Whoops. I might have accidentally-on-purpose bought a new car. After the strain, discomfort and pain of clutch hopping on a manual I've taken the leap into the world of driving automatics. Everyone knows considerably more than myself in regard to the mechanics of such automobiles and their various benefits, but the one thing I can now certain with absolute certainty one week after buying it ... my leg feels wonderful. No ache, no pain, my exercise and stretches regime don't result in a swollen ankle or dull throbbing. This was something of a luxury purchase but but totally worthwhile!

With my new gym regime we took a number of physical measures to use as the basis for improvement (more on that in another post), but the one of interest was that my left calf is still an inch thinner than it's right legged counterpart. An inch! While it doesn't sound like a lot it feels significant and of course that doesn't take into account the simple loss of mass on the length of the calf. Jokes regarding the extra inch making all the difference may be performed to the delightful strains of keyboard cat playing you off.

This may be my first topical meme reference on the site.

Pain for the next four days. While the physio itself wasn't a problem, it appears that coupled with driving a manual gearbox (and the car around it, obviously) that's caused me issues with possibly overstretching the recommended mark at this point in the rehabilitation. The twinges are gone by the next morning but it's a worrying sign. I'm now giving serious thought to changing cars and picking up an automatic as this really can't continue for the year of recovery ahead.

I was reliably informed by my physio that this was definitely a Bad Thing (tm) and at this point in the cycle of the injury I'm at the highest risk of re-ruptuirng. If you read around the subject of a re-rupture while scar tissue is still present in quantity and blood flow isn't back again, it doesn't make for bedtime reading and scares the hell out of me. Consider the patience and effort put in since Feburary to get this far I'd be sad to see that lost, so currently taking the utmost care in all activities

I've been remiss in my updates due to real life and work, so have finally caught up.

After a couple of weeks back in the proverbial saddle I've experienced some swelling and discomfort encountered during driving. A 15 mile drive in heavy traffic involving considerably time spent sitting on the clutch was a distressing experience and by the end of it, I really felt like the ankle was ready to pop again! Sharp stabbing pains are no friend of recovery and won't be doing that again, certainly not in the next few months.

Three week review with the physiotherapist to see how the foot has been doing with the blessing of movement. All told it was the most positive session I've had with any specialist since the injury, as the range of movement is almost back to normal. The "table test" was fun, requiring you to stand firstly with your good leg against the leg of a small table on a tiled floor and bend both legs at the knee to push the table back with the good leg. Seems easy enough, and managed 12cm before discomfort in the back of the ankle. Same test again but this time with the bad leg doing the pushing ... 4cm. That's a humbling experience after feeling you've made (pun intended) massive strides.

With that said, the movement is good enough that he gave me the go ahead to resume driving, albeit short distances. So for the first time since February I successfully drove myself to work, and darned good it felt too. It is strange that such a mundane activity can generate so much enjoyment, but you take the little victories whenever they come.