I woke up this morning feeling a big decrease in my anxiety level but a little wobbly on the crutches. Everything is in slow motion and I am not steady on my feet! I feel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa on my crutches. I don’t feel pain in my Achilles tendon anymore. My mind feels all cloudy!
Thank you pain medication!!!! I will have two more!!! The world seems like a better place!
Unfortunately, the rational part of my brain tells me that I need to make a punch list of To Do items for the beginning of the week. My anxiety starts to come back but it finally succumbs to what ever is in those pain medication pills.
I have to get my mind out of the clouds…I have to make this list today! I wanted to wake up and be strategic!
Strategic I will be…so the cloudy rendition of my Top Ten To Do list is as follows..
1. Call Insurance to notify my ER visit and how can I go about getting some in-home care because I live by myself .
2. Set up appoint with orthopedic doctor
3. Notify family and friends of this great incident
4. Gather basic necessities - (food, water, medications)
5. Learn how to use these crutches.
6. Stay off right leg and elevate
7. Start taking aspirin to prevent blood clots
8. Come up with sound reasons for surgical and non-surgical approaches. Compare and contrast my findings
9. Think about ways to stay in shape and not gain too much weight during this process.
10. Try to stay positive and get as much support as you can.
I decided that I would start with item #3. However, my head is so far in the clouds, one only knows what I will tell them.
I have to assume that this cloudiness feeling will stop shortly of pain medication wears off. That will have to wait…I am feeling pretty good right now…
I believe I would get cited for street walking OUI if I was outside with these crushes…I don’t think I could recite the alphabet….did I take too many pain pills?
Off to make phone call and the notification process! I will need food soon!
There’s a few interesting and unusual parts to this story. But first: What’s on your injured foot now? A cast? A boot? Is it immobilized securely in a good “equinus” (toe-down, aka plantar-flexed) position? If not, it should be ASAP. That way, if you do decide to skip the surgery, you’re already on your way, with the clock running toward recovery. Even if you opt for the op, protecting your foot from stumbles (which tend to make your calf muscle pull the top AT end even farther up your leg) is a good idea.
If you haven’t been taking Cipro-family antibiotics (which are known to increase the risk of ATRs and other tendon tears), I wonder what seems to be making you prone to tendon tears.
This is NOT a question of fitness or strength. “By design”, each of our tendons is supposed to be significantly stronger than the muscle it’s attached to — otherwise we’d be tearing tendons twice a month, every month. When our muscles are weak, our tendons don’t have to be very strong, but as our muscles get stronger, each corresponding tendon has to get stronger in tandem, or we’re out of commission for a long time. Trying to lift a weight that’s too heavy or squeeze a ball that’s too stiff, etc., etc., usually ends in frustrating failure, but not debilitating injury. You, however. . .
Do stay positive, for sure. But if there’s any way you can get your health pros curious about what is making you prone to tendon tears, I’d do it. Me, I’ve “only” torn both ATs and one little ring-finger extensor tendon (all while playing competitive court volleyball). But I’m almost 70 and I still play very aggressively with a bunch of guys less than half my age, so that may not be a surprising list.
NR - You bring up very good points about my current situation and I can assure you (not to give away to much of my story line) that my foot is currently in an air boot in the planter-flexed position and I am recovering according to plan.
The bigger question, as you pointed out, is what is happening with the integrity of my tendons. Is it structural, physiological, just bad luck (as I have mentioned before).
In parallel with rehab, I am investigating possible reasons for tendon breakdown.
Thanks for your post and insightfulness!
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