ep’s achilles

Good for you. I remember when I had a broken leg and I got the cast off, it was weird because I was use to having the cast on for weeks, and then to try and walk with out it and scared to not hurt it, but I got better and I felt good about it.

17 weeks, huh? That’s good to know. Helps me set some realistic expectations. I’m at 6.5 weeks and just beginning to walk in 2 shoes. I don’t have full walking motion yet but looking forward to the day when I don’t have to mentally concentrate on how to walk. Happy for you!

good for you EP!

Great to hear your progess. I am in week 11 and just start practise to put shoes on for walking. I feel swore when standing with one leg. When can you start to walk with normal shoes? Hope I am not behind the normal schedule.

Doris

ep1977,

Congratulations on your first run! I can’t wait to take mine. Even if it was only for two minutes, that’s so inspiring to be able to do it at 14 weeks. I hope I have that kind of success.

Tamar

Good luck with the jogging…I am about 14 weeks post-op, and hope to be doing the same soon, but might follow some advice I’ve gotten from others returning from injury — to try running first on a softer surface, such as a rubberized track. So maybe make sure if you are on the treadmill that it’s not too hard….?

Sounds like you are healing really well! I have been out for two jogs (very slow and gentle run/walks for about 45 min). I am at the 17 week mark, but my PT suggested that before I jog it would be good to do some speed walking intervals. I had never done this before and it was hard not to break into a jog but in retrospect I think it was a great idea both mentally and physically to start this way. Good Luck.

jgsquash,
yes my leg pretty much acts and responds as it did before the injury. The ROM is actually better than in the “good” leg now because of the PT.

Doesn’t sound like a failure to me…sounds good. As you are just ahead of me, can you answer whether your injured leg now passes the “squeeze test”, i.e. if you kneel on a chair seat facing backwards and squeeze your calf do you get a real positive response in terms of the flex in the heel.

I’m at 9 weeks and have the limp but it appears to be getting better, I’m a way off single leg calf raises but as you can see from my blog I have a number of concerns about where I am.

Jim,
I didn’t use heel wedges but I did use Dr. Scholls heel gel cushions that I brought at walmart. The doctor recommended wearing them. I have stopped using them now though. I think I wore them for the first 2 weeks in 2-shoes.

Did you use the heel wedges in you shoes?
How long before you removed thm if you have already?

Hey congrats on the recovery, and hope it all goes smooth!

Keep up the great posts

hey you can mow my lawn too!!! congratulations on the milestone. seems like you’re doing great.

I love mowing the lawn now that I own my own house. When I was younger my dad never let me mow the lawn, becase I am a girl, but now I can and I love it.

Thanks for the kind words. I did 5 weeks in cast, 1 week in boot on crutches, 2 weeks in boot walking, and then on to sneakers. It was a long 8 weeks before I was 2 shoes, but it’s going good.

Hey EPs,
Sounds like you are doing great. Good for you.
Already in two sneakers… WOW.
I cant wait to get there. We are in the same week range and i am still in the boot. I have two more week and then I go back to doctors. I am assuming I will be done with the boot then. I walking aorund with the boot pretty well. Also stationary bike with boot on.

Good for you for taking changed and getting the boot yourself. I am not sure where you are loacated or how long doctor has been practicing. But seened really strange that you would go from cast to nothing.

Good luck!

I agree, so as I posted today I took it upon myself to get a boot and have it put on today. Next Friday will be 6 weeks since the surgery and god willing I would have finished my second PT session by then.

To Mark thats great that you’re going to your doctor fully educated. I looked into the Vaco Cast but my insurance wouldn’t pay for it and I’m at 5 weeks already so I didn’t think it was right.

Wow guys not going to a boot after the cast seems a little to agressive to me.
I am on my 6th week with a cast. Next Thursday cast comes off and a boot goes on. My doctor said they will put wedges in the boot so I can gradually bring weight to back of the leg. So more of the toes at first. This make a lot of sense to me. I would question your Dr. approach.

But with that I do know from reading here that every doctor has there own philosy. Also it depends on the patient as well.

ep,

I am in the same boat as you but a few weeks behind. I have an appt with my surgeon tomorrw, 2 wks post op today….he wants to put another cast on tomorrow with foot in neutral position and keep cast on for 4 more weeks. Then he wants to have me go directly in shoes. I want to go in the boot at three weeks, actually the Vaco Cast, google it as you will see it is much lighter and more athletic. My doc said he never uses a boot and always uses a cast for 6 weeks. I am armed with mucho literature on the findings of early weight bearing on an ATR and the results of using a boot over a cast. I am so afraid of the atrophy and loss of muscle with being in a hard cast for so long. I will post back what my doc says…..

that was my fear, i told my physical therapist my goals when i started PT, just to make sure we were on the same page. i’d adivise the same to anyone. She agreed with me on most of them but pushed some timelines back a few weeks. But honestly I dont see where you’re going to have a problem. just follow doc’s orders. Good luck to you!

Mark thanks for the encouraging words. I hope everything goes smoothly for you in your recovery. Eric

ep,

That is a fear we all have regardless of age. Based on my experience with this injury (have two good friends in their late 30s that have gone through it) you will be fine. It probably will be a year until you are back to 100% but you will play with your kids and play hoops again if you want. I remember breaking my ankle playing hoops about ten years ago, and when I went back I thought about it turning it again and breaking it all over. That feeling lasting for a little while but I played up until I ruptured mine on 3/16 and I will play again. I will work on stretching and not ignore the signs of injury which is what caused mine in the first place to go. Keep the faith seems to be the message on this board. I picked up some dumbells and rubber band straps and am excercising in my chair to try to do something athletic while I recover. It sounds like you have a great doctor as my doctor wants me in a cast for 6 weeks. I have first post op this week and will gently try to persuage my guy to take a more aggressive approach as I feel my body can handle it. This blog is great, I read all day long hoping to be as educated as possib