Physio and up to date
November 23, 2014
Please excuse all the posts. Dennis misplaced my email and just created my blog. Hence all the posts!
So, I am following the Western protocol with a plus one week added for the clot delay. Am now in physio and full weight bearing. Have a scar that is too well stuck but with lots of friction and ultrasound, we are working on it. Had a lovely calf massage last week.
It’s great to ditch the crutches too. I have bought the evenup shoe thing that you attach to your non booted leg to even up (no pun) the leg length and stop the penguin waddle. Would highly recommend one.
Getting around takes time but is doable. Looking forward to getting back to full health. Not looking forward to the snow in Canada. Airboots have no grip/tread which is very worrying. Fortunately I can park 20 yards from work so its not far…….
November 23rd, 2014 at 11:04 am
Lass I picked up a set of “traction aids” at Costco for $12. They are those spikey grippers that you can stretch over shoe or boot soles. Worked really well with my Vacocast boot and would be worth trying to attach to your Aircast, a great investment anyway for when you are in 2 shoes. All the best!
November 23rd, 2014 at 12:01 pm
Yak trax?
Did they work? I discussed that with the physio, we weren’t sure!!
November 23rd, 2014 at 1:51 pm
No- these ones are Duenorth and have 6 really sharp spikes so are great on ice. I have used Yak trax as well and think they would be a good second choice……they may make it a fraction harder to walk with normal gait in 2 shoes, but compared to the consequences of falling it is a no-brainer!
November 23rd, 2014 at 8:11 pm
If your walk isn’t up to full speed, check your technique and make sure your boot is well sized and well adjusted. It has to be snug enough and firm enough (the Aircast gets more flexible when the straps are loose, and WAY too flexible if you leave out the tongue part) to support your weight on the ball of that foot, almost tiptoe. Your weight should be transmitted through the boot to the front of your shin, still giving your calf and AT the day off work.
That should let you walk fast, rolling from heel to toe (ball of foot) in the boot. Make sure your knee is going forward, bending a little, not hyperextending or “peg-leg”, and don’t point your boot toe out to the side.
If you experience soreness underneath the foot, (1) welcome to the club! and (2) it generally responds to (a) gentle massage (rolling over a tennis ball or a frozen water bottle while seated), (b) cushioning (like a full-length gel insole in your boot, and maybe Crocs when you get out of the boot), and (c) “tincture of time”.
And messy wintry conditions FWB in an Aircast boot is WAY better than those conditions on crutches!
November 23rd, 2014 at 8:12 pm
Note to people outside of Canada (or maybe Ontario): “Western” is what we call UWO = U. of Western Ontario.
November 23rd, 2014 at 8:38 pm
And thanks for all the catch-up, as I had impatiently requested. Not sure you had to make each instalment a separate page, though! (Folks, if anybody wants to see all the posts at once, just go to achillesblog.com/bradfordlassincanada , without the rest of the URL.)
Re: “Badminton - who’d have thought it?” Badminton — especially at a competitive level — is a PERFECT way to rupture an AT! It’s a brutally deceptive “fake-out” game, so you’re often changing direction and court depth in a big hurry. And you’re usually playing on a clean gym floor in grippy “squeaky” shoes, with near-perfect traction. Most ATRs happen doing “the move” — switching from back-pedalling to firing all the rockets to rush forward, e.g. when an apparent clear or lob turns into a real drop-shot. There’s no way to load an AT any more strongly than that!
I tore both of my ATs, 8 years apart, doing “the move” on the volleyball court. But I also play beach volleyball, and virtually NOBODY tears an AT playing beach, because the traction is much worse, so you can’t apply that much tension to the tendon.
My experience with anti-coagulants is all post heart-valve replacement, not ATR stuff. I had coumadin/warfarin, and had to make weekly treks to the lab for readings of my levels (”INR”). The key secret with coumadin/warfarin is that there are very effective and easy-to-use (and relatively inexpensive) HOME monitors! All the studies show that compliance and clinical results are WAY better with home monitoring than with clinic/lab monitoring, and these things could be issued to everybody, and returned afterwards (the actual test strips are disposable) — but no! They are usually reserved for people who are on coumadin/warfarin for the rest of their lives, and then only if they know who to ask and insist. Maybe they’re be more common soon. (I bet a good study would prove that they save more money than they cost, in all cases.)
BTW, the stats on post-ATR clots (DVTs) are surprising similar between the post-ops and the non-ops. But the rest of your nuisances can be pinned to your informed choice of my second-fave way to treat an ATR.
Congrats (and Yay!) on the FWB, and good luck the rest of the way.
November 24th, 2014 at 8:42 am
Thank you Norm :-).
November 26th, 2014 at 2:37 am
Just on anticoagulants: I was given 10 days of Clexane (enoxaparin) following my surgery, I think this is standard at least here for post-op, i.e. everyone gets this prescribed to prevent clots (not sure if elsewhere people get anticoagulants automatically following surgery?). Clexane comes in pre-filled syringes that you inject yourself with (subcutaneous)…