Man oh man - so I got the official go ahead to walk no boot/crutches about 2 weeks ago and walk I have, probably too much at times. It seems that once I could walk, even if it’s gimpy and slow, I had to do a LOT more. Not exercise so much but just family / friend related stuff. Go shopping, take the kids here, there, go out to dinner and events with friends etc etc. I’m still at a snails pace while walking but Physical Therapy has me headed in the right direction.

Going back - We did take a trip to the lake just before I got the go ahead to ditch the crutches. I was a little nervous on the boat in two shoes and crutches and thought it’d be easier with the boot - so I took a pic so show everyone.

So I wore the boot on the boat but at the beach, two shoes.

Then, I decided to try swimming.  So with the help of my wife, I made it across the sand (barefoot) and to the water.  She helped me get in to about my knee and I went from there.  I gotta tell ya though, those little pebbles at the bottom of the lake felt like sharp glass.  It was so painful.  My foot is so tender to anything.  I found out that grass was a little painful even, the bottom of my foot is just SO sensitive. I didn’t think swimming would hurt, but it did. Kicking hurt the top of my foot, stretching everything that hasn’t been used in a long time. I’m looking forward to trying it again though.

The hard parts where the drive and spending the day on the water with the kids.  There wasn’t a whole lot of elevating or ice for that matter.  It was fun and good to be out though.

After vacation was the dr appt where I got the go ahead to walk.  I walked 1.03 miles my first day, which my PT yelled at me for, but I had to do it.  It wasn’t easy and I really concentrated on getting my gait just right.  So after my walk, here’s what I did.

Other than that PT gave me a ton of new stuff to work on, including heel raises. I can do both feet but most of it is on my good leg for sure. I tried with my ATR leg but no go. I think I might have gotten the heel about a millimeter off the ground but maybe that was just my positive thinking.

Hope everyone is well.

Hey everyone. Decided to take a little vacation with the family for some boating and swimming this week. Went to the family cottage in Indiana. The kids wanted to go to the beach on our first day, so off we went. My doc wants me in 2 shoes and PWB crutches, but since I know how crazy sand is, I brought the boot. I made it to a bench close to the water and ditched the boot for bare feet. I grabbed my crutches and headed towards the water. Made it over all the treacherous sound mounds to the water and in. The lake was a little dirty from all the boat traffic so I couldn’t see where I was walking - scary. I had no idea if I’d step in a hole or off a rock, so I kept the crutches with me, into the water about waist deep. My wife took them back to the bench for me. I walked very slowly, good leg first in a shuffle step and finally went full in. Started swimming and kicking. I had my re-eval at PT the other day and they said my Plantar Flexion is normal so I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. I pointed my toes and started kicking. Wow - didn’t expect that. It hurt some on the top of my feet and just felt really tight. The pain wasn’t intense, but I could definitely feel it. I went easy and didn’t kick as hard, mostly using my arms from then on.

Afterwards, I get out and get back in the boot and head up to the snack shop. Get in, get some ice cream and head out. I’m standing on the patio and a guy notices the boot and asks what I did, and before I said anything, he guessed Achilles, and then showed me the back of his left leg. Yup - he did the same, about 3 months before me. He told me he’s walking without a limp but no jogging, running, jumping etc…..first one with a Torn Achilles that I’ve run into. I’ve heard tons of broken leg, ankle stories, etc etc….but this was the first one of my people I’ve actually run into. We talked about what happened and everything and the recovery process and PT and everything else. It was oddly cool, sucks we have this common thing to talk about, but someone who completely understood (besides everyone here) exactly what I was going through. What was weird is that they took a vacation in upper Michigan to a place called Crystal Mountain. They had a summer vacation there and he rode this “slide ride” - basically a cart on wheels that goes down a track. He wiped out with his kid and showed me a scar on his arm. My wife started laughing and told him that I did the exact same thing, the year before they were there. I started to feel like this guy and I were separated at birth…..just weird.

Hope everyone is healing well. Oh and my PT re-eval went pretty good, my therapist said my ROM is good. I’m normal with Plantar Flexion, and really close to the left and right….Dorsiflexion I have a little way to go, but she said it was pretty good still.