Squash Fox

It’s been 5 weeks 2 days since my op and I’m soooo frustrated at not being able to exercise!  While my partner is off playing squash and going for runs and my kids are out playing soccer 3 days a week all I can do is crave that feeling of sweat dripping from my body!  On the bright side, my infection is under control and I get my boot adjusted on Wednesday to neutral so I’m going to ignore the standard protocol and start weight bearing on it on Wednesday.  I’ve already been a bit naughty and done a bit of walking on it, even without the boot and I can honestly say that I’ve had not even an iota of pain.  Only thing I’ve noticed is a bit of swelling in my toes but the wound site itself has been sweet.  I’m a firm believer in listening to your body and if it hurts then ease off, if it doesn’t hurt then your probably doing the right thing! Bring on the day I graduate to shoes!

After reading some of your blogs I decided not to delay in getting my doctor’s opinion on my wound when I got my cast off on 5th Aug.  I saw him on the 7th and he confirmed my suspision and the wound has a small infection so am on antibiotics and have to dress it myself 3 x daily.  I’m so glad I got onto it early.  The doc was surprised they didn’t prescribe antibiotics when they first removed the cast.  I’ve had conflicting advise on wound treatment though so am a bit confused as to what is thing to do to accelerate healing.  The clinic I went to for my post op exam said to keep the wound dry and covered (ie. no exposure to fresh air), yet the nurse at my doctors is telling me it’s ok to shower it and get the wound wet, dry it with a fresh towel or sterile swab and then keep it exposed for 15 minutes in fresh air before re-dressing it.  I’ve decided to go with keeping it dry as I don’t want to risk exposing an open wound to water.  The last thing I want is to make it worse!!!

Just got my moon boot on today at (20 degrees plantar flexion) and had a suspision when they took the cast off that the wound may be a bit oozy which it was.  Did anyone else have any problems with their wounds?  There is a piece the size of a 5c coin that has opened slightly and is a bit weepy at the bottom of the wound which means it is going to have to be dressed by the doctor until it clears completely.  Apart from that small concern I am sooo pleased to be out of that cast.  Guess I’ll just have to wait a bit longer before I can have a shower without a plastic bag on my leg… Ho Hum.

I ruptured my achilles playing squash on Tuesday 7th July.  I had no incling it would go that night.  The only thing I could say is that I didn’t warm up as I should have or as I normally would.  It was a cold night and I just wanted to get on the court and get into it.  I thought I’d take a bit extra time just hitting the ball and warm up gently that way.  Well 5/2 in the first set and I could have sworn my opponent had stood on the back of my calf.  I looked up and said “Did she stand on me?”  Unfortunately she was on the other side of the court!  It wasn’t immediately clear the extent of the injury.  All I knew is that I felt like my foot had had a stroke as it sort of flopped and although I could weight bear it was difficult to walk on it.  I went to A & E the following day as it wasn’t at all painful except when I tried to walk .  That’s when everything kind of goes pear-shaped.  I think doctor’s in emergency are all for a quick fix and after 4 hours in the waiting room I was taken in for a consult.  The doctor admitted he wasn’t a trained ultrasound technician but said he would do a quick scan to see what the diagnosis was and then book me in for a proper ultrasound.  I’d had several fellow squash players tell me that I should really push to have the operation if it was my achilles because they don’t like to offer it as an option when you go to A & E.  They were right.  I wasn’t given a proper ultrasound and put in a cast and told I’d be reviewed at the fracture clinic in 7 days time.  I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to the orthopaedic surgeon and I came away not even knowing the severity of the rupture.

I had loads of people texting me asking well what’s the verdict? and all I could say is I think I’ve done my achilles.  The next day after stewing on it overnight and thinking I didn’t really receive an adequate diagnosis or treatment I re-presented myself at A & E and said I need to know exactly the extent of the injury and if it is a complete rupture then I want surgery.  5 hours later I got the ultrasound that confirmed a complete rupture and my surgery was scheduled for the next day.  I was so relieved!  In NZ it isn’t common practice to operate (or so I was told by a nurse) so you really do have to demand surgery.  Lucky for me I had good advice from people who had been in the same situation otherwise I would never have known that I had any other option than letting it heal naturally.

I had my operation on the 11th July.  The surgeon said it was a little more complex than the standard surgery as I had also partially torn my calf muscle so he had had to stitch that up as well. 

I went for my first post-op appointment on the 22nd July expecting to be put in a moon boot (as would normally happen), however he has put me back in cast for another 2 weeks as a precaution due to the slightly more sever surgery and didn’t want me weight bearing.  Ho hum….  Oh, well 2 more weeks of reading and relaxing isn’t going to make too much difference in the scheme of things.  What I am worried about is the length of time I will be in a moon boot as I am getting married in Fiji at the end of October so I really don’t want to be walking up the beach in my wedding dress and a moon boot!!!  I totally forgot to ask the surgeon exactly how long I would be in one of those contraptions.  I guess I will find out on 5th Aug when I go for my next check-up.

Welcome to AchillesBlog.com.

This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Following link will take you to your blog’s “command center” where you can write your posts:
http://achillesblog.com/bride2be/wp-admin/

Be sure to fill out your city, Achilles rupture date, surgery date, etc.. (if you know it) here:
Fill out my Achilles Profile Here

When you do, you can keep track of your recovery progress and see your information on the Marathon Tracker.

Here’s more info: using Achilles Timeline Widget

Please change this post’s title to something more descriptive. Just leaving it as “Hello World” leads people to believe that you haven’t updated your first post!

If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask!

Dennis