bdelputte’s AchillesBlog

It’s 13 weeks since my rupture and to my utter delight, my physio cleared me for rowing this week. I had done a few sessions one-legged ergometer training and had also done a short trip in a rowing boat - with the boat - just using one leg but i was cleared to start using both legs a few days ago.  She is keen for me to start using the leg without restrictions but is at the same time warning me not to overdo it - given the rerupture risks.  That is all very sensible advice obviously but it’s not always clear what it means.  However, I don’t really care because it meant i went into a rowing boat and starting rowing.  First time felt really weird and I could feel the tightness in my leg so couldn’t use my legs optimally.  However, i’ve been three times now and it works well.  I use the achillotrain sock i purchased as it reduces the tightness.

As to PT, my physio wants me to focus most on walking with normal gait and the goal is to walk barefooted without a limb.  As I am having my big Canada rockies trip coming up in less than a month, she does not want to push an aggressive exercise regime on me as she does not want to take any risk that I somehow injure myself.  Walking properly works a lot better if I have started the day with some good exercise.  I posted last time about my experience with swimming but felt a similar reaction today after starting the day with the rowing session.  My leg was noticeably less swollen for the rest of the day.  I did get some heel pain in the afternoon but a compression sleeve worked well here.

I am also capturing my walking with some videos and compared my walk today with the video taken a month ago.  Oh my, what a difference a month makes. Especially when you are wondering if you are progressing fast enough, t’s definitely worth looking back at where you were just a few weeks back and you’ll see how far you’ve come.

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