Deb’s achilles blog

Came onto the site today to update my profile and provide some background.  My injury wasn’t incurred during a sporting event - rather more like going off the couch from 0 to 60 to make a 911 call.  I saw an ultralight plane crash outside my livingroom window and was running to get the phone when partway down my hallway It felt like my foot became detached from my leg.  I scraped my side when I fell to the floor and in that moment realized something really nasty had happened.  Funny part was, I was so pumped by adrenalin and focused on the ultra light crash it seemed like my foot/leg belonged to someone else (I think that might be an indicator of shock).   While my husband found the phone and made the 911 call, I was sitting in the hall comparing my ankles - observing that the left certainly did not look like the right :-(   I had no sense of the complex situation I had gotten into, except that I couldn’t walk on that foot.

We went to the local walk in clinic, and I was told to sit in the waiting room.   Well, after about 5 minutes of that I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to stay upright and slid out of the chair and onto the floor (not fun).  I guess that that point the clerk in the clinic realized I needed to lay down and they gave me a little more priority getting into an examining room.  The doc came in, did the Thompson test and confirmed a detached tendon - and sent me up to hospital emergency.

After a couple of hours (I think they were trying to get me into an OR that day) it was decided that I would go home with the splint/cast on and would be called for surgery.  I was a little concerned but was told as long as my surgery was within a 5 day window there should be no issues.  With a T3 prescription in hand, and  some crutches we headed home.

Day 2 - received a call late in the afternoon from the surgical nurse asking me where I was.  Apparently the physician and the booking clerk for the OR didn’t connect and no one called me to give me my surgery time, which had now passed.  I was booked for the next morning.

Day 3 - Did all the prep stuff at the hospital, operated on at noon with general not spinal.  I was told they had some problems with me during the surgery due to my issues with acid reflux,  however at the end of it all I awoke with a splint/cast (to wear for 2 weeks), a very sore throat and a prescription for Tramadol.

Went home and did the post op, elevated leg etc and after a couple of weeks arranged for a wheelchair rental with a leg support which really helps me navigate around the house, and prevents my leg from being “down” all day.  It is really useful but I have to keep shifting position to be comfortable, because now, ever tho I am more than a month post op, I am still having burning sensations and “electric” tinglinging around the incision area.  It feels like I am constantly trying to get my foot away from the cast, and so sleeping is difficult and frustrating until I get my foot with pillows strategically placed so there are no pressure points.  There are worse things out there, this is just very frustrating for an independent soul such as myself.

I am very appreciative of the information sharing on this site.  This experience raises all kinds of questions like expected recovery times, pain issues, therapy etc and it is good to see what others who have gone ahead of me have done to improve their outcomes.

My next cast (scheduled in a couple of weeks) might be an aircast, however I understand a decision will be made at that time as there are some pros and cons.  I am interested in how people have done with their subsequent casts, air cast/boot or regular cast, repositioning of the foot and general physio experiences.

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