What about the weight gain?
Am I the only one who gained weight while NWB and PWB and even when you first get in two shoes?! It is so maddening and depressing! Like I am starting all over trying to lose everything I lost and was maintaining before my injury! It’s crazy how much this impacts your life! I still don’t feel like I have the energy levels I had for working out pre-injury. I’m just now getting back up to five days a week working out but it’s tough! How are you guys handling it?
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (6)What do you do about heel pain?
Does anybody experience serious heel pain when stretching? I still do my stretches from physical therapy and I bought a foot stretcher that my therapist recommended. When I stretch though I have pain mommy heel like nobody’s business. I almost hate to do them but I know I have to. Any recommendations for how to fix this?
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (7)When did you start running again?
I’m just over 7 months post surgery and working out pretty regularly. I’ve tried light jogging on the treadmill but I have such pain in my heel that I’m wondering it’s too early? Do I just need to stretch more beforehand or should I delay jogging a bit longer?
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (7)Back at the scene of the crime and I’m hating it!
So I can’t believe it but I’m back at the scene of the crime! My friend surprised her husband with a birthday party at the fowling place where my injury happened. It’s only been five months and I will admit it’s emotional to be back here, especially when I’m with people who don’t even understand how life altering this injury is! And some, friends who I love, actually are making jokes but there is nothing funny about it. Like I used to be fearless! I would try all kinds of adventure, physical activity. Now I worry about people stepping on my toe on my left foot. It really just goes to show how little people understand something unless they’ve been through it themselves. BTW there is no way in hell I’m playing this game tonight! I am sitting and watching and typing this post! This Achilles journey is as much emotional as it is physical. I hate it!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (7)19 weeks! So many more to go!
I haven’t been on in a while. Work has been crazy busy. So it’s been 19 weeks as of tomorrow since my injury. I’m happy to be walking again, but my walking is not normal. I still have the tightness and certain things like walking down the stairs are still unbelievably difficult. I can picture myself just going downstairs like I always did, but my body doesn’t want to do that as of yet. I’m trying to get into a workout routine, but it was only just last week that I was able to do the elliptical machine for 20 minutes. I felt some twinges of pain, but at least I was able to keep going. Leg presses were a complete NO NO, and I was so stunned when I found 25 lbs to be a challenge on the leg extension machine. But I keep trying. I did water aerobics the other night and all of the being up on your toes, even in water, was a bit of a struggle. Today my doctor finally admitted it can take a year or more for the swelling and pain and difficulty doing regular activity could stop. He did encourage me to go ahead and try my cycle classes again. I will be there first thing Saturday morning!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (5)13 weeks and lumpy
Yesterday was exactly 12 weeks since my surgery. This has been quite a journey. For every bit of progress I think I’ve made I have a new discovery of something that is unpleasant. I wanted so long to be out of the boot and now that I am I am dealing with swelling and lumpiness at the incision site. It always feels kind of tight even though my therapist works on it and I also do my home care and stretching. I’m wondering if it’s going to always be like this! I see my doctor next week and I’m hoping he can give me some guidance. Walking is still a challenge and forget any distance. I have started riding the bike at the gym which I’m so happy to do but then I’m dealing with my ankle swelling, which really freaks me out since my blood clot issue. I just want this to be over and everything to be normal again.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (10)Incision inflamed and nerves on edge
Does anyone else feel like your incision gets really tight and inflamed? Mine has started getting bumpy and I massage it like my therapist suggested but it just bumps up and feels really sensitive to fabric and kinda hot. And now my entire foot just feels like my nerves or on edge! Like my nerves are screaming at me! I just saw my therapist Friday and she worked on my incision site a bit to loosen up the tissues and skin. But this is really kinda freaking me out. Anybody have any experience with this?
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (3)First full day in two shoes!
So I spent most of yesterday in two shoes! I can only wear one pair and those are my Adidas sequence boost athletic shoes. It went pretty well most of the day. I didn’t have to walk a lot, but I did end up with a little bit of ache in my calf and ankle so I went back into the boot in the early evening. I’m thinking about asking about an ankle brace and heel lifts when I see my doctor this week. All in all, it’s not bad being in two shoes, but it isn’t great either. Its challenging to walk and I worry about over doing it, but I guess that’s part of the process. I wore two shoes to work today and brought my boot with me. The hardest part is walking from my car to the elevators to get to my office. That is the longest walk ever. I also try to keep moving throughout the day since this blood clot situation so walking the hallways for my circulation was quite challenging as well. Swelling on my ankle is minimal though. Just another day in the sage that is ATR repair recovery!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (6)Stupid, scary blood clot
So I ended up in the ER last Friday night (after therapy and a call to my ortho about my swelling in which he told me to go directly to urgent care) with a positive ultrasound result of a blood clot. The doctors, after hours of sitting in that triage room, told me to take full aspirin (325mg) everyday for 30 days, and have a follow up ultrasound this week. I’m taking all the necessary steps, but I’m kind of freaked out. The blood clot is in my lower leg and the doctors have said those typically don’t propagate (that’s why no blood thinners), but still I don’t know if I should exercise as I normally do or if I do too much (like housework or taking my walks around the office to keep mobile) and get a little out of breath, is that the result of the blood clot? I have a doctor’s appointment with my regular physician in the morning and am trying to get a follow up ultrasound scheduled as directed by the ER doctor. I’m trying to remain calm, but I’m a little freaked out. Anybody else have any experience with this after your ATR surgery? What happened?
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (9)Sensitivity to certain fabrics?
Does anyone else find that the skin around their incision is really sensitive to certain fabrics? Like my rougher cotton pillowcases (I’m still elevating and icing regularly) just feels like needles pricking me. Also my left foot is super-sensitive to cold! I did a comparison with my right foot on my bathroom floor and there is a marked difference! Anyone else experience anything like this? I told my PT and she said it happens sometimes after surgery (something with the nerves). I see my ortho surgeon again in a few weeks. Should I ask him about it?
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (5)