Lucky 13
Well I made it! On Oct 13th I ruptured my achilles. 13 weeks after my injury I finally went back to work…on Friday the 13th. Three’s (13’s) a charm. Not that I’m superstitious or anything! I was a little nervous about going back to work because it can be so unpredictable. The weekend (at work) turned out fine. I was busy enough to stay awake but I didn’t spend the whole night on my feet so I think I made the right decision to go back when I did. My progress has slowed down a bit in the last two weeks but I AM making progress. I’ve started walking my dog again and I actually found myself accidentally jogging at one point! I did yoga for the first time since my injury & was able to do everything but one legged balance type poses. Also my R heel still doesn’t touch the ground on downward facing dog. Swimming is still the best. I bought myself a waterproof Ipod case made for swimming. It’s fun to swim with music! The Body Combat & Body pump classes are fun & I am doing squats with weight now as well as modified lunges…I do the lunges with two poles vertical on the ground for balance & to keep me from coming down hard on the achilles (still a little afraid of rerupture). I still haven’t gone to PT..my doctor didn’t think I needed it. I was going to go anyway but I feel like I’m making pretty good progress & I do work out a lot on my own. The only thing I’m a little worried about is this scar massage everyone is talking about. I lightly massage it myself with lotion & also apply Mederma but I have no idea if this is helping. My ankle is always swollen still…I wonder when it will go back to normal. The pain is only when I walk & only minimal. It’s the heel pain. I think this is normal at this point though. It has been so helpful, inspiring & comforting to read everyone else’s blogs. Thank you all! I don’t comment as much as I would like to but I am reading, usually once a day and it helps. Oh and by the way….can all you East & North of me (Lake Tahoe) blow some of your snow my way…I think I’m going to be up for skiing after all! I thought this season was going to be a bust because of this injury but now it’s all about the snow! 
January 17th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Sounds like you are doing great. It’s encouraging to hear that you can do yoga. I had wanted to go back to yoga before I injured my Achilles. I am hoping to soon.
January 17th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Great to read about your progress..specially your plans to go skiing!!!
This is the first winter in over 10 years that I do not go on a ski trip.
My surgery was on Sept. 16, so I asked the surgeon about spring skiing, like end of March, but he said to wait until next Winter.
January 17th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
I think you can do it (ski this year) Leni. Norm was skiing at 17weeks; non-op. I was skiing at 10 weeks; post-op. You’ll find an alpine ski boot supports your ankle almost as well as a ortho boot. I could ski long before I could, for instance, run or do a single heel raise.
March 2nd, 2012 at 1:08 pm
That’s really interesting - I got the same non-PT recommendation from my doc… I am going once a week anyway as I know a guy that is really good & that I trust. I’m at week 9 & plugging along fine… we are finally getting some snow over here in the Vail area (around 2 feet in that past couple days) - I thought our snow season was bad til these last few storms, but Tahoe has been a shutout!
Here’s to some snow for you and that you get to get out in it!
March 5th, 2012 at 6:22 am
Thanks for the snow pablomoses! I finally got to ski on Friday (week 19 post surgery). It was wonderful. I felt totally secure in the boots & endured zero pain! In fact, if anything it felt more rested. Housemusic..I hope you get to ski this season, maybe your doc will reconsider? It was much easier than even walking. Thanks for the inspiration Ryanb! I tried to make a little video…still working on the editing. How’s the yoga going Millie? I’m still hesitant on balance & anything one legged, but it sure feels good!
March 5th, 2012 at 6:40 am
Congratulations Leni! Looking forward to your video
I went skiing again yesterday. After lunch, I switched over and spent the afternoon on my Snowboard (first time post injury). I did fine on it - well, fine for me, I’m just a muddling intermediate snowboarder - but confirmed that it’s a lot harder on the Achilles than skiing ;-).
March 6th, 2012 at 8:06 am
Awesome!
Great to hear some good stuff…