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You take a lot of things for granted in life. Walking’s way up there on the list.
While I knew what the Achilles was, I never even thought about a rupture. Sure, I’d heard of folks having the problem; but, mine never even gave me a bit of problem….
My rupture came on the basketball court at 4:30 PM on a Saturday afternoon. I was playing with the boy’s team that I coach. Now in an ideal world I’d have a great story of some wonderful play. The reality is not quite so dramatic. I sat out for the first 15 minutes of the open gym. I then spent a grand total of 90 seconds on the floor, going free throw line-to-free throw line twice. A turn, a kick (or so it felt / found out later it was the Achilles snapping), and a drop to my bottom followed. I pushed over to the side of the court wondering why my foot felt as though it were asleep. When I reached to the back of my leg, I knew EXACTLY what had happened. 1.5 hours later I was in the hospital. The next AM I was in surgery; and, by 2PM I was waking up with my own personal cast.
It’s now been a bit over five weeks and I’m in a mechanical walking boot. The doc’s given me two weeks until I can start putting weight on it. That’s the bad news. The good news is that almost all of the swelling is gone, the scar looks great, and — knock on wood — there has been no real pain through the entire five weeks.
To all of those that have shared their stories and offered links — a huge thank you. It’s been a Godsend and made a big difference.
Hopefully I’ll be able to share a few things over the next year that will at least help one other person.