Shannon’s AchillesBlog

Acceptance. That is what I have been trying to focus on. Am still struggling daily with the radical changes my life has gone through in the last couple of weeks. Had to spend the weekend alone while everyone else went to my Grandmther’s 90th bday celebration. It was too far for me to travel with a full cast and if I do not keep my leg elevated high enough it ends up feeling horrible. The giant cast a constant reminder of the things i cannot do at he moment. The weekend also brought tragic news and work drama and I am left with worry and dread when I really wish to be focusing on acceptance and going with the flow.

Hopefully my cast will be shortened to the knee tomorrow.  I think that it will give me more independence and less discomfort. It was pointed out by a couple of you that a full cast is not the usual protocol for this injury and unless she has a damn good reason I am going to insist on be shorter cast. I will not cheat and I will take off as much time from work as necessary. In the beginning I had no idea that this was so serious and I thought that I could work around it. Now I know that healing is going to take all of my attention and it needs to be my #1 priority.

Am still taking a muscle relaxer and pain pill at night but have not been in physical pain during the day for mst of ths weekend…. Also, little brother getting married this weekend and I honestly do not think I can go if I still have a full leg cast…. Sorry, I am just ranting at this point. Thanks for the space in which to do it….

• Leave a comment... (8)

When the ortho doc/surgeon 1st mentioned cutting my leg to stitch the tendon back  together she used words like ‘little’ and ‘tiny’ and I assumed she was  talking about something that could be done in the office. Nope. She was talking a  ’knock you out & put in an IV’ kind of procedure. The following day was her surgery day and they had a slot for me at 9:00. I agreed and the rest is now histort (or perhaps HERstory).

i had never had surgery before but have waited for friends in the recovery room many a time and The notion of me being on the stretcher was daunting at the least. when the time came I was anxious and my bladder kept insisting that I get up to relieve myself again and again. Each time I nearly ripped out my IV causing a mini panic attack. In the  end waiting for the surgery was worse than the procedure itself. The surgeon never fully explained the procedure but I had a couple of great nurses that set me at ease.

Being in a cast was a very frightening idea for me. The surgeon knew that I hoped to go to a concert 4 days after the surgery and she told me that I would likely wake up with a cast to the knee or perhaps a heavy duty splint. When I awoke from anesthesia I found myself in a cast that went 1/2 way up my thigh. Sigh….

The anesthesia did not make me groggy or nauseous. In fact, my throat & mouth felt worse (from tubes inserted during surgery)  than my leg for the next couple of days. Other than the long pre-op wait the day flew by. I was home by 3:30.

• Leave a comment... (3)

Three days after  the injury I was able to see an orthopedic doctor at my local hospital. I was more than ready to gear ER say that the tendon was merely stressed, that I should take it easy for the rest of the week and that I would be work ready and raring to go by next Monday. The fat splint had been a terrible burden over the day couple of days and I was vey ready to be done with it.

I was prepared to wait at the drs office as I knew that they were squeezing me in between appointments. Finally, a nurse came in and began unwrapping my leg. When my foot and leg were revealed I immediately became queasy. It was grossly swollen and the pain certainly flared up when I was released from my  leg cocoon. Deep breathe. Enter surgeon.

surgery was not an idea that I had entertained at all.  Surely this injury was going to work itself out. The surgeon had me flip over onto my stomach and she ran her hands down my calf. Intact, she exclaimed, the nurses and I cheered and (I swear) a sunbeam flowed though the window… But the happiness didn’t last long. She found a tear. Suddenly the sunbeam was gone and my eyes were leaking. The doctor was trying to explain options and I was spouting off at the mouth about missing work, driving & fun summer plans that I had been hatching for the past several months… In the end decided to go the surgical route because the doc said that there was less chance of reinjury. Reinjury. The word alone turns my tummy… My foot felt very naked and vulnerable while I hobbled down to the X-ray dept (down a floor and many hallways from ortho) to get my preop tests done. I was so exhausted that I asked for a wheelchair ride back to doc’s office. Surgery was scheduled for the next day.

• Leave a comment... (3)

Late at night on 6/1 I was dancing with friends at our local tavern. It was dreadfully hot but the mood was happy. After a long winter everyone was excited to kick off our short summer season. Sometime after midnight it felt like someone kicked me in the back of my leg.  When I took a step I almost toppled over. The ‘kicked’ leg no longer ad strength to hold me up. I thought that it was a bad Charlie horse which I assumed would be gone by morning. I found a ride &  with  much difficulty I hobbled home.

the next morning it was even more difficult to walk. I still thought that I was suffering from extreme leg cramps. I posted for suggestions on how to alleviate leg cramps on Facebook and it was then that my friends convinced me to go to the ER. I have never been injured before and I avoid traditional hospitals like the plague (and at the moment I also thought hat I was uninsured) but with my pain levels increasing I started getting freaked out thinking that perhaps I had a blood clot in my leg. I hobbled/pulled/dragged myself to my car and it was then that I realized I could not push on the gas or brakes and that driving myself to the hospital was not an option.

a friend drove to the hospital. I had prepared myself for a long wait and was pleasantly surprised when a nurse called me in after a mere 30 minutes. At this point I was crying- both from the pain and fom the realization that this was a bad situation. The nurse immediately suggested an Achilles injury when I told him about feeling like I had been kicked immediately prior to the pain and weakness. Hopefully, he said, it is just a strain and not a tear. I cannot recall all of the rest of the conversation as my mind immediately became clogged with worries. How will I drive? How will I get to work? How will I pay for this (as I mentioned before, I thought that I was uninsured)? With a heavy heart a fat splinted leg  and foggy vicodin-ed mind I called for a ride home. I was to call an ortho doc in 3 days and to stay off my feet and keep my leg elevated at all times.

• Leave a comment... (3)

Hi folks!

My name is Shannon and I am currently nursing my Achilles’ tendon back to health. On June 1 I tore the the tendon while dancing. On June 5 I underwent surgery to repair the injury. Ever since I have been planted on the sofa or in bed - it has been the longest week ever. When i found the AchillesBlog  I felt both relief and fear. Reading through the blogs I was able to glean much more information than the hospital had given me about the injury and also found solace reading through other people’s stories…. I intend to use this blog as a tool to track my healing and also to wade through the psychological complications that the injury has caused.

• Leave a comment... (4)