Chelynne’s Achilles Blog

The struggle by ShoZu

“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong.  The amount of work is the same.”  - Carlos Castaneda

Sometimes the hardest part of recovering from any injury is not the physical recovery, but rather finding the mental strength to make it through.  Our bodies are incredible; with a little care they can heal themselves whether from injury or surgery.  Our minds on the other hand can make the healing process challenging.

An Achilles injury is a humbling experience.  Breaking a sweat just making it down a hallway with crutches, having to sit on a chair to take a shower, needing someone else to get you a glass of water are some of the many hurdles to overcome.  It is frustrating to need so much help for the simple daily tasks we take for granted.  If that is not enough for you, there is the list of things you have to put on hold now.  So much for that yoga class you just started, it will be another six months at least before you will run again, that weight loss goal - not going to happen and so on and so on.

My point here is not to be a downer.  Rather I want to recognize that the negative, discouraging thoughts will without a doubt creep in, but we have the opportunity to Rise Above This.  We have been given the chance to regroup, to focus our efforts on other areas, maybe even things we have been neglecting.  I actually have time to “sit down” and write a blog post, something I have wanted to dabble at for over a year.

It is not going to be easy, in fact sometimes its so hard you just might break down and cry.  However, we do have a choice.  We can let it get the best of us, or we can use the struggle to make us stronger.  The choice is yours.

10 months ago I had a full achilles rupture on my right foot.  I was recovering nicely.  For about 3 months I have been running.  I just started taking yoga which was really helping my range of motion in my right foot and helping to break up the scar tissue.  I decided that I was ready to go back to Wallyball, the sport I was playing when the injury occurred.  It was my second night back, I had stretched well and was fully warmed up.  About an hour into the game I was running for the ball and all of the sudden I felt a pop in the back of my left foot.  I immediately fell to the floor.  I knew right then and there that I had ruptured the other one.  All I could think was, “I don’t want to go through this again.”  It was in fact a complete tear of my left achilles.  I had surgery yesterday.

I am so excited to find such a supportive community for people experiencing Achilles Tendon recovery!  Here is my story:

On Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 I was playing Wallyball after work with some friends.  Wallyball?  Yes, it is similar to volleyball but played on a racquetball court.  I was running toward the ball and all of the sudden I felt a pop on the back of my right leg.  I immediately picked up my right foot and just stood there like a flamingo. I didn’t scream or cry.  I just stood there while everyone was looking at me.  With the help of some great co-workers I made it up the stairs from the racquetball court and off to the emergency room.  The nurse made her diagnosis rather quickly that I had in fact ruptured my Achilles tendon and that it was most likely a complete tear.  

I went to work the next day, though I’m not sure I accomplished very much.  I managed to sneak into an appointment slot on Thursday at Tri-State Orthopaedics in the Pittsburgh area.  Dr. Jeffery Kann and his staff are excellent!  I did in fact have a completely torn Achilles, so I was scheduled for surgery the next day.  On Friday the 13th I had ATR surgery and everything went pretty smoothly.  The following three days were a bit rough but I had lots of support from my husband, family, and friends.  I missed four days of work and a Butch Walker concert that I had been looking forward to attending for months.