Just FYI, let us know how old you are and your weight (like skinny, avg, or overweight).
I'm in early 40s and avg (but gained 30lbs in past 4 month, i'm 6'3" so it's not alot but still decent). Had DeNovo graft, some bone shaving around the talus (i had spur due to too many ankle sprains), some tightening of the ligaments, and clean up of the area.
Just let you know, it's a slow process healing, and a long process. You'll be swelling alot for a long time. You'll go through pain & feeling well then pain (especially when it rains). So it's normal healing process, don't try to speed it up. Take your time.
Try to get some compression socks and wear them all day. And keep doing ice/elevation. Once your off your boot, it'll be slow process healing, so dont be concerned. Depending on your age, you'll be doing compression socks, elevation, icing, for 6month - year, before swelling is gone completely. One of my friend's daughter had a surgery (she's 14) and even though they're fast healers, she's going through the same process and complaining how it hurts when it rains.
Been off weight for 6 weeks, then boot for a month, then ankle brace for a month. Now i'm just doing compression socks/kt tape/ankle brace (when activity like golf). When i was on boot, near the end of the month, i felt GREAT. I thought healing was going great. Then on brace, and started walking normally, i felt all these weird pain after a 3 days. Then iced while limping around. Then it went away after a week. Then pushed more, it hurt, limped for another week. Then felt better. So as you can see, it's 2 steps forward, 1 step backward process. So don't worry. Only worry if the pain doesn't go away after a week of rest/icing/advil.
As for exercising during the 2 weeks after surgery, DO NOT do alphabet. Just try to get a towel, put it on the toe and just stretch the achilles lightly. But it's usually better with heat, so wait for after stitches are removed. Also, try not to stretch pointing toes out, at least until after the boot phase.
I was in a soft cast the first 2 weeks (off weight) until stitches were removed. Then wore boot 24x7 for a month (off weight), then another month of on weight on boot. During the on weight boot phase, i cheated little bit and wore ankle splint at night with compression socks for little comfort. Try to get a foot pillow for assisting with sleep and elevation initially. It's still uncomfortable but you'll get used to it.
Let us know how your healing goes.
