Grateful for Life Changing Ankle Surgery

In the summer of 2021, I had enough of taking every step like I was walking on crushed marbles. The bones in my right foot had become so contorted from MS, and being in a brace. Towards the end of my journey with my old foot and ankle, I just couldn’t take the pain anymore. I would try to go to the gym but getting around with a leg brace on and off machines made it impossible to me to make any gains and I hardly thought it was worth living that way anymore. It wasn’t until I had a visit with a new prosthetist to make yet another leg brace that I got one of the best pieces of advice I had gotten. It was so selfless, because giving advice like that could put him out of having a new brace constructed.

During the molding of this leg brace, the plaster would just collapse because my right foot was just locked in a position that could be straightened to neutral. My toes and foot were always planted downward (plantarflexion) and the mold had to be at neutral for me to get my heel on the floor: I always had to pad it anyway because it never did.

The prosthetist was having a hard time with getting the mold to do what it should do and he said to me, “there’s a surgery for that where they cut the Achilles tendon”
Bingo. The knowledge was all I needed and I ran with it.

I did my research and the idea looked feasible that it would help me get in the pathway to walking right again. Even though I have drop foot, I used to walk with a walkaide which would cause my foot to Dorisflex or clear the ground when I would walk. I had to stop wearing it because no matter how high up I put the setting to send an electric impulse. I still caught my toe and never cleared the floor. This surgery made so much send to me.

I asked my neurologist and he said he would recommend anyone other than Dr. Wayne Berberian if the Ankle and Foot Indtitute in Maywood, NJ.

Armed with that information I called tor an appointment. Dr. Berberian was interested in learning more about my MS and what my needs were: He evaluated my foot condition and not only saw that I had a shortened Achilles tendon but a condition called equinus varus, where my foot rolls outward. He was thinking of doing a certain type of surgery for me to correct both problems but he wanted to investigate its success i the past with patients, especially with MS. He did not shy away from taking me on as a patient and asked if he could leave the room to look up some information.

When he came back not too long after he had a print out from a research journal on a type of surgery he was considering for me, a partial tibial tendon transfer, where he would take a piece of the tendon on the inside of my foot and transfer it to the outside so it would not roll on. The Achilles tendon Zplasty (where it’s a small Z is cut into the tendon).

There was success with the surgery for patients other than MS patients, and I figured I really didn’t have much to lose at this point. I had to put my trust in Dr. Berberian’s hands.
I was in a cast for a month and in a wheelchair only at home.

The recovery time was a few weeks and I was happy to be out of a leg brace, just back to my forearm crutches and a moon boot.

I was back to the gym but only doing upper body. I couldn’t do weight bearing cardio for sometime because of the foot pain so the handbike was enough for me. I pushed myself to do 75-100 miles a month.

I could have written about my journey towards recovery, but I really didn’t start blogging til a couple of months ago. I just posted my journey on Instagram with my gains along the way. In retrospect, that’s not the best most lasting way preserve your valuable content and documentation. But it’s what I did before I got my life back in order after being on wish a low point in my life. Writing wasn’t even a thought.

So now here I am a little over a year in after my year follow up with Dr. berberian. Not only did I even think about unloading my motorized scooter from the trunk of my SUV, but I marched right up to his second floor office for me visit.

He examine my door and scars and said everything was looking normal and healed really well. I told him that my ankle tweaked when I did horizontal leg press and pushed too much weight. I told him I pulled back on weight when it did that and he said that was the right things to do. I just have to listen to my body and do what feels right and stop when it hurts, never working through pain.

I was so relieved to hear that my foot looked OK because I am not a good judge. It doesn’t exactly look like my other foot and I want a professional opinion. Yesterday I was blown away. All my hard work at the gym has been paying off. My weight bearing cardio that I now have been able to do since my surgery has not only allowed me to shed some unwanted pounds, and build leg muscles I had forgotten even worked because of a rather sedentary life except for my limited but very sacred time at the gym. My recent Dexa Scan has also endowed they my osteoporosis has now stabilized and the bone density has improved slightly.

I am thrilled that I can get back to the gym and have no limitations given to me by a medical professional. I feel like I’m in a candy store when I go. Sometimes I just have to figure out how I’m going to get on and off a piece of equipment or where it’s best to put my crutches until I’m done. But this didn’t change. Being limited by mobility challenges will dictate what is safe for me to do. Nobody can tell me that anymore because of my used to be bum ankle and foot. Even though it’s still a drop foot, I have been happily wearing my walkaide again. I turn it off when on cardio equipment that doesn’t need to fire my toot to raise because it doesn’t need to, planted safely on the foot plate or the elliptical trainer or Cybex.

I am very grateful for Dr Berberian’s expertise in ankle and foot disorders. Especially during this week where I am focusing on being grateful for the good things in my life, Dr. berberian was certainly an angel sent my way.

No matter what your doctors tell you or whatever just does not feel right to you, always seek out or be ready to find another answer that makes more sense. And investigate the bell out of it. It just might change your life. It did mine.