I'm now about 10-11 weeks post-op and finally out of the CAM walker, aka Moon Boot. My physical therapist thought that the CAM was "holding me back" and recommended that my doc put me in a new Donjoy brace to give me more mobility.
There are a few pros and cons.
Pros
--the Donjoy is much smaller and only encompasses my ankle, not half of my leg
--I have more of a real walking motion (heel roll to toe) and not a clomping/clunking anymore
Cons
--Though it's smaller than the CAM, it's extremely difficult to fit into a shoe. I can only get it into my New Balance sneaker right now, and that's w/o lacing the shoe up completely. I might have to go shoe shopping, my least favorite activity.
--It's $120 and my insurance might not cover it. Bummer.
--It rubs right against where I had the bone chip removed and has a tendency to hurt.
--Because it allows more range of motion I will probably have an increase in swelling for a while as my ankle gets used to doing more work.
Overall, the Cons are greater but the fact that it's just NOT THE MOON BOOT trumps everything else. Wearing dress shoes is probably not going to happen for a while, but as long as I make progress I hope that I'll get to a point that I can go brace free soon.
I get to increase my work hours next week. Instead of only working 5 hour days I'll be going to 5 hour days 3x/wk and normal 8 hr shifts the other two days. It's a small increase, but any progress is good at this point.
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I don't know if you ever check the comments on this blog, but I read your entries from the very beginning to the end. I just had peroneus brevis graftjacket repair and was grateful to have read this blog. You were funny and so helpful to me in preparing for the surgery.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your experiences! Much appreciated.
Karen Pedone