Forty’s the new….
Posted on January 19, 2009
Filed under Uncategorized
So here it is, my first ATR blog after almost two weeks of reading all of yours. Before I share my (cliched) story, let me thank all of you for sharing your experiences and your wealth of information. The comfort, advice, courage and knowledge imparted on these pages has been nothing short of invaluable.
I’m a 40 year old father of two (10 yr old son, 6 yr old daughter) living on LI and working in NYC. I wouldn’t call myself a weekend warrior - I’m pretty active for a busy lawyer - “crossfitting” five or six days a week for the last 2 years (see www.crossfit.com) and playing a regular fullcourt hoops game every Sunday for the last 10. Plus, how sedentary can you be with active kids, right?!? Unfortunately, it’s my judgment that is occassionally impaired, as I have a tendency to “do” without always considering the implications first.
On 12/10/08, just three days before a planned family vacation to visit my folks in Fla and spend 3 days in Disney, I decided I would join my firm colleagues and play in my first lawyer’s league basketball game of the season that evening. My wife’s prophetic words that morning still ring in my ears (mostly because she has repeated them every day since while she waits on me hand and foot!): “Are you sure you want to play? What if you get hurt three days before vacation?” Ouch. I did everything wrong that day, and while I know the consensus is that this is an acute, unpredictable event, I’m still convinced I contributed mightily to my injury. That afternoon, I had a glass of wine during lunch with clients, and added a cup of coffee pre-game, just to really dehydrate myself. I got to the game late and didn’t engage in my usual pregame routine (jump rope, stretch, shoot, sprint), instead stretching for twenty seconds and playing. I played the first half, sat out and got cold at halftime, then went back in with eight minutes to go. Big mistake.
I took a three-point shot, hit front rim, and started to fall back on defense. I saw it was a high rebound, thought I could beat my man to it, and planted my left foot to “explode” to the basket. Pow! In my case, my calf cramped violently first, and then I distinctly felt something snap below my calf (but not at my heel). It was the worst pain I’d ever felt, but NOT like being kicked on the heel by a mule (my dad had a full tear, so I knew the story). I didn’t think it was my achilles.
Genius that I am, I drank some gatorade, stretched my calf (idiot!), and some friends got me back to my car and I drove home (worst ride of my life). All this when I was playing right next door to NYU Medical Center! I called a family friend who is an ortho, described the events, and he told me it sounded like my plantaris, not my achilles. I rested, iced and elevated for two days and bought some crutches for my trip. Thankfully, I represent physicians for a living, so I was talking to another colleague who is a sports med doc and he had me run through some tests over the phone (tiptoe and Thompson’s). He suspected at least a partial achilles tear and insisted I see him the next morning before my trip. He was right, it was at least a partial tear and he put me in an aircast for the trip. Needless to say it ruined the vacation, but the kids giddily called me the “Human FastPass” when we cut every single line at DisneyWorld because of my scooter!
When I got back, the MRI revealed a partial tear, and I was given the option of surgery vs. natural healing. Both sports med docs I saw recommended surgery and based on everything I read, I reluctantly agreed. Due to my vacation, the holidays and year-end change of insurance issues, I didn’t have my surgery until 1/8/09, four weeks after the injury! My calf had already significantly atrophied from the aircast before I ever went in for surgery, so I can just imagine what it’ll look like once I get the splint off on Wednesday. David Pereira at Hosp for Jt Diseases in NYC did the surgery. Good guy and, I hope, a good surgeon. Told me I had an unusual tear - longitudinal in the belly of the tendon rather than into two pieces - and they reapproximated it and sutured both sides to strengthen it. Then he put me in the front splint to prevent dorsiflexion and told me to rest, elevate, non-weight bear and work from home til he saw me again on 1/21.
So, like all of you, that’s what I’ve been doing since the surgery. Lying on the sofa (didn’t want to risk the bedroom upstairs), two or three pillows under my leg (turned on the side, not pressing directly on the wound really makes a difference in the intial pain reduction!), watching way too much TV. Been taking a baby aspirin a day to prevent clots. The pain was awful the first 24 hours (the kids were terrified of me when I got home the first night!), lousy the next 24 and has reduced substantially since. Pain meds helped but I stopped taking them a few days ago and seem to be ok. Borrowed a “rolling aid” (like a scooter you rest one leg on) from a friend and it feels ridiculous but is easier than crutches (which I also still use, especially to get upstairs to shower) and allows your hands some freedom and has a basket. I tried a “cast cover” for the shower but had trouble getting it over my bulky wrapping without straining my foot or unravelling the bandage, so I settled for saran wrap and a garbage bag (mostly works). Been using a shower chair and the hand-held shower head. Tedious.
My wife set me up in the den with a large cooler full of water bottles and snacks at the beginning, which was huge in the middle of the night when I was thirsty or needed to take pain meds. Now I can pretty much “scoot” around. Most helpful advice I saw so far was to put a chair next to the toilet so you can balance your “bad” knee on it while going to the bathroom. Question: What about when you need to sit to use the toilet? has anyone come up with a good way to do that? I can’t seem to comfortably elevate my leg, so I’ve been letting it hang with a pillow under the foot, but I’m still worried I might weight-bear and not realize it. Any suggestions?
I suppose the key is to be patient but it’s tough. I feel guilty not being at work and wonder what my partners think. Since i commute by train (I can drive if need be as my left leg was injured), I wonder when I can expect to go back to the office full or part-time. I’m very tempted to test at least tiptoe weight-bearing on crutches but I’m reluctant to try it before i see my doc for the 2 week visit. I wonder how much muscle atrophy will play a role in my rehab since I was immobile for 4 weeks before the surgery. I wonder if I’ll go right into an aircast on wednesday and start weight bearing or if I’ll have to wait. Most of all, i worry about how long the rehab will take and when I can expect to run around with my kids and play sports and work out again. A number of people have prodded me to be thankful I have something that can be fixed, and i am, but it doesn’t stop me from worrying about the length of recovery and the outcome. Should i look for PT with a pool?
Oh, I’ve also noticed that the outside of my left (bad) foot intermittently goes numb. Is that common?
I guess that’s it for now. Thanks again for all the hard work and input that’s gone into this site. It really is inspirational and comforting to hear everyone else’s advice and experiences. I guess I’ll post again after my 1st post-op visit on Wednesday. If anyone wants to suggest topics/questions I should make sure to raise with my surgeon, I’m all ears, thanks!
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3 Responses to “Forty’s the new….”
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Hi,
You came to the right place as all of us have gone through what you are going through right now. I’m only 27 years older than you so my progress isn’t quite as quick although I’m walking in regular shoes after nine weeks and chipping and putting at the golf course.
Question: What about when you need to sit to use the toilet? I used a raised toilet seat and the bench/chair and had no problems. If you are just urinating, rest your bad leg on chair and have at it (just don’t bark like a dog!). I’m 5′9″ and my feet barely rested on the floor.
I strongly recommend you visit http://www.drycorp.com for a fool-proof cast protector. You will have no problem getting it over your cast.
The recovery for all of us seems different, but my guess is that you won’t be doing any weight bearing for a few weeks and, yes, your leg will atrophy. After the cast, you will probably be wearing a boot for anywhere from 2-6 weeks (mine was 1 1/2, just lucky). Then the fun (PT) begins. I do my first pool escapade today, although I guess I could’ve started that a little earlier.
I don’t have any kids living at home, nor a job to worry about, so this recovery has probably been significantly easier on my and my wife than on most people. Just don’t try to rush it. That’s a ridiculous statement to make to most younger people as they don’t realize that they aren’t invicible, but it is true. Recover at your own pace and you will be grateful later.
Good luck,
Denny
Hey Denny, thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. Got my sutures out today and back in the boot til who knows when. Funny, asked my doc if I could wt bear and he SLOOOWWWED that down in a hurry! Non-wt for 2 weeks (maybe a little tiptoe), half wt for a week after that and then back to his office to discuss wt bearing and PT. I’m anxious but I know it’s a process and I’ll be patient to avoid the dreaded re-rupture. of course, after all that I slipped on the crutches coming into the house and full weight-planted my foot for the first time! Aaargh! Panicked for a moment but it all seems ok, though the numbness and pins and needles on the outside of my foot are lingering. Looking forward to starting some active ROM tomorrow and getting back to the office Monday. Thanks again, look forward to mapping my progress and keeping up with everyone else’s.