Anyone else dealing with blood clots?
So this is my first post regarding my Achilles tendon rupture. I am 37 years old, married 12 years and a father of 5 children. I work two jobs and manage to maintain an active lifestyle. Not an elite athlete by any means, but just trying to keep up with my family. Just a little background…in high school, I played football, basketball, then wrestling, and some tennis and some track and field. I played football my first two years of college and played soccer my last two years of college. During that time, I broke my ankle several times and tore my hamstring. And while the pain seemed worse for these, this injury has been a unique challenge.
Like many of you, mine was a full rupture. I ruptured it playing soccer with my five young boys. My oldest is 10 and my youngest is 2. I made a very bad plant, and next thing I know, my kids ask, "Daddy, did someone shoot you in your ankle?" I honestly thought one of them had kicked me. But it wasn’t that.
I should have known better. I have flat feet, and I should be wearing my ankle brace and knee brace, as well as warm up and stretch. And with my age, my situation was a recipe for disaster, so here I am.
I ruptured my AT on 07/28/2017 and had surgery on 08/03/2017. Surgery was successful, recovery seemed to be on schedule. I started Physical Therapy a week later than I should have, for scheduling reasons, roughly around 08/24/2017. Everything was going as planned, until 09/21/2017. I ended up in the hospital after developing 2 blood clots in my leg and one in my chest (pulmonary embolism). I was released after 48 hours of observation and being prescribed blood thinners.
I am constantly told that I need to be moving around to prevent blood clots. I tried doing this up until I went back to work on 09/05/2017. I deal with the public in one of my jobs, and getting my leg iced and levitated proved very difficult. I believe this is when I developed the clots, unfortunately. Other than that, I am very dedicated to my rehabbing.
I’m looking to see if anyone else here has had issues with blood clots, and what you are doing to prevent future clots. I know I am fairly young and shouldn’t be on blood thinners, but unfortunately, this is my current situation. It gave us all a good scare, and I am trying to do whatever it takes to stick around a lot longer with my wife and kids. Any feedback would be appreciated.
