Posted on May 12th, 2009 by campbell53
Still in a fiberglass cast. Supposed to be for 10 more days. BUt I’m being proactive and have a sophisticated walking boot on order. Check out www.vacocast.com. It can also be used as a cast alternative. The boot I ordered is for achilles ruptures and comes with a 15 degree attachment which is what the cast is set at presently. It can be converted to 0 degress (neutral) in less than 1 minute. This should be a huge upgrade over this miserable archaic cast I currently have. More later when it arrives.
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Posted on April 25th, 2009 by campbell53
I have a nice purple cast to my knee. I chose the color because it’s the color of my daughters soccer team. Anyway…no surgery and the both sports ortho docs at the South Bend Clinic recommended to me that this heal without surgery. They did offer a couple of places for a third opinion (Sports Medicine at Uof M in Ann Arbor and Methodist hospital in Indianapolis). But honestly after reflection I agreed with their non surgical recommendation. I’ll give this a go for 30 days and see where I am at. Looks like a walking boot that that time. Really looking forward to that as the novelty of this cast has already worn off. I knocked a picture off the wall in the dark last night with a crutch trying to go to the bathroom. Pretty much sums it up…
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Posted on April 23rd, 2009 by campbell53
Bombshell from my ortho Doc…upon further MRI review I don’t have a ruptured Achilles tendon afterall. I have a torn Soleus calf muscle. Apparently pretty rare. And non operative (muscles don’t take to sutures apparently). So I’m going in tomorrow for a cast and see how things play from here…..Thanks for everyone’s well wishes.
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Posted on April 22nd, 2009 by campbell53
It was too much to ask that this injury be simple. The MRI came back and there was no good news in it. The nurse read it to me over the phone and it was a jumble of bad medical terms: “tear, degeneritive, severe, additional tears possible”. My mind coundn’t keep up with the report. Needless to say, the surgery is on for fri at 1:30 p.m.
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Posted on April 21st, 2009 by campbell53
Well I finally met with my ortho surgeon this morning. He took off my makeshift splint/wrap and checked out the goods. I had swollen up some more since the previous evening and more purple showed up. Even my pinky toe was purple (blood runs downhill he said). Everything appears to indicate a rupture in need of repair but he could not feel any depression along the tendon that is typical of the injury. This caused him to have order an MRI which I had this afternoon. He said there is a very slight chance that it is a tear that will not need surgery. But looking at the damage it is highly doubtful. But he wants to be absolutely sure. So…unless a miracle occurs surgery is set for 1:30 p.m. on Friday. More once the office calls to confirm….
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Posted on April 20th, 2009 by campbell53
This what I get for hurting myself during the weekend. My ortho surgeon of choice informed me today that he doesn’t do surgeries “below the ankle”. However, he highly recommended his partner Dr. Halsted. Unfortunately for me he was in surgery all day so I have an an appointment tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. I can manage the pain and discomfort with my holdover Vicotin but the time that has elapsed is worrying me some. I’m now a full 72 hours since the injury. I’ve tried my best to ice and elevate but I’m now getting some alarming swelling and bruising. Mostly to to outside of my lower ankle area. It’s so swollen there I can no longer see the ankle proper. Odd..because the pain is localized in the area about 4-5 inches above the heel. When the Vicotin begins to wear off that area become a hotbed of feelings (burning and painful). While I don’t look forward to the pain and suffering of the surgery I do want to move forward in the healing. This treading water deal isn’t doing a thing for me.
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Posted on April 19th, 2009 by campbell53
My story in a nutshell: I’m a very active 42 yeal old male. I’m a three time Ironman triathlon finisher. Up until friday I was training for a 24 bicycle race in Grand Rapids, MI in June. My accident happened while playing for an adult indoor soccer team last fri night. I’m a goalkeeper (a pretty decent one as I played that position in high school and college). Of all of the things a keeper does, my injury occured while I wasn’t doing anything particularly strenuous. I had gathered a loose ball and was propelling myself forward in order to clear a few players and put the ball back in play. I was pushing off with my left foot when I felt someone step viciously on the back of my lower left leg. I went down in a heap of incredible pain. But also anger that someone would be so out of control and dangerous. Except there was no one there. My tendon just gave out on it’s own in a micro second explosion. I was finally able to get up but I immediately felt something terribly wrong. The foot was flopping a bit on it’s own…as if it was disconnected from my leg. I hobbled to my car and went home. I iced it and had my neighbor doc come over yesterday to confirm, via the Thompson Test, that it was indeed a rupture. He made me a splint out of casting material which helped a lot. Now I’m just in a holding pattern waiting to see my ortho doc (he scoped my knee last year after I fell on a icy road and tore cartiledge) on mon. I had a whole bottle of Vicodin left over from that operation (not very painful) so that has saved the day in terms of immediate pain management. More later….
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