I have been assigned six exercises that I am supposed to do twice a day for my physical therapy. While I do them, I do the exercises with both feet, which also helpfully contrasts the difference between my normal range of motion, and my injured ankle. It is like watching a lumbering Frankenstein next to Anna Pavlova.

There are two exercises that I can actually accomplish: one requires me to pull my foot towards me with a towel, stretching my calf. Since I don't have to move anything, I can do this. I am also fairly good at lifting my heel off the ground while seated, which is strange since I can't actually make this motion while walking. There are two that I am somewhat able to do. I can halfheartedly curl my toes, meaning that I can accomplish some movement, but not anything approaching a grip, which is what I am supposed to be trying to do. I am also supposed to be flexing my foot off the ground from the heel when seated, and I can manage to lift my toes a few centimeters, but not much more. And there are two exercises that I am horribly, horribly unable to do. Lying on my back, I am supposed to flex and point my foot (this results in some wobbling motions), and point my foot from side to side (here I can also manage some wobbling, but I think that I am doing it more from my knee than my ankle).

And this is a month after the injury. My physical therapist said not to get discouraged, that the recovery process will take a while. The execises don't actually cause me much pain while doing them, although a few hours after my first appointment, I had a lot of pain. But I did them last night, and today seems ok. It is more the immobility than the pain that is the problem.