Breaking_Bad22: My Achilles Blog

My surgery was June 16th followed by 2 weeks in a splint and then 2 weeks in a fiberglass cast.  Way before my injury occurred we had a family vacation planned for the week of July 11th - July 18th, and I was not going to let this bump in the road keep me away from campfires, smores, and the outdoors.  I have to give a shot out to my wife during this whole process as she has been nothing but perfect in helping me, driving, cleaning, shopping, and yes packing for the camping trip.  We actually didn’t make it up to the campground until that Sunday, due to a horrible migraine my wife had, but nonetheless we made it, my wife, our two kids, myself, and a very packed Jeep.  I was still adorning my red cast and crutches, but was able to hobble around somewhat, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and my favorite thing about camping, the campfire.  The following morning, my wife and I drove back home, only 45 minutes away, for the highly anticipated post op appointment for the removal of my cast.  The nurse came in and sawed off the cast, and I couldn’t help but think she was going to cut into my leg, as the sawing caused a vibration as she cut through the hard cast. Within minutes, the cast was off and she did not cut through my leg.  It felt so good to have that off, and I immediately looked at the scar and was still amazed at what had happened to me and what the surgeon had to do to repair my injury.

I then sat on the table, my wife in a chair, waiting for the doctor to come it.  I was able to move my foot a little, but really had no response in my calf. My calf’s are pretty muscular, and I was shocked that just one month of not being able to use that muscle, how flimsy and jiggly the calf had become. The doctor came in and immediately spoke to how good the incision looked and how good it was healing.  He then told me to lay on my stomach and performed some very light stretches and felt around the tendon.  He said my tendon was very tight, and reminded me how much he had to stretch the tendon during the surgery, putting my foot in a ballerina position so the tendon can touch before surgically connecting it.  He told me I would be back in the walking boot with a lift inside the boot for four weeks, but I did not need to sleep in in and while relaxing I could have it off as well.  The best news I received, was that I could start to weight bear a little while in the boot and even a tad while using my crutches.  He gave me an elastic band to start doing some stretches and said while sitting he told me that I can start to flex my and move my foot in hopes of loosing the tendon up.  I was overall satisfied with the visit, and was set up for an appointment in a month.  I came with a cast and left with the walking boot.

We drove back to the campsite to finish our vacation and I was looking forward to testing my Achilles out.  In the boot I was still using the crutch but then felt comfortable enough to walk without it.  It is definitely a weird feeling, as the lift has my foot really arched and the walking boot make me limp pretty intensely.  Over the course of the day though, I improved in the boot and as the vacation continued I only used my crutches while the boot was off.  I even was able to float in a raft on the lake, “crutching” to the edge of the water and crawling into the float.  It felt extremely good to have nothing on my foot while my feet dangled in the water.  As I laid out on the float, I got a little brave and began to perform some very light kick with my bad leg, but noticed that the water made it very easy for me to do so.  As the week went on, my walking in the boot improved, and in the water I became more brave, even exited the float, and using it as a rest for my leg, I was able to kick with my good leg and paddle with my arms.  It felt extremely good in the water, but after a couple hours out there it did swell up a bit, so afterwards I made sure to elevate the leg while relaxing around the fire.  Most nights around the fire I was able to even poke around in the fire with the boot on and then would take it off when I was just relaxing.  I was able to grill some great food even on a couple nights and was even able to help my son and nephew with some sparklers.  It was so nice being somewhat back on my feet, enjoying my vacation the best I could with the given situation.  I probably did more than the “doctor ordered”, but I never felt I was pushing the limits or doing more than I could handle.  From being almost bed ridden the first week after surgery to where I was during this camping trip, was a complete turn around and the progress toward a full recovery was very evident.  Next step will be a couple of visits to physical therapy, but I will continue to do as much as I can at home.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 19th, 2015 at 12:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.