areyn82’s AchillesBlog

Well today I finally got my first fiberglass cast off after 4 long weeks. He put me in a pretty purple cast at 90 degrees and told me I was ok to walk on it. I asked if I should be PWB or FWB…and he said don’t go walking any long miles, but around the house and work are a-okay! I imagine that it will be uncomfortable and I plan to keep my scooter around for a couple weeks incase I need to get some place quicker. The walking cast will be on for 3 weeks and then I will get a boot that I can remove to sleep and shower. WOOHOO!

Anyone ever use a cane or anything with a walking cast? I’m wondering if it might help rather than going total FWB right away.

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Well today marks 2 weeks after my initial follow up visit where I had the ugly bulky cast replaced with lovely kelly green fiberglass one. I was fully expecting to get moved to 90 degrees and get a new purple cast (the green wasn’t my fav).  After asking if there was “anything he should know about” he says “ok…well let’s keep you in that one for another two weeks and then we’ll bring you up to neutral”. WTH?!?!?! Why did I need to drive 30 minutes for you to NOT DO ANYTHING?! I was/am sooooooooo irritated (clearly).  But oh well. I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining. I have been pretty much pain free since day 3 post op.

So I’m a little late to the blog party in terms of my recovery…so I’ll recap really what happened. I was playing indoor soccer with my high school team that I help coach in late June. I was about to score a goal and I got taken out from behind (or at least I thought I did). Most of the girls saw the player kick me…and I sure thought she kicked me…but after reading about a lot of these injuries…I’m thinking that maybe she didn’t touch me at all. I tried getting up and putting weight on my right foot and couldn’t do so. I actually said outloud “Well I am pretty sure my Achilles is no longer attached!” I went home and instead self diagnosed a calf contusion based on where the pain was. I didn’t do the Thompson test and basically did the typical R.I.C.E routine for the next three weeks (yes, that’s right…three weeks). I am curious if when I initially hurt it I only partially tore it…but who knows. I hobbled around on it…only putting weight on my heel…which hurts like a beast after a while. I took 12 high school girls to Young Life camp where we did a crazy obstacle course where I did all sorts of things that my right lower leg did not want to let me do. It was crazy swollen pretty much for the week of camp which was at least proof to the girls that I wasn’t a wuss…I had a legit reason for limping around and not doing the 4 hour mountain hike. I got home from camp and went straight to the Dr. By then the swelling had finally gone down and I could SEE and FEEL a gap that I swear wasn’t there week 1 or 2. I’m thinking I tore it the rest of the way at camp. He did the Thompson test and said he wanted to get an MRI to see the extent of the damage. Well sure enough it was a complete tear and I would need surgery. The surgeon during my Pre Op visit asked if I wanted to play soccer again. And I was like “umm…yes? (duh)” and he said well then surgery is the way to go and it’s going to be a long road. I had already researched at that point and knew what I was getting myself into. He thought he would need to use the muscle attached to the big toe since it had been so long since I injured it…but thankfully he didn’t have to use it! WOOHOO!

Surgery itself wasn’t anything spectacular. I wanted them to take pictures for me while they were doing it so I could show it to my Anatomy classes…but I was put under before I finished asking the question in the operating room. The first day I pretty much slept the entire day away. I got up to pee a few times and was nauseous whenever I was vertical. I ate some Ramen noodles half way laying down and then threw down some Percocet and went to sleep. Day 2 I woke up itching my face/nose. At first I thought it was because I hadn’t showered or something and so I washed my face…but the itching remained and spread. I googled it and figured out that some people are affected with that sideeffect from opiates.  I went off the percocet pretty quickly because it made me itch like mad. I had to take benedryl just to sleep and not claw my skin off. Note to self…ask for something else if I ever need painkillers again. I took naproxen for another day or two after that and realized I didn’t have any pain.  I kept my leg elevated and put ice behind my knee which made me feel so much better. At the first post op visit they replaced the OR cast with a prettier lighter one. I was shocked to see how long the incision was! Online it showed the incision being about 3-4 inches long. Mine is definitely more like 7-8 inches. I’m going to go with “shark attack” as the response for any questions once I get to show off the lovely scar.

Getting around I have been using a knee scooter. I am just not a fan of crutches and as a teacher…I couldn’t see myself trying to maneuver around school on them…so instead I have a sweet steerable scooter with a basket. At first the kids point and laugh…but then they all want to ride it. It is a life saver! I highly recommend it!!! I also think it’s good because you do place weight on your injured leg at the knee. By doing so I’m hoping to retain some of the muscle in my quad/glute/hip region. Showering has been pretty easy. I got one of the water proof cast covers and as long as you check the seal, I haven’t had any water leak in. (Knock on wood!)

That’s all for now! Hope everyone is healing well!

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