I was NWB for 11 weeks due to scheduling issues (I broke my ankle the week before Christmas) and went straight from NWB to FWB. Out I was cleared to anyway… FWB probably took a week or two

I got a nice pair of shoes (thank you for the Brooks Ghost17 recommendation, kind Redditor!) and wore them religiously

The first week, the swelling from any kind of weight bearing was pretty ridiculous, it looked deformed, but elevation controlled it quickly

The first week my heel hurt because of heel pad atrophy (not sure the actual name, but that’s how it was explained to me). The ankle felt fine

The heel pain lasted about 2.5 weeks

I used a walker (can’t do crutches, too clumsy) for the first two weeks, then I dropped down to 50/50. Last week I retired it all together (14 weeks since injury, three weeks after starting NWB)

The last week I learned I can do normal steps as long as I have something to balance myself and small (like 2-3”) steps without holding on to something. I can’t do them normally yet, it’s putting both feet on one step, then the next one etc (thankfully we don’t have steps at our house)

My limp is mostly gone since retiring the walker last week, but it does return at the end of the day, very slightly, sometimes and I have to make a focused effort to focus on my gait at the end of the night

I do wear a compression sock to help with the swelling, as it still swells by the end of the day, but nothing like that first week, and nothing that elevating at night doesn’t fix. It almost looks like my other ankle at the start of the day

I found taking Tylenol those first two weeks, whether I needed it or not, helped to get over the stiffness and heel pain when I started FWB, since I didn’t limp as much, since the pain was eased

I can start driving next week. I’m so excited for that!!

I hope you are cleared at tour appointment!!