Squash Fox

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.