Daryl’s Achilles

Finally got to see what the heck happened.  My surgeon says all went really well, he was happy with how everything looked and said 4 more weeks of NWB and I get a splint tomorrow.

I’ll add a photo (if I can figure it out), as you can see, staples were holding the parts together - the removal wasn’t the most enjoyable event but - hey - it is over.

He said I can do range of motion to keep things moving but not to stretch the tendon significantly.

And that was about it……. I guess I’m happy so far……

Basically 2 weeks post-op

I had my injury 12 days ago, so far - here is my experience.

I took pain killers for the first 3 days after surgery and - like many - tried to get away from them as soon as possible.

The first few days - it was really important to elevate my foot very high, as it is suggested.  I could actually see the purple go out of the toes when you lift it up.

On day 6 I went back to work for a while - I have a desk job - so as long as I just sat at the desk, with my foot elevated it was good.  I worked 5 hours, then 6, then a full 8 for the rest of the week.  I didn’t think it was too bad, all things considered.  It was relatively easy to keep my foot elevated.  I experienced some cramp-like calf pain - felt like the lower calf was cramping - and of course couldn’t do much about it.  This lasted for about 2 days (days 7&8)

The temporary cast started unraveling on about day 10, I have repaired it a little but it needs more work.

I have had a couple of twitches while sleeping where I must have tightened my calf muscle or something and it felt like I was stretching the tendon a little.  Quite painful and it was difficult to get back to sleep after. (I have read other blogs with similar experiences)

One question that has been on my mind - and I know it is just playing with my mind is - When I go to the doctor - is he going to tell me that one of my twitches re-ruptured the tendon?

The last couple of days I have what I would consider “incision” pain - it feels like the cast is pushing against the suchers or something - if I get the right position is seems ok.

I can’t get in to see my surgeon until the 3-week mark (August 20) I am a little bummed by this but I realize I just need to take time and let it heal - maybe this will teach me some patience.

Otherwise - I don’t do much, TV, computer, books, and try and play with my family (5 yr old and a 2 yr old)

My wife is having a hard time with all this too, pretty overwhelming - -I feel sorry for all the extra work I have caused her - I’ll just have to get her something nice for Christmas.  I can’t wait to get back to a position where I can help her out again.

Well, I’m here  - Achillesblog.com.

I suffered a complete rupture of my right Achilles on Tuesday night @ 9PM (July 29th, 2008) while water skiing.

I am a slalom skiier and was rounding 3 ball when the ski virtually stopped in its tracks and I went forward.  My front foot (left) came out of the binding and my back foot did not.

I could tell right away it wasn’t good.  Once I removed my foot, you could see a dent in my ankle where the tendon should have been.  Straight to the hospital and had sugery the next morning to repair.

So, now it is Friday - and I am beginning to learn how to recover.