buddy670’s AchillesBlog

Not much different from my last post. Surgically repaired side feels phenomenal and gives me no problems, still battling tendinitis in my so called good leg; although, not on a daily basis, the tendinitis flares up when pushed, so again , I feel like I’m ready to regain my life and move ahead but I keep getting reminded I’m not done yet…..this week I may try and see my surgeon and take some aggresive measures to get rid of this tendinitis , I constantly live in fear that every bout of tendinitis is getting me closer to a complete rupture and everyone on here knows that is not something anyone would wish on their worst enemy. Still not ru Ning or jumping , although I feel I could if it wasn’t for the tendinitis, so I can’t blame that on the surgery.

More lessons learned!!! I have been stuck in a cycle of overtraining , tendinitis , rest, repeat…….. So I feel great on Monday , think I’m finally in the clear, workout hard, overdue it, my good leg aches and flares up the tendinitis that always seems ready to flare up at any moment, maybe get a second workout in on Tuesday and then end up resting the rest of the week due to the tendinitis flaring. Feel good again on Monday from resting , hit it hard and the cycle repeats…….. So what I have learned is to dial back the volume and add more consistency, i.e…. Workout 4-5 times per week with less volume at each session and slowly add volume back in . Still not running or jumping, I just don’t see the need to try and push the issue, still can’t do a 1 leg calf raise, admittedly I have not been doing my rehab and strengthening exercises as I have mentally checked out of the rehab mindset and have moved back into a sense of normalcy, i.e…..crossfit, golf, boating…….

all issues of tendinitis that I feel are on my good leg, my surgically repaired side feels great!!!!

Played golf yesterday for the first time since injury. Played 18 wonderful pain free holes . I rode in a cart; however, walking up and down the undulations of a golf course was a good workout for the tendon, at the end it was a little sore and fatigued but no swelling or pain. The biggest test so far I would say as far as really torquing on the tendon and pushing off explosively.

Quick update as life is oh so close to normal.

Still a tiny limp, still tight in the morning, still hurts if I walk a lot throughout the day. Started back to crossfit 3 weeks ago and began loading the tendon, week by week I have increased the weight on the bar, starting with just the bar (45 LBS), squats and deadlifts only,  no cleans or snatch. This week worked up to 12 reps at 95 LBS on front squats and the range of motion was almost normal at the bottom of the squat. I have not attempted to run or jump as per my doctors orders, that will happen in 2 weeks and honestly I’m in no big rush……… Treadmill and bike are great workouts , walking on treadmill up to 3.5 mph and a 2% incline for 10 minutes. I still perform rehab type exercises 3x per week.

so my goal this week was to loose the annoying limp that has been hanging on by a thread for 2 weeks. After nothing special on my end, I am happy to report the limp is pretty much gone. Bi lateral heel raises are easy; however, I feel like I’m still at least 2 weeks at least away from single leg raise, which is fine with me. I know what I’m about to say might be very contradicting but throughout this injury I have learned were all going to get to the same place in roughly 9 months, ( for the most part)  and what I mean by that is in the beginning I fought like hell to stay in shape and be active and all that I really got was Achilles tendinitis in my good leg , a flared up elbow bursitis issue and other issues from in balance and overuse of underused joints, ie…..shoulder and elbow from crutches for 1 month. I went to PT for 3x per week for up to 2.5 hours per session and although I give a lot of credit to my progress I have also learned that it’s also good and ok to not do anything for a week because the tendon is going to continue healing if you’re at therapy or not and sometimes it’s better to take the time off and just work and live life.

today was the first time I got smooth even bi-lateral heel lifts unassisted. Today is also the first time I felt a weird twinge in my tendon, I’m not sure what the twinge is from; however, it definetly made me nervous for a few minutes, after ice it seemed to disappear . I’m assuming it’s just from pushing hard, I have been going to therapy 4 times per week, 2 1/2 hours per session . I am a little disappointed that at 14 weeks I’m  getting a twinge………plan on taking it easy all weekend and letting it rest after hitting it hard all week. Other than this little twinge at the end of a long therapy session and long week, I’m still very happy with where I am in the process.

the pain in my “good leg” has definitely gotten better and subsided, I’m not sure if it was the 2 shoes transition or the sports message therapist , probably a combination of the two. Since week 12, I really feel like life has returned to pretty close to normal, I know we all heal at different rates but for someone early on in this injury, I would say don’t focus on the 6-9 month full return timeline, look at the 12 week mark to return to a 90% normal day to day existence, this will make the journey not look so daunting. We have also kicked up the PT a notch, I have been going 3 timer per week since week 4. Pushing the limits and working hard in therapy has given me confidence in the repair, which translates to how you act and react in “real life”.  I plan on getting back out on my boat in a week or two, I also plan on dropping PT down to twice a week and at week 20 transitioning back to crossfit ( with obvious limitations) and slowly working back to my previous level of fitness. The only problem I deal with now is swelling in the ankle joint, it’s not painful and generally not a problem ; however, it is starting to interfere with stretching the tendon, the swollen ankle joint has now for the first time taken over as the limiting factor in my ROM instead of the tendon, definetly a good problem to have…..

After the initial 2 weeks, I think the hardest part of this process for me has been the strain my good leg took.  From crutches to the knee scooter it didn’t matter it just kept getting worse and worse. I finally had to give up my dreams of somewhat staying in shape and just completely rest, so from weeks 6-11, I just had to go to therapy and that was it , I wasn’t able to go to the gym or  even swim. Over the past month my “good leg” specifically my AT and calf have received more therapy than my ATR leg, ie….. Ultrasound, stim, manual message and ice. The dr says now that I have transitioned to 2 shoes it will get better, I’m hoping he’s right and for some extra insurance I’m going to a sports message therapist this week, so we will see…….

has anyone else had this issue and did the transition to 2 shoes quickly cure it. I have been wearing even ups the whole time I started walking in the boot so being at different heights wasn’t really an issue. If you feel my calf it has knots going all the way up and down the outside portion