Back to Work
December 13, 2015
A lot has happened since my last post!
Potentially failed a final exam on Friday. You’d think after being 2 weeks of NWB and constant leg elevation I would have studied enough in my boredom to at least be prepared for the exam. Apparently not!
Had to go back to work on Saturday. That wasn’t so bad. I had lots of fun rolling around in computer chairs and using my crutches here and there. But it’s really scary to use crutches on snow and ice! My colleagues have been really great and supportive - bringing me coffees, driving me to work, picking my papers off the printer, etc. I am definitely a lot more tired though since I have to be be “brain active” all day. I managed to wean myself off coffee during my 2 weeks post-op at home but think I might have to start again.
I met with my physiotherapist for the first time since the surgery the day after I had my cast removed. My ankle was still pretty swollen so she just tried to massage the area and move the fluid around. It felt wonderful! I was a little hesitant at first but the incision site held up and all was good. She gave me “ankle pulses” to do at home three times a day just to get the blood flowing. We also discussed the recovery plan and I feel a lot more optimistic about this recovery now that a concrete plan is in place.
And then to the big achilles related news - I can walk again! I slowly started trying to stretch out my achilles just by transferring my weight to my boot foot while still using my crutches. I would hold the stretch for about 30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times. I took deep breaths because it hurt! But then last night I just decided that I was going to try walking and it worked! It’s not the prettiest walk, but it feels okay. I certainly get tired and my tendon feels worked, but I think this might be a good thing. My surgeon said I should try to weight bear as soon as I could to help the recovery, so I am glad that this worked out. Now let’s just hope I don’t overdo it and injure myself or fall/trip at home or outside in the snow.
Until next time!
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1. frankie88 | December 14th, 2015 at 5:34 pm
Nice god job man. I am 11 days post op and see my pt tomorrow. How far along are you?
2. beanie | December 14th, 2015 at 6:14 pm
Yay! Go AWT! That was a quick transition to FWB!
Keep it up, but also remember to be careful … your tendon is very fragile right now.
I also posted this on andyw’s page but because it has urls in it, it needs to be cleared, so I thought I’d post it here for you as well …
I had a quick look for the boot walking post by ryanb, the link is http://achillesblog.com/ryanb/2012/06/. Evan (ejbvmi) also posted about boot walking at http://achillesblog.com/ejbvmi/2015/07/03/4-weeks-FWB-in-boot/, the YouTube link is https://youtu.be/4kGY4VBHqq8.
3. awtang | December 14th, 2015 at 6:29 pm
@frankie 88,
I am almost 3 weeks post-op after an achilles’ shortening. Hope your recovery is going well!
@beanie
Thanks for this info! My tendon feels okay and it is definitely nice to be walking again! But still not walking too much. Just short bursts here and there. Thanks for the videos! Will check them out!
4. Andyw | December 15th, 2015 at 2:44 am
Alright AWT, progress is good news. I’m excited for you to be recovering well. Keep it up!