I had a formal consult with the foot and ankle specialist the day after my injury.  The resident came in first, examined me and sent me off for an x-ray to see if I had calcification in my tendon (none seen, a good thing).  He reviewed a bit about operative versus non-operative management.  He talked to me about something called a “wheel a-bout” (a rolling knee walker) that I could use while I was recovering.  “The older ladies who break their ankles love zooming around on these things.“  Quite comforting.

I met with the orthopedic surgeon.  We discussed operative versus non-operative options in detail including the risks of re-rupture and the operative risks (including infection and clots).  He went over more recent data supporting a non-operative approach.  He told me he might need to do a release to free up extra tendon from my calf and could possibly need to do a tendon transfer from my big toe as well.  After weighing the issues,  I opted for surgery and was scheduled for the following Monday.

He gave me a copy of his rehab protocol (which is fairly similar to this one:  http://www.mcworthopaedics.com/pdf/mark-richards-achilles-tendon-protocol.pdf).  I asked when he thought I could drive again (4 to 6 weeks) and whether he thought I might be able to return to work the week after the surgery (he thought it was possible if I could keep my foot up).  He reassured me with some anecdotes about some of the patients he had successfully treated in my age range.  I had a new splint put on and I was out the door.

That left me with a weekend to surf the web, prop my foot up and continue to debate with myself about whether the surgical approach was the best one for me.