Six weeks, back in shoes!
Well, given where I was a few weeks ago, no weight bearing, boot and crutches, I cannot believe where I am now. On Saturday, 6 weeks and 1 day from surgery, I ditched the boot and went back to shoes full time. Note, my next doctor appt is July 6th, so this was not doctor approved. The bad achilles is still tight, but there is no pain when I walk. I have a limp, but as I walk for a bit, the limp goes away (mostly) too. The only other thing I found is that if I am on the bad leg for a little while (about 3o mins), my heel starts to have a burning sensation. If I sit down for a few minutes, it goes away.
Throwing caution to the wind, since I was in 2 shoes, I went out to the golf course, with my wife and daughter, and starting hitting golf balls. I stayed away from the longer clubs and focused on shorter distance clubs, but it all felt really good. I have a tendency to shift my weight to my right leg, which isn’t always good in golf, but now that I can’t do that, I noticed that I was hitting the ball better too. By the end of the day, my leg was happy to take a rest, but when I got up the next morning, it felt even better. So, I went out and did some work in the yard, and went back to the golf course and hit balls again.
I am extremely careful where I step. I am determined not to injure my leg again, by tripping over something, or stepping off a curb wrong. I found that going up steps is really easy. Going down is much slower. Also, I did some heel raises in the gym today. I used a pullup bar to keep from putting full weight on my leg yet, but the heel raises felt good. I plan to put more weight on my leg each day and see how it goes. Also, I am starting to do cardio, on the rowing machine at the gym. I know I won’t be doing stairclimber, eliptical or treadmill for a while, but you can get a pretty good sweat going on the rowing machine.
There is a golf tournament with the men’s club at my course on July 4th. I just might play!
June 28th, 2011 at 7:08 am
Chuck-
You continue to make incredible progress. This is pretty encouraging for me, being just a few short weeks behind you. I’m a bit more conservative in my rehab than you so will probably have slower progress as well, but your recovery is definitively encouraging! I hope you get to golf over the 4th, but be careful in shoes!
Jeff
June 28th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
hey jeff….are u in a walking boot yet ?? if not.i’d encourage u to ask the doctor for it…use it w/ the crutches..then a week later u wont need the crutches as much..as far as chuck..im 6 weeks today from surgery…im walking w/ flip flops..seeing doctor thursday…very encouraging to hear his progress too…good luck guys…
July 1st, 2011 at 8:38 am
Wow Chuck, you are a braver soul than I (which we already knew given my hesitation to drive) but I am super impressed, nonetheless! Sounds like it’s going great, and it must feel so good to have those shoes on. I look forward to hearing if your surgeon is impressed or irritated. I can’t wait to do the same, but I’m too terrified of re-rupture to give it a try.
July 1st, 2011 at 10:11 am
Well, you will certainly be golfing in Aug! Congratulations on your swift recovery, very impressive! How many days were you in the boot before deciding to ditch it? Do you wear any inserts with your shoes? Kudos on the great progress and happy golfing!
July 1st, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Hi Deana: Thanks! I don’t know if I am a “brave soul”, or just stupid, but I do want to thank all the earlier blogs from people about their recoveries with early weight bearing. It inspired me to move from from crutches to full weight in a boot to shoes much faster, and now at 7 weeks, I am walking, with almost no limp. My achilles is still tight, but otherwise feels really good. Knowing how doctors are, I doubt that my doctor will be impressed. I haven’t decided whether to go to the visit on the 6th in shoes or put my boot on so he doesn’t yell at me.
July 1st, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Thanks Polly. I went from a cast to a boot after two weeks, from surgery. I was then in a boot no weight bearing, then weight bearing (2-6 week timeframe). When I was at home during this time, I would take the boot off, and walk (gingerly) around the house barefoot. It helped me gauge whether I could really walk with shoes. At the six week mark, I decided to put shoes on. Since I have had shoes on in the last week, my leg has felt stronger every day. I did go out and get gel inserts to give me more cushion around the heal. They do help. Everyone has a different recovery process, depending on how they feel, the doctor, how the surgery was done, etc. I also think there could be a difference depending on where the tendon ruptured. Just a theory that I have that where the injury occurs could matter. Mine was in the middle of the tendon. Good luck to you and your recovery. I will be golfing for the first time in 8 weeks, this weekend. Happy July 4th to all!
January 6th, 2012 at 2:42 am
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