Update One Year Later

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog.  The reasons for this were partly due to laziness and partly due to being unsure how to convey how I have progressed. 

The good news - beyond numbness on the inside of my leg above my right ankle (which does not really affect much), there are no lasting problems from the surgery.  Additionally, I do not have Compartment Syndrome symptoms and had an additional pressure test in which it was confirmed that the CS is gone. 

The bad news - The back pain that was thought to have been secondary to the CS has not improved, and I have had problems higher up the chain involving my left hip.

Now, from the perspective of people who have CS and are reading this for advice, the back pain issue probably should not bother you.  From what I can tell, most people whose lives have been compromised by CS are not also suffering from debilitating back pain, as I was (so that shouldn't be an issue).

The hip problems I have had (pain, decrease range of motion, can't really ride a bike....) may or may not be a result of the surgery, it's impossible to tell.   I'm wondering if anyone else out there has experienced problems in other parts of their bodies that they believe might have been due to the surgery.

It's entirely possible that I am a special case and my body might just be kind of fucked - The CS is gone though, and I have no regrets about the fasciotomy. 

My advice:  If it's severely impacting your life and you are young, find an EXPERIENCED surgeon (does at least 5-10 of them a year), and get it done.   Being active kicks ass....don't let anyone tell you to  accept what has happened to you and not do anything about it.

Quick Updates on progress and recovery after compartment syndrome surgery

Hey all, the primary problem seems to be awesome. My shin/calf/entire lower legs feel great, and my back pain has completely subsided.  Only problem is, I still have this lingering left knee issue (possibly patellofemoral syndrome) that I have not been able to shake.  It has been making progress, and I hope to start running again within the next two weeks, to really be able to test out if the CS is completely gone.But besides for the left knee, my legs do feel great.

Updates - Recovery and Physical Therapy

Hey all, just a quick update - Have progressed to doing squats (extremely sore! In a good way though) and heel raises throughout the day pain free which is awesome - Pre-surgery those could simply not be done without the compartment syndrome high pressures stopping me ... tightness in the calf is abating more and more every day - This Monday I start bike and massage and I'll post how it feels....

Three Weeks Out - Physical Therapy, Recovery, and Questions

Hey all, sorry it's been a while - things have been busy. Last post explained my first post-op visit and left off with me excited for my first PT appointment. I went to a nice place in the Longwood Medical Area (for non-bostonians, that probably won't resonate) where they were recommended by my surgeon due to the volume of compartment syndrome afflicted patients they receive. I was still somewhat apprehensive that I might be assigned to a physical therapist that would not have significant experience with CS, but those worries were quickly placated when I met Jerry, who seemed to know his stuff.

He explained that for another week and a half, calf/ankle stretching and some very simple calf/ankle strengthening exercises would really be the only PT I would be doing, as the legs are still healing from the trauma of surgery. At about 4 weeks post-op, he explained, is when the real physical therapy would begin, with some bicycling, and, in his words, "massaging the hell" out of my legs (I assume that, among other things, it goes to break up scar tissue).

Interestingly, a reader of this blog named Tom has mentioned that his doctor advised that he should start running as soon as he could in order to break up the scar tissue. This seems to be in direct conflict with what both my surgeon and physical therapists have advised - Namely, to absolutely not run at least for the first 6 weeks, and to err on the side of not pushing it in any activity one might find themselves in. It seems that there is obviously two things that need to happen post-op - your legs need to heal, and scar tissue needs to be broken up (obviously there are additional factors, such as strengthening, but these two seem to be the crux of this conflict) - Now I would assume there would be an optimal time where the healing of the legs would reach a point that increased efforts to break up scar tissue would not compromise the recovery - the question is when that point is. So if anyone else who has been advised by a doctor as to what point they should begin running activities (and keep in mind that in both cases 4 compartments were released on both legs) then please speak up!

As for general updates on leg ability, I now can be on my feet all day with barely any pain, although I sometimes encounter swelling late in the day, however it is not too significant. Yesterday I walked all over the city, probably a combined two or three miles, with minimal discomfort. Stairs pose no issue. My right leg is still a little behind my left leg, in that the calf is tighter and flexibility is just not as far along. But overall they are still gradually improving. Next physical therapy appointment is Wednesday, so I'll keep you guys posted.....

2 Week Post-op visit - The Fun of Recovery Begins

With the swelling and numbness of the lower right leg somewhat subsiding, I was quite excited to go see what the surgeon had to say in terms of how my recovery was going. I also am planning on leaving the country in late May/early June, and wanted to understand if that would be detrimental to my recovery or not.

After quite a long wait (While this doctor is know as one of the best sports medicine surgeons in Boston, he also has a reputation for really shitty waiting times - Either way, I'll take that combination over the reverse any day), an awesome fellow came in to remove my stitches. I had 4 incisions on each leg, with 6 of the 8 being stitches that could dissolve on their own, and the other two being ones that had to come out. The fellow said she would also try to take as many dissolvable stitches out as my legs would let, as the rule of thumb is usually that the less foreign bodies in a person's leg the better. She got all the stitches out except for one dissolvable one, which was alright with me. As far as pain went, I've read in other places that people have experienced insane amounts of pain during stitch removal. Except for when the fellow tried to remove the one stitch that wouldn't go, there was barely any pain worth noting - she had hands of gold!

What was also good about this setup was that while taking the stitches out, the fellow was able to provide me with all sorts of reassuring information - Men do tend to fare better overall than women (sorry ladies), and she had a friend who got the procedure done a year and a half ago who is now doing triathlons. When I expressed to her concern that I had heard people who are a year and a half out of surgery and still can't go full throttle, she replied that recovery is really different for everyone, but that a substantial percentage of patients in my situation were really able to resume full activity around week 12.

Shower-wise, she said I was all good to go, except that I should only let soapy water fall down on the lower legs, and there should be no scrubbing in that area. She also recommended knee-high compression stockings in order to allow the blood to flow easier throughout the lower leg and prevent swelling. When I went to the medical supplies store, they gave me two different compression stockings to try out - Medi, and Jobst. For me, Jobst was far and away much more comfortable than the Medi, so if you have the choice, I would really recommend going with it.

Finally the surgeon came in, said my legs looked great, and said that I was all cleared to start physical therapy tomorrow. While he said the physical therapist could give me a better idea, he recommended staying for at least 6-7 weeks from the start of physical therapy in order to get the greatest benefit. I guess I'll find out more tomorrow....