footdrop

my mother-in-law had back surgrey to help her with the footdrop but it hasn't done anything so far. she had it done on march 21 2007 and they told her she could go back to work on may 15 2007. she is in worse shape now than before. her lower leg from the knee down swells to 3x the size it should be. she would like to wwhy it would be swelling like that.she can't sit or stand for long, before it starts to swell. any information would help. thank you, lady reb.

[sage1]

Has someone checked to make sure she doesnt have a blood clot?  You can do this yourself by locating the pulse on the top of her foot -usually able to be felt right on the top of the foot.  If her foot is warm it indicates good blood supply so she should be okay.  But she should see a doctor so they can do a Doppler test to be sure.  One question,  why does she have foot drop?  It can only happen with lack of good medical attention if she was not able to move the foot herself????  Did she have some time where her foot was immobized?  

[taterbaby]

Hi! I also have a severe foot drop due to  2 herniated disks in my low back. I had surgery about 6 months ago to relieve the pressure on the nerve but have had no improvement in my foot. I have had a lot of different information since then in trying to recover from this. I am a 39 year old woman, not over weight and I don't do a lot of lifting or sports but I am pretty active with work and normal activities. My doctors and Physical therapists have told me that usually if the nerve is going to heal then you should see some improvement happening with the foot drop immediately after surgery. So my doctors have been a little baffled as to why I haven't improved and most have told me that they don't think that I can hope to ever fully regain my foot movement. However I had a post op MRI and recently had another surgeon who found a small fragment of disk matter that is still sitting on the nerve. I am considering having a second surgery in the hope that removing this small piece may help the nerve finally heal some. Sounds like your mother in law may have similar situation. Perhaps she should consider another MRI and a second opinion. Also my foot and ankle swells quite a lot also. I think this is normal considering that the movement is so restricted that the fluid accumulates there. Elevating the foot helps somewhat. My foot and leg are also very cold to the touch but none of my doctors feel that is much to worry about.  Also I recommend wearing the AFO foot drop orthodic thing. It's uncomfortable and not very cute but it has helped my pain when I can walk normally and helps the swelling. I also have a soft bootie with a strap on it that pulls my toes up while I sleep and that seems to help with pain and swelling as well. I hope you find some answers. I know this is a frustrating thing to deal with.