Preparing for surgery.

Make no mistake Total Ankle Replacement is major surgery. Not only are they inserting a shiny new ankle but a sizable chunk of bone will be removed.  The recovery isn’t going to be quick.  It’s more complex than a hip or a knee.  The ankle takes a massive amount of stress through it.  Being prepared for this and giving your new ankle the best chance possible is a really good idea.

So what can you do to help yourself?

Get in the best shape possible. You should know by now that excess weight is not your best friend.  Hips, knees and ankles affected by arthritis benefit from less weight being put through them, so, apart from the usual health benefits we are all aware of, the less weight you put through your new ankle the better.  You want this ankle to last.  Ideally this will be your last ankle operation; you have a role to play in this.

Now obviously it’s hard to exercise when you can’t even go out for a walk right? And I was in a walker boot with a stress fracture now. Golf was out and initially I was uneasy about the fracture and swimming.  My solution was the gym.  I reasoned that any exercise would have to be done seated and most gyms have a full selection of resistance equipment at which I could happily sit and moves weights around.

Now I realise that the thought of going to the gym where everybody will be slim, muscular, fit and gorgeous is a scary idea. But the reality is actually quite different.  Gym goers come in all shapes and sizes.  Sure there are some like I have already described but guess what?  Normal people use gyms:  Old; Young; Fat; Thin.  They are all there.  I’m actually going to repeat this point:  NORMAL PEOPLE USE GYMS.

So I started using the gym. Now back to crutches.  When you have had your op you will be non-weight bearing for a while at least.  Crutches are hard work.  They require upper body strength.  At the gym I could only do upper body work.  Leg day never came.  I was getting plenty of practice on crutches (lucky me) but I was also building up my strength generally and this was going to pay off.  Although I wasn’t able to do any cardio work I was able to push myself with weights.  Another thing that happened was that I started meeting new people.  In fact I was approached on a few occasions by people saying how much they admired me for going to the gym despite being in a walker boot.  This gym lark could become addictive!  I found that even though sometimes I had to force myself to go (alright most times…), afterwards I felt good for it.  The net result was that despite giving up golf and hardly swimming at all I managed to keep my weight steady and improved my muscle tone significantly.

I’m not telling you that you must follow me into the gym but I am saying that there is often something else that you can do when you are unable to do what you used to take for granted. Investing in your health and strength at any time is good but you now have the responsibility of a new ankle to look after.  A second chance maybe.  Make the most of it.