About Me
I’m 39 years old and have lived in England all my life. I currently work a a IT Manager in a secondary school.. I have played football all my life and the Achillies rupture is only the second really bad injury I have ever had. I stopped playing 11-aside football 2 years ago and now only play 5-aside twice a week.
Hello Dazf,
Welcome to the pleasure-dome!! - I’ve had a bit of a rocky road with the NHS starting about a year ago with tendinitis in both achilles but much worse in the right one. My GP attempted to clear things up with anti inflammatory tablets but to no avail. He referred me to the physio at the local hospital who scanned the tendon and reported that it was inflamed(no really!!! Tell me something I don’t know!!) but he was able to give me a steroid injection to clear it up. I was fairly desperate at this point as I was unable to function on a daily basis(I’m an ageing PE teacher and assistant head of a biggish secondary school) - This desperation clouded my judgement as I have since found out the steroid injection route is really bad news bordering on mal- practice. However for the next 3 months I lived a pain free life it was bliss(including a Rugby tour to Cape Town and all the excesses demanded by such a trip.) The condition returned but in a much lower area, more like the heel and my GP diagnosed Bursitis and duly administered an injection.
Three weeks later I slipped coming out of a doorway and stumbled off a very small step BANG -ATR rupture.
To cut a long story a bit shorter I was put in plaster for ten weeks - surgeon reluctant to operate due to steroid injection but unfortunately the conservative treatment hasn’t gone well. So today I have found out it’s surgery for me next week.
I see you work in a school-well I’ve yet to start this term its been an absolute nightmare everyones been fine and really supportive but I know I’ve added to their already difficult jobs. So as they say up north I’m not in the best of fettle but I am totally committed to getting better
Cheers
Richard
God you have suffered, I hope your op goes well for you and you can get on track to a full recovery.
As you are from the UK check out my UK ATR page and dropa post on there. I am trying to keep a track of UK patients NHS experiences compared to our USA friends who seem to have a better health system, even though they pay.
Daz
Hi first week of ruptured achillies in cast and in a lot of pain is it normal to have calf pain made worse when leg is not elevated when showering and going to toilet any advice most welcome .
Had lower calf pain from the moment of rupture but I think it is getting worse.
Am I in the right place I am from uk….
Hi There!
Just found you. I have joined the ranks of the fully ruptured but believe that my long, slow walk to freedom starts here. What a great idea this is. I’ve kept diary from day one (pen and paper to the unitiated :-).
I’m looking forward to reading your stories and sharing my journey of recovery with you.
Kind regards and keep your chin up out there.
:-).
Dear Daz and Colleagues,
One of the ways that I’m planning to deal with my recovery is to write a ‘Case Study’ of my injury. Will also comlete the injury and personal info sections. I’m findng that reading articles and asking questions is a good way forward. It would appear from what I’ve read that conservative management has a good outcome. I did have a second opinion as I was close to having surgery. It was touch and go, but my tendon had started healing by at least 6-7mm in under a week. So I was packed off into my dynamic boot and was wiggling my toes and sensibly weightbearing with all of my little heart.
I’ve been out of my boot now for a week and a half and I celebrate each milestone with a smile. Todays was managing to ascend 97 (yes 97!) steps to my flat without asistance. Descent is a tad more challenging and I used the hand rails for all but one flight.
Rest assured I shall be doing all in my power to recover well and sensibly… I understand that there may be a few bumps in my recovery road, but it nice to know that I’m not alone in this. Sharing on a platform like this also assists recovery.
Kind regards,
Mobility with a purpose :-).
Sorry Dennis,
Tried to update my ATR timeline-date of rupture and of casting are the same dates, but form says dates are invalid. Can you help?
Thanks :-).