rupture and then re-rupture…this is my story…

Well, I was originally going to make this post on June 30th, but I ended up spending my 1 year post-op anniversary on the lake getting some wakeboarding sets in after work. I’ve really made an effort to make up for lost time this summer and so far my Achilles has been hangin’ in there without any real complaint.

I took a break from running a little bit since my last post, but started up again about a month ago. I can now comfortably run 4 miles at 10 minute pace without any interruption. Once I work myself up to some 6-8 mile runs again, I’m thinking that I’m going to start training for a half marathon.

I’ve also been wakeboarding about 2-3 nights per week. I started wakeboarding when I was 13, but went on a hiatus between my junior year of college until this summer. I haven’t had any problems with the Achilles here, but getting comfortable with it all again has been somewhat of a mental challenge, however I think I’m pretty much past it since I’ve started to consistently mix inverts (flips) back into my sets.

As for paintball, I haven’t really played much in the last two months, been busy with other things. However, I’ve played in a few tournaments since the year began and I can sprint, dive, and crawl without any problems. I’ll probably get back into it more towards the fall / winter once I start having more free time on the weekends again.

I’m not doing any sort of specific strength training other than heel lifts at this point, although I probably should. My once injured leg is still smaller than my healthy leg, and I still tend to notice myself favoring the healthy leg from time to time.

At this point, I think that this summer may be one of the best summers of my life. I’m truly living with 0 regrets and I’m not letting this injury prevent me from doing the things I want to do. At this point I find anything physically demanding on my body to be a challenge which I want to prove to myself that I can overcome even after this injury.

I hope everyone is healing well. It gets better!! Don’t let this injury deter you from doing the things you want to do!

I’ve still been running, almost up to being able to run 30 minutes continuously now. I still lose comfort in my running stride at times, but its becoming less frequent. I really haven’t done a lot of weight lifting with my legs yet. Toes raises, walking around on my toes, and stretching is pretty much all I’ve done outside of running and biking. I still notice that I have a slight limp at times if I sit for long periods of time, but a few steps and everything loosens up.

I’ve been playing indoor paintball which requires some sprinting and diving at times. I’d say that I’m back up to about 70% in terms of sprinting. I’ve still been a little bit nervous to push it, but I find its other parts of my leg that are getting sore versus my Achilles which is good.

Anyways that’s my update! I hope everyone is recovering well!

Got the okay to start running again today, so I decided to try it out. During my college years I ran religiously, running about 8-10 miles a day at a 6/min mile pace. Anyhow 3 years and 2 achilles rupture repair surgeries later.

I walked .25 miles, ran .25 miles at an 11/min mile pace, walked about .25, ran another .25 again at 11/min mile pace, then walked another .25.

I felt extremely uncomfortable. Normally I can settle into a rhythm, but I just didn’t feel like I had a good running stride. I know that my leg is pretty weak still, I can do a one legged heel raise and raise the heel of my rupture Achilles foot about an inch at this point. I’ve pretty much rid of the limp when walking except for when I wake up in the morning. The recent weather change here in Minnesota has really stiffened it up in the mornings.

At this point I’m done with doctors appointments and physical therapy. So the recovery from this point forward is up to me.

If anyone has any good advice or stories about their first run after their rupture, I’d like to hear it. It’s pretty depressing how much I’ve lost.

Well I had my, 3rd Post-Op since my re-rupture surgery today and the Doc approved of me wearing 2 shoes again! Only limitation is no running or jumping. He said that it’ll be another 3-4 months before I can start running again. I can however start doing more strengthening in PT. As for any other activities, I am to moderate the amount I participate in them based on the amount of pain I have.

PT thus far has pretty much been the same as I posted before, however we did add some leg lifts, walking exercises, and stair stepping exercises into the mix.

I feel like I walk a bit slower in the shoes right now than I did in the boot, not sure if its just a mental thing or an instability thing. I do need to go out and buy new shoes though. 18 weeks ago before, 6 hours before I ruptured the first time, I had just bought brand new shoes. Now I have a brand new left shoe and a beat up right shoe.

I also drove my car for the first time since May. I miss driving my own car so much!

Anyways that’s all I have for now really, I have my final post-op appointment on December 2nd.

Well, as the title states, I’m 10 about 10 weeks post-op ATR #2.

I’ve been doing hour long PT sessions twice a week. Most of the sessions consist of the following –

1. 5-8 minutes on a bike
2. 15 minutes of ultra sound
3. 10-15 minutes of massage
4. 5 minutes of balance exercises
5. 10 - 15 minutes of stretching

My first day of PT my ROM dorsiflexion was -4*, as of last week I was at 9*. My other ankle has a 15* dorsiflexion, so I’m getting there. Walking in the boot is going well, I still have pain in my heel after a extended period of time on my foot. My PT said this is perfectly normal still and that it will take some time for that to go away.

Anyways an interesting fact that I came across today…As of August 31, this whole ordeal has cost my insurance $40,000. It’s costing my insurance $600/hr for PT. For now I am going twice a week until my Doctor re-evaluates on September 30th. My PT said that he expects another 6 weeks of PT to be ordered after my re-eval for some more intensive strengthening. So when all is said and done, I’m expecting this whole thing to cost my insurance between $55,000 - $60,000. Remember I’ve torn my Achilles twice this summer and had 2 surgeries 6 weeks apart.

That’s all for now…