Originally Posted by Littlepaw

Hi Hotfoot,

This is a great question. I agree with Shay though that our members who are back to full time may not be on here much. Or they didn't join up in the first place.

I think it depends on what type of work and what type of accommodations are needed. I can't stand in place for long periods. Moving around periodically and sitting keep my foot happier. Being able to elevate at times is even better. My full time job right now is Mom and household/manager. After a long, slow recovery I am pretty much back to all my myriad duties without loads of limitation. I do sometimes have rougher days, though infrequently and nothing like they used to be. I do have to watch what I do and pace myself. CRPS is still with me and does raise its ugly head if I get carried away trying to act like I have nothing wrong at all. That said, I know at this point I could comfortably do desk work with trips to other areas for meetings, etc. I could work in a hospital making visits to patients so long as I could sit down during consults. I could work in a large commercial building without worrying about the distance in the building, etc. Could I stand on my feet all day and cut hair? Or be a surgical nurse? No way. High stress/pace professional job with intense daily pressure?....maybe not so much. I was working part-time when I was injured and had a series of operations. I could physically go back now. My decision to "just" Mom to a crazy busy household is more related to what my family needs than my ability. And honestly, knowing I have a little slack is a real blessing I don't take for granted.

Healing is possible and improvements will come. Listen to what your body needs though. Push enough to test your limits but not so hard that you get setback very far. I think outlook and stress reduction make a huge difference in outcome and pain levels. Do whatever you can to reduce pressure on yourself (especially from internal expectations). I had to work very hard at not catastrophizing and just staying with the thought that I didn't know yet where I would end up. That can be very hard to do but it is much to early to judge your outcome. My improvement has been sloooww and gradual. I'm still refusing to say I'm at my endpoint because I continue to surprise myself. and I know I could have setbacks and must be careful!

Hang in there Hotfoot and take exceptional care of yourself. We're all rooting for your recovery and return to as much activity as you can get.