davewaterloo’s AchillesBlog

BTW got my Vacocast through Landmark Medical (Richmond Hill, Ont. Canada)and they delivered it to me within 24 hrs. It cost $299 + tax and my insurance will cover 95% with DR’s note which I got from Ortho Dr.
Can’t complain!!

Woohoo finally got my Vacocast Pro Achilles boot! Looking forward to using it
this week set at 20 degrees. having a problem unsnapping (as the video on Vacocast site shows )to increase the calf size. Anybody have any tricks to share how to do increase calf size easily?

I am also in Canada and just wanted to chime in on the difficulty you’ve had obtaining the boot.

I purchased mine for $160 at medical supply retailer/pharmacy here in town. I had a prescription for it and my insurance covered the entire cost.

Good luck in your quest for the boot. I’ve been in mine for just over a month and have nothing but good things to say about it.

Ya, thanks for the post, Dave.

BTW, I’m curious about the details behind “[Kobe’s trainer] Tim Grover told me about a machine that he could buy directly for this type of thing, and this was six years ago.” Maybe we’ll find out soon, when we see photos of Kobe using some fancy rehab machine.

Great read! Thanks for posting.

Whoa, thanks for sharing this! It is very encouraging to read this and I am glad you shared this.

Saw a picture of Kobe going from the splint to a vacocast. Thats one thing we both have in common right now!

Thanks for the info. Dave….much appreciated!

Hi Jacqui.
Happy to help.
Yes, I ordered over email from http://www.Well.ca and called in my VISA….got the impression they were going to put it on their site but guess not.
Yes, you get the hand pump and vacuum relief insert with the Pro Achilles model I purchased.
It was ~$400 cdn.
I also purchased the even-up about a week later and highly recommend getting right away.
Good luck.
-dave

Hi Dave,
I am interested in getting a Vacocast as highly recommended by Norm & others and now you Dave. I also live in Canada. I looked on Well website and didn’t see Vacocast so I assume you asked them to order as a one-off and they emailed you back & confirmed they would and then you gave them your credit card info. ?
Did it come with the vacuum relief insert and pump?
Did you also purchase the even up height equalizer (recommended by Norm) for building up the other foot & if not how did you compensate for the height difference? Also how much did the Vacocast cost incl. shipping & taxes?
I think I will have to get my phsiotherapist to prescribe as my Orthopaedic specialist may not be game since they just changed me from an uncomfortable contour walker to contour walker with air at no addt’l charge.
Thanks in advance for your help.

That 2.5 to 2.0 to 1.5 … is a very gradual stretch to neutral — much more gradual than UWO’s (which I found a smidge too abrupt). I didn’t try letting a boot hinge ’til ~7 weeks, and you were hinging pretty far by then — though I’d been at 0.0 = neutral since ~6 wks… I think it was Ryanb who drew a graph of the two different possible paths from NWB+plantarflexed to FWB+neutral–you could hustle to FWB and stay plantarflexed for a while, or hustle to neutral and stay NWB & PWB a while longer. I think I prefer the former. You seem to have hustled pretty well in both variables — and added a third dimension of early hinging, too…

It would be good to see a study that subjected a bunch of ATR patients to that approach, to see if they did as well as (or better than) UWO on average…

I gauged my recovery by how little of my waking time I spent thinking about my AT — or actually how long the intervals were between thoughts about it.

Only dream I can remmeber having was right when I went PWB > FWB. I dreamt I walked out side the garage and began running the neighborhood (like an idiot) and I fell down with a re-ruptured AT

I thought it was real for a split second then woke up and felt much better.

I have quite a few dreams about my injury but i am always shopping or out and about in a boot..i guess we it does take up much of our mind space..

Found Icky’s post wondering if dreams might be hurting recovery:

http://achillesblog.com/icky/2010/11/26/are-my-dreams-hurting-me/

made me feel better.

Thanks Kirk and Alton,

I am doing 2 formal physio sessions per week, 3 sets of ROM exercises per day as well as 2-3 improvised sessions of yoga per week.

The physiotherapist is trying to faithfully adhere to the UWO protocol with some egging on from me to be a bit more aggressive.

Thank you Alton for your ROM videos on your blog, I watch them and try to play along. It gives me confidence (I believe I am slightly ahead of you at the time of your vids)

Well done, another stage reached in the recovery.

I expect the Aircast and Vaco boots would give the same outcome for ATR patients without complications, but that is just a personal opinion. As we don’t know the contribution that specific orthotics make to the rehabilitation I can see why your OS is playing safe in replicating the UWO conditions.

Is your OS following the UWO study rehab faithfully or on a modified basis (as many appear to tweak elements of it ) ?

Congrats and getting to your next milestone. My best advice would be to keep with your exercises/home therapy / or PT as soon as it starts (Or keep up with it if you have already started it).

On the bright side, at least we know that they’re not essential to an excellent recovery. . .

My OS refused to write me a script for the Nitro patches…

OS: Never heard of such a thing and the smart guys I know have never mentioned it. So I won’t write you a presicription for it. But, you could do whatever you like.

Me: But, I can’t write myself a script.

OS: Well, perhaps your own Doc would be willing to do it…but I won’t.

Me: Can I email you the study?

OS: Ok, but I am old school (Despite the UWO protocol suggestion.) You can’t trust everything you read on Doctor Google.

DAVE!!!!

I wish you a speedy recovery!!! I will pray daily for it.
I do remember you had to slow down going downstairs …
Reading your blog carefully tells me that is is very important for you to be a great basket ball player doing dream moves…. QUICK.

After you heal….Why not?

To fulfill that dream, increase your inner strength by being yourself. You know how to set goals… You are really a terrific person!!!

Meanwhile to heal faster please take some time (as often as you can) to visualize the mending of your Achilles tendon….It works..

Much love,

Yvonne

My doc said no basketball for 6 more months. So that will make it about 9, but I might follow Dennis’s lead also.

Thanks Dennis,
I am inspired by your playing basketball 2 times per week now but a bit bummed that you had to wait a full year.

I waited a year to play bball. I think I was at about 90% for about a couple of years.. and then up to probably 95% pre-ATR. My knee problem definitely hold me back now.. but I still play about twice a week.

Good luck, Dave! Even with the best protocols, there’s still a “crap-shoot” aspect to this recovery — a distribution of results around the mean. . . and the effect of your tendinopathy on your recovery is a wild card in my mind. Most ATRs (including most of the UWO-study patients’ ATRs) come out of the blue.

The good news is that most ATR patients who DID have a prior problem with their AT, find their situation significantly improved (or even cured) by the trauma and the recovery.

I tried them (pre surgery) with no success, but that does mean they wont work for you. I used them way back when I was first having tendon issues (2 years ago) and the orthopedic doctor I was seeing at the time suggested them. He didn’t really sell them, just said some people have found they help so why not try.

They are one of any things I tried before finally decided to have the knife. I haven’t thought about using any if these again post-op.

That’s a lot to digest in a short amount of time, with significant long term consequences. But sounds like you’ve done the right things to get comfortable with the proposed treatment route. Having an Ortho that supports a modern accelerated protocol also puts you in a great place for success. Unfortunately, here in the UK conservative (non-op) treatment is used extensively, but the protocols are often traditional non-aggressive ones. We have some catching up to do on this front.

Good luck, and keep us posted.