about recently -- I never went to the gym before I had the ankle surgery back in the day. But I struggled so much with the crutches after surgery, once the physical therapy was over I decided to join a gym. At the time I just wanted to make sure to have enough upper body strength if I ever needed crutches again. But it turned out that I liked weight training enough to stick with it for all these years. And the personal trainer that I met when I first moved to DC and joined a gym here was very helpful and supportive when I bought a bike and then bought another one and started to do longer rides. And he's been helpful and supportive in other ways, up to and including this here current ankle problem. The ankle surgery was painful and disruptive, but it did start me on a path with all sorts of unexpected consequences -- friendships and empowering accomplishments.

[north woods gal]

Plus one on the kayaking suggestion for anyone with leg or foot issues, but, yes, getting in and out is the challenge. My hubby can't walk or stand for long periods of time and struggles, at times, to get in and out of his kayak, but once in, he loves it. Kayaking is a great sport in its own right. My preferred watercraft is a solo canoe. Pretty much grew up in a canoe. One advantage for a canoe is that getting in and out of a canoe is a much easier thing to do. Does require more expertise as far as knowledge of paddling and paddling strokes, but you can use an extra long double bladed kayak style paddle designed for solo canoeing and do quite well. Not as traditional, but using a double-bladed canoe paddle is easier than using a single blade canoe paddle. I carry both in my canoe.

[Pax]

Only way I can get in or out of a kayak is at wading depth, docks don't work, thankfully not an issue where we are in FL.

For all you gals that say you can't swim or don't swim well, I dearly wish I could get an hour of pool time with each of you! Swimming is a complicated mix of movements, and one piece of the movement being out of sync is usually what causes the issue... a short time with someone who knows what they're looking for, a bit of coaching, and it almost always fixes the issue.