Tuesday, July 12, 2016

A Numb Foot and Early Reevaluation

Rewind to the weekend of July 2 and 3. I started to feel a numbness/tingling sensation in the arch of my right foot - yep, not good. Since I was originally tested for nerve damage, I wasn't too happy with this new symptom. I did a fair job of ignoring it, but decided to call my orthopedic doc on the evening of July 4. I ended up going in to see him the next day, and I also had my x-rays taken and reviewed then, too - so, my much-awaited reevaluation appointment happened a full week ahead of schedule! Here is what I've learned:

* I will continue to monitor the wonky area on my foot. If it continues to spread and/or becomes painful, I've been told to call the doc again. They think it's most likely a nerve that's being tweaked, thanks to the shifting happening in my pelvic region.

* My new x-rays looked good. Whereas my separation was at about 2.5cm when I was first diagnosed, it's now looking like it's at 2.2cm.

* Still need to work on leveling-out my hips: the entire left side is still positioned quite a bit lower than the right, thanks to the rupture.

* I've been told to keep up the good work in the pool at PT. As a matter of fact, I just added a new exercise to the regime that has me propelling myself the length of the pool, wearing mini-flippers on my feet and floating my top-half with a pool noodle... SO good, it's like REAL exercise! More on that soon in an upcoming post.

* I'm down to 157lbs (from 187 when I delivered R), and I've lost 3 of those lbs in the last 2 months. Being lighter will ultimately help my healing process, as my pelvis will have less weight to support. I'm pretty pleased with myself, seeing as I've stopped breastfeeding and am not doing actual cardio.

* I have orders to request my initial x-rays from the orthopedic center that diagnosed me (somehow they haven't been sent to my current orthopedic pelvic doc yet?!), so that at my next appointment he can more carefully compare the two images.

* I'll go back in for more x-rays and another reevaluation in just over a month, on August 16.

SO. As anticipated, and as experienced thus far, my recovery is HAPPENING, but it's happening S-L-O-W-L-Y. According to these newest bits of news, it will hopefully continue on as such. More soon - #staythankful

2 comments:

  1. Hi Hayly, Another DSP mother here, I've been there. Haven't read all of your case history, but just wanted to say that in my experience, if you have an actual misalignment of the hips (while standing equally on both feet), then that is not something that is going to necessarily sort out with time, healing and PT. It can help some women to get your pelvis realigned via manual therapy. Some PTs do this, some don't. Some chiropractors or acupuncturists/bonesetters do this. For me, it made a big difference in my pain and pace of healing. I recall asking my pelvis PT whether being lighter weight helped healing and she said no, the most important thing was getting strong and maintaining a strong core and pelvic floor. Good luck! There is a FB group of us if you want to join - search groups for "Diastasis Symphysis Pubis."

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    1. Lexi, thanks for commenting. I'm hoping to talk to my ortho doc about the realignment idea when I see him next month - once he can compare my original x-rays with the newest batch, that should reveal how misaligned my hips are (I'd be surprised if they've corrected themselves at all). And, as far as my weight loss goes, my doc also told me that it won't necessarily help my healing. I'm not dieting/stressing over it, but the loss DOES make me feel more "me" as I get closer to my pre-preggo weight, heh. Lastly - I joined the group on FB - how AWESOME!

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