I was just trying to get to 3rd Base…

way to go Ed. Keep those sneakers on. I’ll post six months next week, and if I go to a meeting and wear heels I’m down for the “ice count” for a couple days. Luckily with winter here its all about boots and more ergo shoes for the ladies.

Great job, get to the gym…helps with the healing. I’ve been using Mederma for my scar, I wasn’t sure what it was doing, but lately seems pretty good. I’m sure the two weeks in Hawaii and Miami in the sun didn’t help much.

kdub

Nice Ed!

I was in a slight gym slump myself…sometimes you just need a week or so off…no biggie, then when you feel ready get back after it.

Good luck!!

Great progress Ed! Keep on posting, I am really interested in how all my buddies do post 6 months.

I still appreciate being able to walk, carry things, take a shower, and drive. Even after all these months…

Almost forgot,

Here’s to charging ahead toward the finish line…

Hello Ed,

I just passed the 9 month mark yesterday. I remember where I was at 6 months and remembering feeling pretty normal. It’s strange, I still have these moments when I notice another improvement in my gait, posture, or strength. The realization then is that I still have a ways to go, but it’s still a great feeling. I don’t say this to be discouraging, just to let you know that it just gets better and better. One thing that has really been helping me is ‘hopping’ type exercises like jump rope and jumping jacks, along with some crossovers and side shuffling. I think one of the most difficult parts of the rehab is bringing back the fast twitch muscle in the calf. These light impact type exercises really seem to help with that.

Great update!

Jim

Well done Ed,
You’re almost ‘normal’ again. I am v interested in the lack of tendinosis/ tendinitis pain which I was also suffering with badly before rupture. I have read that rupturing and subsequent enforced rest can cure it - a positive!!

Richard

Ed:

Congrats on your progress!!!

Overcompensation for the ATR is definitely an issue; my left hip hurts as a result of it. Another issue could be the shoes with which you walk/run. Are you running with new shoes? Did you go to a bonafide running shoe store? Did they evaluate you gait for over or under pronation?

One of the reasons I believe I ruptured my AT was because I developed tendonitis from excessive hill running, using the same pair of shoes too long, and using the wrong type of shoes for my gait. After suffering with tendonitis for about four years, the AT could take no more and it snapped (I believe).

Once I started running about two months ago, I noticed the same pains in heel areas of both legs/feet. I immediately went to Phadippides (here in Atlanta), a local athletic shoe store specializing in running shoes. They observed my gait and immediately told me the running shoes I was using were the absolute wrong shoes for my gait. My method for buying running shoes used to be to purchase the most expensive neutral shoes I could find. How could I go wrong? I WAS WRONG! The manager of the store recomm

Ed….
Way to go running man. Also don’t forget to stretch before AND after running. Slow and steady with the running. Try going backwards, side to side, crossovers, and obviously forward on the treadmill. The more stress you put on the tendon in different ways the stronger it will be. Congrats on the milestone but also realize this is when the progress really slows down.

Doc Ross

Attaboy Ed! I remember reading your blog early on and you said you were debating about ever playing softball again…Im glad you are not going to give it up. I’m not either…but it will be quite a mental test running the bases for the 1st time.

I am at the same week Ed.

My evolution is quite similar to yours. We almost made it!!! Good luck with softball and take it easy.

So i’m not old!!!
So this “weekend warrior” stuff might have nothing to do with the scar on the back of my leg!?!?!
I know it’s very wrong and I feel terrible…but I enjoyed this one.

hobblit - The recovery protocol for Elton Brand was pretty standard actually. I think the info is on the site somewhere, you can probably find it via the search on the main page.

It would be interesting to hear about the surgery and recovery protocol for a top athlete vs a regular person.

It made me feel sick again listening to that loud pop. It was just how iIremember mine going. I am still not sure if it was a loud audible pop or whether it was just in my head.

I looked round to see who had kicked me as well.

She has a website. There is an area to post a question. I typed in well wishes and a link to this site. I also found this…

Mail to MistyPlease send all fan mail to:

Misty May-Treanor
2829 N. Bellflower Blvd., Suite #482
Long Beach, CA 90815

http://www.mistymay.com/may/index/

Very interesting

What a noise!!! I have just watched it on You Tube, I don’t know the lady but I wish her well.

Hope this link is OK

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Em9kwsCeTNo

Annie

Amazing…..she plays world class olympic volleyball barefoot in the sand, then ruptures the AT on a reality dance show! I wonder if she is regretting her decision to do DWTS.

If anyone finds the video with the pop please post the site. I am still trying to recall my own injury. I thought someone hit me, but I did not hear anything….but I think I was distracted by wondering why someone had hit me. I can’t believe I want to hear one pop - I suppose that is king of ghoulish. But I think you guys understand.

Well, we all are pulling for her total recovery. We know she can!!

The cool, well, unusual thing about it is that the actual moment is on tape — you can hear the pop.

So much has been written about us “weekend warriors” suffering ATRs because we’re trying to “do too much.” Well now i know the truth: if it can happen to her, it can happen to an Olympic athlete in top condition like myself. Lol.

Ed!!!!

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx/?news=333545&GT1=28103

misty mae - yes! ATR. ugh

Ed,

I also read about Misty May Traynor having an “injury” to her Achilles Tendon…..they didn’t say “rupture”…I’m also curious to know what kind of injury she sustained. Those ankles must be under quite a bit of stress with all that playing volleyball in sand….and maybe the switch to heels, which I’m pretty sure she doesn’t “sport” very often did the ankle in.

Good luck with your running and jumping at PT tomorrow. I got to do squats on the weight machine today….woohoo– still can’t get the hang of the stair stepper.

Marianne

I am in Bergen county (up north). Starting pt is one of those wonderful milestones - you will be back to normal before you know it…

Ed

Ed, you are in Jersey? Me, too (central NJ). What part are you in?
Keep up the great progress! I have my first PT session this Tuesday. Still NWB for another 2 weeks, but now that I have the boot it is nice to wash off the leg!

Mike

Good job, I am waiting to get where you are. Keep up the progress

Ed-

Is this guy Achilles a professional athlete? Achilles sounds he was named to be a pro at some kind of sport.

You let me know when you start playing softball, because I’ve gotta know how the ankle feels when you do.

First base is a good place to play. Hit the batting cages so you can drive the ball farther to avoid having to run so fast around the bases.

Good job with the recovery.

Steve

Very funny, probably not to “Achilles” Your self-talk about being younger and in better shape is so true. I try not to compare myself to others who are doing a lot more than I am, but it’s tough.
Keep up your great work!
Marianne

Poor guy named Achilles. He didn’t have a chance. ha ha.
Sounds like you’re doing well… Keep it up!

I am in 12th week, walking two-shoes FWB since my 8th week, and I too have small bumps on my ATR heel and sides of the heel. I’m not sure I would call them blisters, and they have not popped, but by the end of a day, it is not the tendon but the heel which is hurting, quite sensitive on the bottom and “bumpy” all around it. I hope it is just the nerve system there recovering through daily walking.

Meanwhile, limping along…. Those blisters sound nasty! and itchy? Not what I see on my heel, but who knows - you are probably giving yourself more of a workout.

Mary

Doc - thanks for the note - wearing new shoes - these are not “rubbing” blisters - they seem more connected to the swelling and sweating…

We’ll see how things are as the swelling continues to reduce.

Ed

Ed,

Glad to hear things are moving forward. The blisters can be a result of you walking differently as compared to pre ATR. You should callous up with time. Are you wearing old shoes?? Probably a good idea to get some new ones.
Keep up the good work

Doc Ross

Hello Ed,
In an effort to educate myself through this challenge we’re all facing I’m presently watching a baseball match on British TV (PHI v NYM). Is it only a strike wnen the batsman actually has a swing at the ball? and what’s the penalty for the batsmen if they don’t swing at a legal ball? How many balls do they get?Not much seems to be happening except lots of chewing and spitting!!!!

Richard

Good luck with the trip. This gives me hope. I am only on day 3 post-op, but I am scheduled for a flight to Florida at 14 weeks (a trip I’m totally looking forward to).
I am worried I may have to cancel, but you are giving me hope that I”ll be able to handle it after all. Looking forward to hearing about how your flight went, etc…
Have a good time.

Good Luck, ED

good luck! you will do just fine without PT if you make sure you walk in London and Paris everyday. I find that it helps to walk a lot-like you said-in the mornings it doesn’t hurt too much. You’ll be fine-try not to think too much about the AT, just make sure you are on even and smooth surfaces and have a GREAT time!

Hee hee - you got me! 18 holes….

I am going nuts about when to play golf, so I opened your post with great interest. Still, you ripped up the course with a 47.

Sounds like a PT break will be good for your foot. Hope you get some permanent incision closure- PT will still be there when you return. Happy travels.

walking backwards on an incline? Bragger! Congrats. WOW. I can’t wait for that day. Hoping for the PT scrip this week.

kk

I am walking backwards on the treadmill ona slight incline (harder than it sounds!

Ed

The PT is great but your are right, it can get a bit tedious — especially if you have a very full day. I had two PT appts that they could not schedule back-to-back the other day so I was going back and forth to meetings in between my PT. It was a lot!

What are you doing on the treadmill? Walkng backwards? Running? Just walking?

Hi Ed,
Sadly I’ve had a plateau week. Last week, I ellipticalled, I biked…..this week, it hurt so I just tried walking. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. I did find your PT schedule interesting, think i’ll have to try all that in the gym….on Monday.

Congrats Ed. Really happy for you!
I have my (possibly) last post surgical appt today. You helped me think of some good questions. Jogging….what was that again? LOL

Yes, that is progress! Good stuff!

What’s next in PT for you? I have started on balancing and more exercises to REALLY stretch the tendon. It is feeling better each day. Monday wil be 10 weeks post-op for me. Now, if I could only get rid of this LIMP!

Thanks KK - 10 weeks post-surgery tomorrow. Still can’t have PT massage that part of the scar, but everything else is fair game!!

Ed

congrats Ed! I forget how many weeks are you post op?

Glad the wound wasn’t more serious. Get going on PT!

KKdub

Well done, that is good news.

Annie

Marcus - forgot you were also an ABC guy. Glad to hear Bill is doing well. We gotta get him a t-shirt…

Ed

I just spoke to my colleague Bill. He’s in good spirits after surgery. And yes, he had already heard of this blog. I told him to definitely check it out.

After two ATRs in a month, I think softball is going to be banned at WABC-TV.

I went today to the summer company party, hadn’t seen most of them in almost 7 weeks. Feels great to be part of something after so much time alone at home, and all of them demanding when I will come back - not likely soon; I have a driving/guiding job.

But then, one fellow started telling me all about his pain in the tendon above his heel. He’s an older man, does light aerobics 5X/week. I was alarmed and warned him, don’t stress it anymore, get it taken care of or you’ll have a rupture. Perhaps the doctors would not even operate because of his age; he’d be stuck in a cast for a long time.

People don’t make a connection between tendon pain and ruptures; they try to just live with it. Now I know that pain means inflammation, therefore weakening of the tendon through scarring.

No one in our culture wants to take it easy.

Me, I like books, films and blogs, but not so much staying at home! A bore!

Mary

you are certainly inching back to normalcy!!!!!!! keep it up!

Ed,

Glad you enjoyed your day at Shea.

I went to watch my favourite football team testerday and had a similarly enjoyable day and even managed to catch the ball as it flew into the crowd from the pitch.
Main differencve in my day out to yours would have been the crowd size, East Stirlingshire v Ayr United is not the biggest crowd puller in Scottish football with an attendance of 761 !
The result you had was the same as me, a defeat for my beloved Ayr United

Johnk

good for you ed! thats progress! sorry about your groin muscle. how is your son?

You are a couple of weeks ahead of me, Ed. I had one little spot that would still ooze, but I noticed yesterday that the bandaid stayed clean and continues to look and feel better today. it just happens one day - like someone else mentioned on another page somewhere - it’s like hair growing. It happens very slowly, but one day you wake up and realize you need a haircut.

Hang in there. otherwise, you seem to be coming along very well.

Don’t get me wrong - when I wear the sock I end up with a “ridge” at the sockline showing that the swelling is still alive and well, but it is not impacting the incision and it is tolerable…

sorry to hear about your son. am glad it was just that, not another ATR in the family!!!!!!!!!!

your incision will close. just treat it with kid gloves for now-maybe that is what it needs.

i am jealous you can wear low cut socks-i tried to wear tennis socks -the ones that usually come with a cotton ball at the back-mine didnt-anyway-my ankle swelled badly so i guess socks is not something for me in the immediate future. oh well.

Whew, a relief no surgery! This injury is something else isn’t it? If we could stand on our toes — we could certainly argue that this injury keeps us on our toes :)Everyday there is a new adventure!

Thinking good thoughts — keep us posted in the coming days!

YAY Ed!!!!!!!!!! no surgery is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! glad to be of help now we look forward to hearing about your party when your last scab falls off! (or to your little dance, but don’t RERUPTURE!!)

They didn’t do anything at this point. He didn’t see any stitches sticking up that he could dig up and it seems to be closed for now, so he is leaving it alone. If it stays closed and the redness continues to subside, its just a waiting game…

Ed

ed,

do they have to do any woundcare stuff?

Good to hear, Ed! Glad you are feeling better, too.

Marcue - that’s exactly what started happening to me - the bulge may be a stitch pushing out - no biggie if it is closed. If there is one spot on the incision that is really getting rubbed by the boot, see if you can fashion a “donut” that takes the pressure of that spot (or even stuff that spot in the boot with cotton or a rolled up ace bandage) so it doesn’t rub.

Bottom line, the sooner you ditch the boot, the sooner the incision will finish healing…

Ed

Ed,

Good to hear your are avoiding the knife . . . That’s always a good thing. Keeping the area clean and dry should also give things a better chance to heal up. Unfortunately that’s not easy to do in a professional setting at work . . . but it sounds like your addressing that!

Take care and keep posting on your progress.