An Athlete’s Torn Achilles Recovery

I couldn’t stand it anymore.

A damp cast after showering with a garbage bag over my leg. The itching. Not being able to rest my foot on the ground. Not being able to carry anything with my hands. Uncomfortable, sleepless nights. Asking people to do things for me. The smell. Standing on my good leg, all. damn. day.

I took a Dremel with a 426 Fiberglass Wheel and started sawing down the inside of my leg. There are two layers of fiberglass in my cast–an outer layer and middle layer. The layer of the cast that is closest to your skin is a soft bandage, but right between that and another layer of soft bandage is a middle layer of hardened fiberglass.

My visiting mother and wife were pissed.

The outer layer was easy to cut through, but the middle layer was hard to see. It was also kind of scary to get the blade that close to your skin. I felt the heat of the blade and the soft bandage on my leg a couple of times. I went slow and steady while resting my leg. The cut went from the top of the cast to the toes.

My cousin was also visiting from New Orleans and helped me cut the outside of the cast, the same way.

After the fiberglass was cut, I used scissors to cut through the last layer of bandage. My cousin came over and helped me tear the two pieces apart.

I immediately put my foot into the VACOcast in a fixed, 30-degree position. A few hours later I washed my leg and foot in soap and water and replaced the suture bandage with a new sterile bandage. I also wrapped my foot in an elastic ankle wrap afterwards.

I didn’t put any weight on my foot but to gently rest it while standing or sitting. This was my doctor’s protocol–no weight for the first two weeks.

I saw the doctor two days later at my normally scheduled two-week appointment. The nurse I checked in with mentioned that I needed to have my cast removed and I let her it wasn’t necessary. She looked at my wife, rolled her eyes and commented, “Guys always want to remove it themselves.”

Dr. Neufeld didn’t make any comments about me cutting off the cast. His body language was either, “It’s no big deal,” or, “This guy is an idiot and there’s nothing I can do about it now.” I couldn’t quite tell. He had me lay on my stomach as he removed the elastic bandage and checked out the sutures. He snipped the ends off and said that the wound looks great.

He loved the VACOcast. He hadn’t seen one in person and was asking all kinds of questions about it. He said that cast seemed way more functional and comfortable than the boot their hospital provides.

Then he told me it’s time to gradually start putting weight on my recovering foot. My eyes grew twice their size.

I’m back on my feet. Just a man and his will to survive.