IPv6Freely

Hahaha

I highly doubt he'd switch back. People don't really switch away from VH unless they have a hard time getting used to having a skate that fits so well.

I put all my under gear and jersey and socks into a laundry bag so when I get home I can just toss it all in the wash, bag included.

Insert over-used GGSU "Vaughn makes skates??" meme here.

I do too. That doesn't make it any less gross ;)

heh, gross!

I'm not sure I'd want to leave my gear in the locker room. I can't imagine it'd be dry before the next game. Plus how would you wash your under-stuff?

I figured out a solution to my perpetually swollen ankle! I just took out the red insole to give me a bit more room in there, and it worked perfectly. I'll just put it back in if/when my ankle stops swelling up all the time :)

Many people aren't able to get their feet in them prior to baking them. That's because baking them is the entire point. I don't know why people even try.

Not at all an exaggeration. Mine were extremely soft when I had mine baked. Not as much as the VH but still pretty damn soft. Play-doh is probably about right for a description.

Had my second PT session on Wednesday. Much better. The exercises were definitely turned up, to the point where I couldn't do them. Started on a bike to get warmed up, then moved to a board with an incline that you basically put in front of the wall, stand on it, and lean forward. The calf stretch you get from it is crazy. My GOOD leg still hurts from it! Then she came in and did a lot of massage and adjustment of my foot, did the whole metal thing on the painful part of my ankle (just below and in front of the ankle bone), and we did a lot of me pushing against her hand side to side (up and in, down and out, etc etc). Then they wanted me to try doing things I just couldn't do. One thing was lunges. REALLY, LUNGES!?! I tried my best but at this point a lot of my pain and lack of motion is actually in the midfoot. Which leads me to.... single leg calf raises! Just basically standing on your tippy toes, up and down. I can do that on both legs, but on one? Not happening. The pain is actually around the ball of the foot area when I try that. So they suggested go up with both feet, then lift the left foot and go down with just the right. Still not happening. So the last result was to go up on both feet, come down on both feet, but try to shift weight towards the bad foot as much as I can. That worked but man it hurt. So today at work I'm using my desk in a standing position for the first time since I started working here in June. Trying to stand on one foot as much as I can, trying to do calf raises as much as I can, lots of ankle rotation, etc. Just need strengthening at this point.

Huh?

Think of it like this. Mako is a stock boot with custom insides (thanks to the level of heat molding ability). VH is a custom boot with custom insides. If you tried on a pair of VH, then it must have just been a stock boot they have. Buying VH without going custom is just silly. So while you may not like the Mako fit, there's no good reason why anyone wouldn't like the VH fit because it's literally made for your foot. The only way I could see somebody not liking VH is just because they're used to an ill-fitting ski boot-like boot and don't like things feeling different to them.

What does VH have to do with it?

While at a fundraiser for Hockey4All (and more specifically, the Antarctic Hockey project) I won the only raffle item I cared about: a professional photographer coming to one of our games to take photos. I'm really excited! A couple teams ago we had a photographer come in and get great action shots of everyone, and we had hockey cards made up from the photos. Awesome!

Well, I got the "brace" in. Useless. It's honestly less tight than my socks are (I wear Swiftwick Aspire Five). I'll probably just tape it with the wide roll athletic tape, or just not bother. My player skates fit just fine. My goalie skates, I had to re-bake the right one to open it up quite a bit to get it on my foot but I think it's fine now as well. I found that I don't have any problems with standing in my skates but the ankle is still pretty weak. That's easily confirmed by my inability to stand on one foot. No issues as far as weight bearing (no problem if I hold onto the wall) but the minor adjustments I need to make with my foot to maintain balance are painful. I've been trying to build up some strength there by literally just standing on one leg about once an hour while at work. It helps that I have an adjustable desk that goes from sitting to standing with the push of a button! Definitely feeling that every night, though. I was late for work yesterday and literally running around the house. I RAN down the stairs. Didn't even realize it until I got into the car. I guess it's a good thing when you stop thinking about it! The area on the top of my foot and also just below the outer ankle is very sore every night. Also I'm finding my leg is sore in other places, most notably the top of the calf just below the knee area. I'm a bit concerned because of the blood clot I had in that leg (in my head at this point, soreness = blood clot) but it's not the same kind of soreness that was. At least, I don't think. If it gets any worse I'll be at the hospital right away but as long as it stays minor I'm sure it's just sore from being used for the first time in months. Still going to shoot my doctor a message, though. I think I may try to skate this weekend. Even if I put the skates on, do three laps and go home, I'll be beyond ecstatic. I also rationed out the exact number of pills I'll need from the new prescription (bottle has 100 in it) and put the rest into the old bottle. Just so I can look at it every night when I'm taking them and see the number of pills getting smaller and smaller, knowing that when the bottle is empty, I'm done. Still targeting Oct 2 for my return to the crease in a game. I may try to hit a pickup before then, but that's probably it. I also may put my gear on the week before (the 25th) just to take warm-ups. Get on the ice, stretch, maybe a couple shots and then hand the crease over to our other goalie. And beyond that, I may have the other goalie show up and put at least her lowers on for my first game, just in case I get in there for a period and decide I'm not ready. We'll see. But I'm definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Gene Wilder

Dammit... in neither the M7 nor M8. Oh well.

Yea she did some of that when I was there.

I sure wish they'd had lower models when I got my original makos. Oh well. I'm going to pick up a pair of M7s

It's okay. Nice because its easy to use (I dont even take the ice packs out, just toss the whole thing in the freezer) and because it stays on well. I'd prefer to see more ice in the heel area but I guess they want you to be able to walk in it. I'd prefer more ice without being able to walk in it, personally). It also seems to leave the gap between the side pack and the front pack right where I actually need the ice, as my pain is mostly on the outside of the foot, just below the ankle bone. I want whatever ice pack my PT used a couple weeks ago, it was huge but it formed to my foot really well, and they just wrapped some medical elastic wrap over it. You know, the tan colored velcro wrap. I haven't actually been back to PT. My wife had appendicitis on Friday and I took friday and monday off work so it was kind of hard to take wednesday off too. I'm not sure it was worth the time to go there anyway. Maybe for the doctor herself, but the strength exercises were a waste of time. Nothing I couldn't do at home, since I already have the bands they were using. I'm going back wednesday but just for another meeting with the doctor. That will probably be it for PT for me. IT's not especially beneficial at this point. I'm walking almost completely normally. It's just sore in the mornings and swollen before bed, but fine all day now.

That sucks dude. Though not surprising with the plate and an incision I guess. Some people earlier in this thread took their plates out eventually to skate again. As for the ice pack, you mean this one? I've had it for a long time. My old Reactor skates made my inner ankle hurt because of how poor the fit was. I had this thing on the night before I went to urgent care when I still thought I was dealing with a sprain.

Thanks! I just figured it may be useful to somebody someday, just like the first bunch of posts in this thread were useful to me. Especially since there is such a massive range of healing times as you can tell based on my minor break taking 3 months just to walk on my own, plus a blood clot, yet a major break with surgery for @A2rhinowas healed in very little time at all.

Absolutely fantastic looking skates. So you supplied the teal to VH, then?

Icing and elevating my foot for 30 mins before bed every night. I think my ankle is juuuuust a bit swollen (yes, that's a divot from my thumb). the walking is getting much better now. Stiff in the morning, though I'm walking with just a slight limp. Still can't stand on one foot though, and rolling out of my steps is still a bit painful. Also putting weight on either side of my foot instead of straight down is still really difficult and painful. Getting there, though. The ortho said 6 weeks to start sports again, which just happens to be the last day of blood thinners (sept 13). I'm aiming for an oct 2nd return to my team. That's my goal at least at this point.