My AchillesBlog

At 0º on the Vaco boot you should be using the flatter sole. Do you have this? I thought that it was a standard part of the Vaco kit and is usually worn for a longer period than that big wedge sole. Check out the OPED/Vaco website and YouTube.

Thanks atrbuff, I’m using the rocker (flat) sole now full time, I guess I needed to go thru the pain of that stress and stretch to get used to it. I think it is working fine now, I still have some pain but not as bad as it was when I started using it.

@Ed I’m so happy to see you making progress. I’m happy for kiwibug too. I just wanna say thanks to everyone for helping me get to the 3 month mark. Such inspirational stories. I know mine was only a partial tear of my Achilles, but its still a journey nonetheless. Same pains, same struggles, just little shorter time period I guess. I will say with help of you Ed, definitely was lot easier to get thru. It’s hard to believe after just 3 months, I am so tempted to start little jogging now, can fly down the stairs almost, and walk for miles at a time. Of course swelling does happen and after a lot of time up on my feet, definitely take a day off to rest and not go anywhere…especially dancing feet on weekends, which of course i truly overdo it going out Friday and Saturday nites til 5 or 6am. Definitely hating the limp walk back home after all that fun. But least Sundays I rest entire day. But I guess I hope you keep the faith ed and kiwibug and others. You truly just can’t imagine how far you will progress as the weeks go by. As I telll you ed all the time…its not a sprint. It’s an up and down slow progress. To help those who may be anxious and of course annoyed and have down days when it seems like no progress is happening, I’m telling you the truth. A watched pot never boils. Judge your progress in weeks not days. Accept that sometimes you will feel so good, few steps feel so much better…and then the next day or later in the same week..feel that little ache, little pain here and there, or got tired legs, or just not feeling like things are moving quick enough. Then a few days later from your down day..you may notice another small sign you are progressing again. It’s just like that for many of us. Up days, down days, achy days, the weather even sometimes affects my leg, an awkward bump or twist or step I take that makes me nervous, etc. It’s tough but as i tell you ed, you must be patient..and positive..and look at where u started…not what you lost or how much you can’t do. Always remind yourself of where u been on this journey. I can remember taking 30 minutes to limp one block, being so paranoid of stairs, nervous ppl were moving so much faster than me, swearing I was gonna be able to walk normally each week only to feel same pain as weeks before, thinking I am not healing properly or will have permanent limp. I can’t speak for every case, but generally I just believe we make progress each day and sometimes it’s not so visible. Even at 3 months, I still limp after many hours walking or dancing my ass off. I still am bit tired going upstairs, but can fly downstairs, and I still take days off after two days on my feet. Still can’t or i should say just not ready to even attempt to do heel raises and still not ready to run or jog. I just care about walking honestly. This for me..is the most special thing i have enjoyed lately. Everything else, i can wait on later. But I still feel blessed and confident and mentally strong. It is my second time in six years so least I have experience in both legs now! Lol. But I just hope you stay positive ed, remember the journey we on together, and everyone else here on this page. Doesn’t really matter how we all got here, just matters where we are all trying to get to. After 3 months…I feel if I can go thru this twice without surgery and make it to this point…then i can definitely help someone else get thru this journey too. You will always remember this moment in your life..and it does wonders to know that once you get thru it…you realize what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. Thanks Ed for being a good friend and no matter how fast I may heel…I’m not leaving you behind til you are back to normal too. I really really wish everyone a full recovery

Ed, hopefully the pain from using the rocker sole has decreased even more by now and you are more comfortable with it.

And crawllimpwalkrunjump what a great comment! I totally agree that it is important to think about how much progress we have already made rather than how much is left to go.

Thanks for the post and best wishes carwlimp!!! I really appreciate it. Kiwibug, there is little pain now from the sole, I think it was just the change and the stretch there with all the nerves and due to immobilization like my PT said. Thank you all for your support.

Hey Ed - just checking in to see how you are doing. Let us all know when you get the chance.