(Almost) 4 Months Post-Surgery! PLUS running for the first time!?

I recently started working on running. Running for the first time felt very weird and unnatural. I almost have all my calf muscle back but I still limp a tiny bit while running, especially at the end of a run. Right now, my physical therapist said it's okay to run but to not overdo it. So I've been doing intervals of about 2 minutes running and two minutes not running. This is really flexible though, and sometimes I will run for longer or walk for longer. Overall it's going okay. I can't sprint or anything. It almost feels like fake running. It definitely doesn't feel like I'm running normally, but that will come with time (I hope)!

My ankle still swells up a lot, especially at the end of the day or at the end of a run. I'm walking a lot everyday for my new job, so my feet get really sore too. I'm still doing stretches, calf raises, and working with the resistance band. I also try to remember to take my calcium and multivitamin pills everyday. My flexibility is still not quite there. Moving my foot up toward the ceiling is getting better, but pointing my foot downwards is still pretty bad. That also might be because of the swelling though.

My limp is completely gone except for a few minutes after I go for a run. And at that point it's just a minor limp that lasts for maybe 30-45 minutes max. Once I stretch, then my ankle is fine again (although very swollen).

The scar is healing nicely. It's pretty noticeable though. I wore capris for the first time the other day (I'm up in Northern Minnesota, so it's still been pretty cold here) and one of my coworkers commented on my scar. He knew I had surgery, but when he saw the scar he said, "Woah, that's a big scar!" The scar doesn't bother me too much I guess. The part that bugs me is that whenever I see it I start thinking about my injury, which I never want to re-live. But I'm proud of how far I've come. It's been a tough road for sure, but things are looking up. I'm so happy to be somewhat running again and working on strength. Overall though I'm just glad I got through those really tough 3 months and I'm able to walk again. There are so many things I take for granted, but the ability to walk and run will never be one of them again.

A photo from my first time running since pre-injury. May 17, 2013. :)

3 months and 1 week Post-Op

My ankle has been doing pretty well now. I only start to limp a little after a long day of walking, but otherwise it's pretty unnoticeable. I also saw a physical therapist in my hometown hospital last Friday and she gave me a bunch of exercises to do. I have a stretchy resistance band to work on my ankle ROM and strength, as well as some stretches using the wall, and basic leg lifts/calf raises. She also measured my range of motion angles and said I'm doing really well.

Right now I'm about 3 1/2 weeks since I last used crutches. I can kind of run. Not really full strength or full length steps, but it's more of a fast walk with slight hopping like a running kind of motion. I haven't tried jumping on my feet yet. I think I still need more strength. Just standing on one leg, I'm very shaky and can't stay balanced for more than 10-15 seconds. The physical therapist said I can try running increments right now just to build up muscle, but no more than a couple minutes at a time. She also said it will probably take a month or so to work back up to a normal jog pace.

Below are some photos (don't mind my hairy legs, I can't really shave over the scar yet). The screw removal surgery was about 1 1/2 or two weeks prior to these photos, so the scar healed over a little bit. They just made a tiny centimeter incision over the old incision, so the bottom part of my scar is in the beginning healing stages while the rest has had over three months to heal.

Post-screw removal scar (about 1 1/2 weeks post-operation)

Scar 1/12 weeks post-operation

Scar post-screw removal