Best of luck with your surgery.
I had ankle surgery just last fall for a torn peroneal tendon and a gastrocnemius recession (procedure to lengthen the achilles). I also had a small piece of bone removed. So while our surgeries are different, I can help you with what to expect afterwards.
My surgery was also on my right foot. I was in a plaster/fiberglass cast for 6 weeks and then 2 weeks in an air cast. The first 3 weeks of the cast I was on crutches, the last 3 weeks I was given a boot that went over the cast so I could walk a bit. It took a few days to learn how to walk in the boot! Even then, I could not go far. You can get around the house, but you do not want to be up a long time on it. I still used the moter cart thing at the grovery store.
I was unable to drive for about a total of 9 weeks and after that I still let others drive if going very far. My surgery was 10/25/07 and I would say I would have felt OK driving a long distance at the end of Feb. Before that I kept it under 1 hour. I still am wearing a compression sock ordered by the orthopedic surgeon for swelling on my right leg only. I think my extended swelling has a lot to do with the gastroc recession procedure as that involved cutting thru the gastroc and soleus muscles and nicking the tendon. The doc said it would be 7-8 months for my calf to recover and it is still not strong enough for proper circulation yet.
I had PT start mid-dec and it went until the end of Feb. For the first couple of weeks I was not able to drive myself there.
I was pretty suprised with how ugly it was to manuever about the house after the surgery. I live alone which added some challenges. I had hurt my tendon earlier in the year and once I found out I needed surgery I hit the gym to gain upper body strength to help with being on crutches. Plus, I could not do much, so upper body/core strength training had been my only exercise for quite awhile. My only cardio was the arm bike as the regular bike and even walking hurt the ankle.
So what to plan for:
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If you live alone, cook like a mad man this next week and freeze the food for quick meal prep as you won’t want to be up very long and cannot manuever to cook on the crutches. I would microwave my frozen food and steam veggies, eat soup. etc. I would put my meals in Tupperware and then put that in a plastic grocery bag so I could crutch my way to the table to eat. You cannot carry a plate/drink when on crutches!
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I borrowed a walker from a friend. I used the walker around the house a lot verses the crutches and used the crutches when friends would pick me up to take me to the store. The walker/crutch combo was great as arms did not get real sore that way. My hands got sore from the walker so I went back to the crutches for a bit. I really liked having both.
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I borrowed a Breg Polar ice maching thing from the same friend (her husband had had some surgery the previous year and had a lot of toys). It was awesome! You fill it up with ice/cold water and it circulates the ice water through a pad you wrap around the leg. The hospital sent me home with some freezer ice wrap things, but I used this instead. Yes, you do ice thru the cast! I iced every day for 9-10 weeks.
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I borrowed a handicap chair type thing for the shower. YOU NEED THIS! You will not be able to stand to take a shower at least while in the crutch phase. So I sat on this and bought a Water Pik handheld shower head as my shower head was fixed. I recommend the hand held shower head. Not sure what I would have done without this. For the first week or so I used a giant garbage bag around my cast to keep it dry and hung it out of the shower (I have a tub shower so could do this). This was a pain. I then got from the doctor a wonderful item called a Seal Tight cast protector. It has a rubber gasket thing at the top and totally keeps out the water so do not have to hang the leg over the tub. I would get this now so you have it. It is a pain to get on the first couple of times but then gets a bit easier. If your doctor does not have them, you can get at medical supply places or online. I had to buy mine from the doctor as insurance did not cover it.
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I borrowed a giant foam wedge shaped pillow. I used this for propping my legs up when sleeping so leg was above the heart when sleeping. For the first week I just slept on the couch with this and then eventually moved to the bed with it. I could not stand having sheets/blanker tucked in as the weight of it hurt my foot so I slept with the foot sticking out of the covers. Who would have thought the weight of bedding would lauch you into pain/no sleep! I also bought more cheap foam bed pillows to keep my leg propped up when sitting watching TV/eating as I discovered I did not have many pillows.
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I have stairs in my house. I just went up and down them on my butt. I was not going to mess with the crutches in my house for the stairs. The butt was much easier!
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As mentioned before, you cannot drive so friends/family will have to take you anywhere you need to go. I luckily have a job that allowed me to work from home verses the office or I would have had to go on medical leave as could not get myself there and was supposed to keep the leg elevated. Even a month after my surgery my toes would go purple and my leg felt like exploding if I had it down for more than 30 minutes. I went on a road trip that was about a 5 hr drive about 3 1/2 weeks post surgery. I had to be in back of car with leg up on pillows elevated or I would not have been allowed to go. Also had to get out every hour or so to move around to get the blood circulating to ensure no blood clots.
I had general anesthesia as a spinal freaked me out. I was very nauseous for a few days after. I had general before when I had a surgery and was in the hospital 2 days. I was OK with the hospital stay. With the general and the outpatient surgery it was a different story! I would throw up basically any time I moved much for the first day and a half. I would get up to go to bathroom and then throw up about 15 minutes later. So if you are having a general, get some saltines, chicken/veggie broth, jello to have on hand just in case!
Listen to the doctor and the therapist once you start that! Do not be a martyr and skip the pain meds. I am not sure what your surgery will be like, but I needed the Vicoden bad for what they did to my calf! Take them as prescribed. I was also on antibotics for a bit in case of infection and had to take an aspirin a day for blood clots.
I actually went to the gym for about 45 min - 1 hour each visit while in the walking cast. I would do the arm bike for a bit and do some upper body/core training. I would do the weights while sitting on a ball or a weight bench. I was not allowed to do things standing which would add weight to my leg. I went when I could get people to take me and bring me home. There was no need to go when on crutches as those are their own workout!
Once again good luck! The time does go by fast believe it or not! My ankle/calf still is not back to normal, but I do my post-PT exercises every day and it is getting there. I also walk, and now that it is getting warmer I have ridden my bike for a short distance each time. Getting back in shape is the worst part. I hope I can start doing more soon - gotta get the calf muscles built up!
