Re: Notan, how are you doing now?

October 19, 2011

Barb wrote:

>

> Notan, good to see you online and helping everyone again!! How are you

> doing?

>

I am doing much better. I see the surgeon again Friday. I hope he will

finally let me put weight on the left foot but last time he told me it

would be three months from the surgery before he would let me walk on

it. It has only been two months but it seems like forever. A month ago I

started using a walker to stand on my right foot and this last week I

have gotten to the point that I can use it with one leg to go out to the

street and back without having to stop because of the pain. Not that

there isn't still plenty of pain. I still have some swelling, and wounds

that need to heal and the nerves have not yet healed. Contact with the

feet still feels funny. My feet still puff up when I sit with them on

the floor, like I am doing while using this computer, but at least it

doesn't make me uncomfortable like it did before. PT is no fun but I

have gotten enough range of motion to get by, not great, but I am happy

with it. This may not sound all that positive, but from where I have

been it sounds very positive to me. I am getting better and I seem to be

getting better quicker now. If the surgeon will let me start using my

left foot I will be very happy.

I learned something about how fast you can loose muscle mass when you

are not able to get up. In the first few weeks while spending most of my

time on my back I lost over twenty pounds. Most of that was probably

muscle. A lot of it was from my legs and people noticed. People having

surgeries like esophagectomies may want to keep that in mind. If they

don't get up and around enough they will loose muscle. Of course you

don't want to overdo it. I felt amazingly weak and with no stamina when

I first tried to stand on my right leg. Even my arms, which were not

injured were weak. I have some equipment here for working out so that

has been a big help. The muscles are coming back and so are the pounds.

One thing that helped a lot in the early days was elastic exercise

bands. I could use them even while laying on the sofa.

notan

October 20, 2011

Hi Notan, It sure is great to hear that you're slowly progressing. Another

month doesn't sound too terribly long to wait before you can put some weight on

your left foot. I hated not being able to sleep in my bed and spending hours

laying in my ez-boy chair propped up by pillows. I sure feel for you! The pain

must be frustrating though. You are your own expert on how much you can do

safely right now. Hopefully time will fly by, but I can just imagine the months

of PT still ahead! P.S. Please tell your wife how much you love her because

Men are notoriously worse patients than Women:-) All the best,