Posted on February 2nd, 2011 by denny
Had surgery on my Haglund’s in early December and the surgeon also repaired some bursitis and arthritis present as well as paring down the tendon that had grown too large since my first AT two years ago. This time I used a spinal instead of a general and what a difference it made! Within about two hours I was fully ready to go home and I did. The first four weeks were non-weight bearing, then two weeeks wearing a boot and for the past two weeks I’ve being going to physical therapy once a week wearing my normal shoes. I’m almost ready to be cleared to play golf again and to be allowed to walk normally again (easy hiking, playing golf, etc). It looks like totally full recovery in less than 12 weeks. The amazing part was that I have had zero pain, even from the surgery. I never took any pain medication folowing surgery because none was needed. As usual, the knee walker was a lifestyle saver, although I didn’t need it for nearly as long this time as last. Hopefully this is the last time I’ll have AT problems, but I said that the first time so we’ll see.
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Posted on December 6th, 2010 by denny
For those of you who are unaware of this excellent device, I’ve discovered a new source. The last time I needed one I just went to my local supplier. This time, with surgery in two days, they don’t have any. My surgeon gave me a brochure from www.rentakneewalker.com. I called them and three days later I got my walker and it is set up and ready to go. They charge $35 per week with a four week minimum and $100 deposit. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a great price to help me in my recovery. Incidentally, the walker I received looks brand new. Hope this helps someone.
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Posted on November 10th, 2010 by denny
Yep, it’s time for one more try to get things right. My Haglund’s Deformity has developed into more than can be handled through PT, so it’s off to surgery again on Dec 7th. I’d do it before but my surgeon had the unmitigated gall to have a baby! So she will go back in there and repair the Deformity and also address the bursitis, tendonitis, arthritis, toncilitis (just checking to see it you are alert), fix them and get me well again.
I’m convinced this is my mother’s revenge. She always wanted a girl but got me instead. So now I’m stuck with a problem that is predominantly female (Haglund’s). At least this time I have all the supplies I need other than a kneewalker which I will get a week before the surgery. If I’m REAL lucky, the damage won’t be so great and my recovery will be less than a month. As long as she doesn’t have to detach my Achilles again, maybe it won’t take four months this time. At least I know what I’m facing and with the weather turning somewhat wintery (for Texas that is), I should’nt miss too much golf.
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Posted on January 27th, 2010 by denny
It’s now been almost 1/2 year since I last posted (but I’ve been lurking) and things are still no better. If anything my bump is even worse. It isn’t bigger, but it does cause me to get a 1/2 size shoe size larger on the affected foot and the pain after walking can be beyond annoying.
The last time I saw my surgeon (about two months ago) she pretty much said that I’ll just have to live with it. I’ve had additional physical therapy and pretty much lead a normal life for someone my age, but I could do without the pain. I’ve looked up everything I could about Haglund’s Deformity and it seems that, short of surgery, there isn’t much else I can do and I WON’t undergo surgery again.
Does anyone have any suggestions other than PT and surgery that might be helpful?
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Posted on July 28th, 2009 by denny
After having going along extremely well for the past several months (I’m about eight months post-op), I’ve developed a problem that is both annoying and painful. I now have a large “bump” on the back of my heel and my walking is now with a pronounced limp because of pain. I feel I may be walking incorrectly, but whatever way I try it is still a little painful. I’ve been playing golf for about five months so can’t understand why the regression. Unfortunately, I’m about 1,000 miles from my surgeon and won’t be home until the middle of September to see her. I don’t think anything will get worse in the meantime, but am bothered by the currecnt turn of events. Has anyone gong through this so long after surgery?
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Posted on January 27th, 2009 by denny
This has been another good week.
The pool was fun although after an hour of exercises it was a little tedious and I was pretty tired for the rest of the day. PT three times a week is obviously helping me a great deal, certainly more than if I was allowed to set my own course. The biggest problems I have now are the swelling and the scar tissue that has formed. My wife and the PT technician are both messaging the scar at least twice a day, pretty vigorously so hopefully that problem should never progress too far. The swelling is annoying as I have to ice it down at least twice a day. I’m aware that it may take a full year for that to go away.
I think my PT may be coming to a close within a couple of weeks as I’ve already far exceeded the goals that were originally set for me. We’ve revised the goal to be able to walk two miles without any pain. No reason to even try to play golf again until I can do that. Yesterday we drove 1 1/2 hours to Cabela’s and walked around for about an hour. At the end of that time, the bottom on my heel hurt pretty good and my entire foot was swollen. Still, it was a good exercise for me.
Possible ice storm this afternoon will limit my activities outside which may be a good thing. It’s possible that I may have been trying to do too much too early.
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Posted on January 19th, 2009 by denny
In that case, I’m not doing too badly. The boot came off for good this past week and I’m in hiking shoes now. My foot is still a little swollen so there is some discomfort, especially on the incision. I’m still icing the foot down at least once a day and it does help. I guess the pain level is about a 1 and that’s certainly not too bad.
The PTist really upped the ante with regard to exercises. She is an excellent therapist and doesn’t take a lot of crap and whining, so I think I’ll get back to “normal” reasonably early because of her. I’m doing less stretching and more strength exercising and stated the treadmill today. My biggest pain is when I try to walk up stairs or walk anywhere while using primarily my toes. Not a lot of fun! When I got home this afternoon, it was hard to even move around as my legs were really sore from doing more exercise than I’d done in almost three months. I’ve also notied that older bodies recover much slower than do young ones. Who would’ve known?
I keep checking all the new blogs and have noticed that many are from folks who still work while going through our “fun”. Some even return to work within a week from surgery. I don’t know how they can do it physically (I understand that in many cases they really have no choice) and hope they aren’t hurting themselves in the long run.
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Posted on January 12th, 2009 by denny
Another week has gone by and once again I can say my progress has been great. My Physical Therapist continues to be amazed at how quickly I’m recovering to the point that we are going to start on more versatility exercises vs range of motion exercises starting this week. It has been just the opposite recently. The only time I feel any pain is when I try to walk “normally”, i.e., heel/toe, etc, . When I try to push off on my toes, it REALLY gets my attention! I’ll just take it slowly and let the tendon return to normal at it’s own pace. Next week I start in the pool and I think my boot comes off this Wednesday. I plan to ask my doctor when I an drive and play golf again. I suspect I’ll be allowed to drive soon, but the golf will probably have to wait for awhile yet.
Since I was on my back for six weeks until I got a boot, the rest of my body is not in the best of shape. I feel as if I’ve been hit all over by a stick because I ache so much. I’m pretty sure that will improve the more I’m able to get around and do “stuff”. I was repairing a chair in our living room yesterday and when I tried to get up, I couldn’t. Our floor is wood and the boot kept sliding all over the place. My wife actually had to help me up, but we were both laughing so hard it took awhile. It reminded us of the TV ad of the device one wears around one’s neck and can press it when necessary, “help me I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”. Now I understand!
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Posted on January 5th, 2009 by denny
I’m now in that stage between boot and no boot, hopefully only one more week to go in the boot for a total of three weeks.
My doctor, who is ready to have at least ten babies based on how she looks after 36 weeks of pregnancy, examined me this morning and said that everything is going great, WAY ahead of schedule. When I go to PT this afternoon, I’ll be allowed to do some parallel bar exercises without the boot, but she still wants me to wear it most of the time. The only really inconvenient time is wearing it to bed, but at least I still can sleep well.
I’m completely off the crutches and cane now. If I have a long way to walk (like in a store, for example), the bottom of my foot feels as if there is no padding there and it gets sore pretty quickly. That is where the bone spur was and she had to do a lot of extra work to get rid of it so at least I understand the problem. I hobble like an old man - wait, I AM an old man! - because of the uneveness of the boot vs my hiking shoe on the other foot, but at least I can get around pretty good. I hope that my gait doesn’t affect my hips, as I am beginning to notice a different feeling than before. The PT should help that as well.
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Posted on December 29th, 2008 by denny
I had my first PT and it wasn’t bad at all. The therapist took all sorts of meaurements and then did some exercises and massaging of my foot. She said that I had much better range than they normally see and didn’t expect any problems during rehab. Apparently, the redness, swelling and warmness are normal and will ultimately just fade away on their own. My doctor had written a prescription to the therapist that I wear my boot for at least one week and that put a little fear in my heart as I don’t feel ready to go without the boot just yet. She does want me to do some exercises without the boot on and to ice it down twice a day to help with the welling. All in all, it was a good session.
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