Embracing Lisfranc Recovery Part 2 (Progress Days):

Hi everyone!

A Lisfranc injury can be very unmotivating and hard to handle sometimes but I am here to tell you the road may be hard and long BUT it also is do-able and there can be a light at the end of the tunnel. So please do not give up hope. I wrote down my progress through time after my first Lisfranc ORIF surgery. This post is long but may be helpful to those who may be going through something similar. I know I had looked for information out there and had a hard time finding someone to connect with or someone to compare to. Hopefully this helps, enjoy!

May 26th: went camping and walked the whole time in the boot. It wasn't bad, I still have a gimp and stuff but that was the first day of walking out of the boot. It felt nice to 'look normal' again. And to wear a normal shoe. I walked and tried to really focus on going heel to toe.

May 27: really sore that day as I think I went overboard again. It just felt so nice to do. Wore a boot the rest of the day just to give it a break. However, I did go to the gym and use the band to do some ROM exercises.

May 28: back to the tennis shoe. It feels good today. My biggest hurdle right now is going down stairs. I have a hard time flexing my bad foot forward when the good foot is down the stair already. I had to do a calf stretch where I did not bend my foot at all. Went for a legit long walk and really tried to focus on not limping and going heel to toe and rolling through foot.

May 29th: today....was....AWESOME!!!! 😎😎😎👍👍💪💪🏋️‍♀️. I got out of the house and went and saw a friend of mine.

-the foot: so we woke up early lol. We went to the gym and I changed my workout finally but it made sense and felt really tailored to me and what I needed. I did SL step ups on a hard lower box and really focused on not cheating with the other leg. I did these stagnant/with no extra movement. Some do it completely for quad development only. And I did a knee drive at the top if I could. With my L foot the squat wasn't the hard part but when I'd get my leg straight and drive my other leg, I'd then be balancing on my foot. I had a pole close by to help me but worked my way from not using it. The R leg up on the box was tough because I couldn't push off/get a little more distance from my calf but rather did more of a squat with that leg. I then moved to using the bench once I felt comfortable. I just made it my second set but I definitely did more "warm ups" and tries on the stuff box. It was taller and a squishier surface so a good challenge. I was actually a little surprised at how well I did. My doc said it will look silly and comical. I think I looked pretty good. It was the last/3rd set that I was really starting to feel my muscles get tired on my outer left side of my left foot and my ankle muscles. We were still strong but they were tired. I also did SL RDLs with kickbacks for balance as well. This was hard at first! I wobbled around like a fool but eventually figured it out, added 16 lbs but then definitely peaked and had a hard time finishing on my L leg but I made sure to take my time and do all that I could to push myself. BUT knowing when to stop and when to call it a day.

-I also did some arm stuff...chin ups, bbell rows

-focused hard on dynamic stretches concerning the ankle too. Did inchworm but only halfway, and lunge stretches for ankle, stretched it on the step without flexing foot at all or putting pressure on the midfoot.

-i feel really good today. I was able to go to the store x2, do a legit workout that I made on the fly that felt so good/beneficial/I saw progress. I then planted my peas for this summer. I'm going back to my actual job today. I cleaned my house and did all of my laundry. And cooked. I had a very very good day 😄😄😄😄

May 30th: went to work for 5 hours and it wasn't bad. I am still not overly sold on everyone there but foot was good and behaved well in the arch. Didn't end up wearing the boot. It got like sore after a few hours but then eventually kinda went away. It does feel soooooo good to sit down though. Later that night, I had dinner with some coworkers/friends and I think I overdid it then. I was good but iris wanted to go for a walk and to get ice cream. Then wanted to talk forever. You can tell her marriage isn't going well :(.

May 31st: I felt it more today and more often. I iced it all eve and night. 4 hours work

June 1: yeah it hurt, I'm gimping. Went home after 4 hours. Did a leg workout and it felt good. No issues. I spent the entire day sitting though.

June 2: no work

June 6th: worked for 5 hours. Went for long walk and really worked on not limping. Really emphasized toes raised before putting my foot down. Then pushing off/pushing rocks behind me and equal side calf engagement. Downhill I walk normal but not flat, fast or uphill

June 9th: first day that I walked barefoot but with no rolling of foot. With no pain or really much of discomfort.

June 10th: everything is looking very very good!

June 14th: I am officially able to lie flat on my belly and have both feet flat on the bed as well ☺️. Whoo progress baby!

June 17th: I finally wore a pretty pair of shoes. Still tennis but we're branching out! 😄 Still feel like I'm walking on the outside of my foot 🤞 hopefully it's all good.

June 20th: did side lunges. Was very afraid to to left side lunges at first.....went SO SLOW!  Jumping back felt fine. Asked my physician if I could be lifting....50lb SL RDL. Lots of stiffness noted to dorsiflexion today. So far it hasn't been a problem

June 29: everything was going so well and over the past 3 days my foot has been so freaking PISSED!!!! It will get random sharp pains and I definitely guard/all my other muscles get tight to help it. It sucks dude. Not so much swelling but just upset. I worked at the hospital a long with my normal 4 days at the my job for 2 weeks in a row and the foot just not happy. I've been too active for sure. Soooooo no more working out for me for a while :(

June 30: I iced last night and it just generally felt better today. I did go to the gym and just went slow and focused on form and muscle mind connection. It went well at the gym and I tried some new things as far as stability.

August 4th: how I think I got depressed with a 6 month disabling injury. It seemed like I could sleep forever. And I did feel decently good with that. I would spend half of an hour awake but just not getting out of bed. I wouldn't do anything fun or with friends. People wouldn't want to do anything. People have sucked lately. I like to hang out with my parents more than anything anymore.

Aug 5th: I could run in place. Didn't cause pain. I deeeeeefinaly need to do more cardio!!! Because I am obviously out of shape. Able to do baby jumping jacks though!

Aug 7th: did side to side hops. I stopped when it hurt RIGHT AWAY

Aug 8: sore today but still feels pretty good

August 24th: so I stopped PT on Tuesday of this week. Kinda sad because I found it very helpful and this guy was extremely good. Also, I tend to over-do exercise so he was a good judge for where I was at and what I could do. He was my human stop-sign. So I asked him about running and jumping. He said to go so SLOW. He said, I had been doing little little side to side hops and forward hops. All decently good depending on the day. Then he had me do a vertical jump, all was good there. I did a few more and by golly it was okay ☺️☺️☺️😱☺️☺️ I was so happy. It was like the light at the end of the tunnel or the door just opened up. It was interesting and exciting all at the same time. He said do 20 sec running and 1 min 30 sec walking for like a month before progressing to 30 sec running and 1 min walking for another month. I can always call him if needed in case it gets bad. But condones yoga and hiking

Oct 29: as I look thru my old photos on Google because my storage has yet again gotten full. And I do pay for extra 😂. But as I look through old times where my life felt like it was such in a standstill. My photos consist of feet, knee scooters and cats. Such simple things that are tied to such highly emotional things for that year.

I am able to walk quite normally. I lift but I'm much more intentional now as I know muscle needs that time under tension and it is more beneficial to work on form instead of going through the motion. Also things/my foot can take up to a year to fully heal. I'm okay waiting.

I also have been having some hard hard conversations with myself on my profession as an RN. RNs are on their feet constantly and I worry that if I am unable to do that....what will happen financially for me in the future? At this time in my life, I was really thinking "I need to do something else for my foot, my body and me mentally." I was highly considering Nurse Practitioner at this point.