over a year now and what a journey
Hi all,
Well its been over a year now and i thought it was about time i wrote an update as i have neglected my blog.
A quick summary im an irish dancer i ruptured my achilles May 10th 2008 had surgery repair and then re-ruptured July 14th. After the re-rupture i found it difficult to read other peoples progress and i was back at squre one, i found that i would compare my (lack)of progress and that made me even more depressed. Now over a year on i look back on the whole horrible experience and it makes me so proud at how far i’ve come.
Before my injury i was top 3 in Great Britain and 10th in the world, i was on track and things were going well, then all of a sudden in a split second it was taken away, a complete tear i never had any previous difficulties with my achilles however overworking it had taken its toll.
After Surgery i spents 9 weeks in plaster i then had to go back into plaster for a futher 4 weeks followed by a boot for 7 weeks approx taking me to the end of October. Towards the end of my time in the boot i started walking with the boot on and completed a course of 6-8 hydrotherapy sessions i was terrified at first scared of doing something wrong causing damage and found it very painful to stretch my achilles as it was tight like there was no give in it, i found when i first started walking my achilles and the bottom of my heel would get extremly sore and swollen, now i get no swelling at all. From November right through to Feburary i had weekly physio sessions at 1st massages stretching and gentle exercises and then these progressed to a group ‘gym’style class the first few i could barley walk never mind jog i enrolled in the gym to follow up on the exercises i’d been given and found swimming brilliant for loosening my foot in the mornings.
Each week they would introduce harder exercises ranging from balancing on the wobble board with 2 feet then one going forward back etc. Jumping on the trampeline to jogging and hopping on it changing directions, i found the hopping hard as i was scared to land, doing step ups, using a cross trainer and the horrid heel raises i found these the toughest even on my last session i couldnt really do the single heel raises,skipping and runnig on the treadmill was also introduced aswel as other exercises.
I returned to dancing whilst still recieving Physio and on many occasions i doubted myself and was ready to give up believing i’d never be able to dance properly again. It was extremely frustrating watching other dancers, and there was i not able to keep up couldn’t jump, couldn’t manage half the steps, yet deep down i didn’t want to give up.
My return to competitions was hardly a fairytale ending i was right down at the bottom dropping from 10th to 56th in the world, i was devastated all this hard work and all i’d been through.
I went home not knowing where to go from there, as i didn’t want to give up yet i didn’t want to go out so low after previously doing so well. So with my family we decided to give it one last shot i practiced everyday, worked on what i was finding difficult and recently participated in the National championships achieving 7th not quite the top 3 i was previously but a definite improvement and delighted at how far i’d come in a year making all i’d been through worthwhile as the place was high enough to qualify me for the 2010 world championships.
I hope the improvemients will continue and by the world i’ll be 100%.
I still have trouble with taking big hops/springs off my injured leg, i still have two different sized legs, and i find that if i’ve been doing a lot of dancing my foot get very stiff and i limp in the morning/late at night and also my heel drops down as we dance high on our toes its sometime hard to keep my heels off the ground.
I can run,jump, and best of all dance looking back i am so proud of how far i’ve come and it makes me appreciate achievements/results a lot more.
I apologise for such a long post but hope it gives people a insite into what to expect.