I'm a few days late for an actual 2 week post-surgery update, but it's close enough. The bruising on my legs is finally starting to disappear and my incisions are healing nicely, though my legs are still quite tender. I'm walking well, but if I need to bend over to get something, I'm forced to bend at my midsection instead of my knees. I'm able to walk upstairs without much trouble, but coming down is more problematic. The numbness does seem to be subsiding, so that's good news.
I've been given the go ahead from the surgeon to begin exercising on a stationary bike, but I haven't tried it yet. I hope to make it to the gym tomorrow to do some upper body work and then give the bike a try.
The newest pics are from Tuesday (exactly two weeks after surgery) and can be found on
My Progress page.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDawn, thank you so much for your blog!
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with roller derby and skating about 6 months ago. But about 3 months ago, I started experiencing shin pain, just after I made it through tryouts with my local roller derby league. At first I thought it was muscle fatigue or cramps, but stretching, potassium, hydrating... nothing helped. Teammates told me it was shin splints, but I wasn't convinced. Then I started noticing that in addition to the terrible pain I was experiencing during the endurance skating of practices, I had lingering swelling and tingling sensations in my lower legs in the days following practice. Later I was alarmed to find I was tripping over my right foot quite a lot. I went to my doctor who referred me to physical therapists, who thought it was chronic compartment syndrome.
After 3 weeks of rest, massage, and stretching, it didn't seem to be getting any better. I saw an orthopedic surgeon who set up the pressure testing for last week. The test confirmed compartment syndrome in the anterior compartment. He recommends surgery, but wants to do an MRI first to be sure. The idea of surgery seems a bit drastic to me right now, but from what I've read, more conservative approaches aren't effective. And I'm concerned that having one compartment under pressure for too long starts to put the other compartments under pressure. Do you know if this is true? If we can confirm that it is compartment syndrome, would it seem to make sense to you to take care of it sooner, rather than later? I don't want to give up my active lifestyle.
Sorry that this got a bit long! I think I was just so relieved to find your blog and know that other people are dealing with this. I wish you all the best in your recovery - may it be speedy and thorough. I'll be following your progress.
Joy
Joy,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that my blog has helped you. Your experience sounds all too familiar.
I'm not sure whether one compartment under pressure can cause other compartments to follow suit, but certainly having one compartment diagnosed likely puts the others at greater risk. If for no other reason than your legs have already shown a propensity for compartment syndrome. I do know that repeated attacks will ultimately thicken the fascia even further.
Surgery never seemed like anything but drastic to me. I put it off for 8 years. And while I don't know if it has been successful yet, I do wish I hadn't waited so long to have it. So far, I'm very surprised by the relative ease of the recovery. It's been much easier than the broken leg I had 3 years ago. I am very hopeful that I will be back in skates for the first time since 2003, which absolutely thrills me.
I hope you will keep me posted on what you find out and what you decide to do. I wish you the absolute best and hope you are back in skates sooner rather than later.
Dawn