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I had another visit with the orthopaedic surgeon yesterday afternoon. The X-rays and visual inspection showed the expected healing, so he gave me clearance to start putting partial weight on the right leg. He defined partial weight as 10 lb on day 1, increasing by no more than 10 lb a day, as the pain allowed. He said to stand supported by crutches, with the right leg on bathroom scales, and to calibrate my sense of what 10 lb felt like, then to walk around the house putting that much weight on the leg.

I was a bit disappointed, having been looking forward to getting clearance for partial weight on the leg, and sort of expecting that it would mean perhaps 50 lb. But, after trying the leg out this morning, I learned that 10 lb feels like a lot more than it used to, and that is about all the ankle is ready for right now. I spent a fair bit of time working on stretching the tendon that goes up the back of the calf, as at the moment I can just get the heel on the floor if the leg is at 90 degrees to the foot, but I need to be able to push the knee forward with the foot flat on the floor so I can walk. I either need to get that tendon stretched out, or start wearing high heels. :)

The right ankle is a bit sore right now from its exercise today, but I am happy to have passed to the next phase of the recovery.