Apr 28 2014
Molasses time
I think most everybody who reads or posts to this site who has suffered ATR injury will agree that the perception of time sometimes moves as if the hands of the clock are stuck in a giant bowl of thick goopy syrup. Notwithstanding that molasses is sweet it is a rather weak consolation considering how much of a PITA it is to lose use of a leg.
Now I didn’t really mean for this post to start out on the negative side, because the past week has been fine, pretty even keel. I’ve been periodically reading the posts on this site, and on a personal progression have been transitioning from PWB to almost FWB. Tomorrow is six weeks to the day post surgery. I’ve been splitting most of my walk time between one crutch and no crutch, but my heel hurts too much to be exclusively zero crutches. I am finding that the one-crutch “walk” is slower, but offers the ability to lighten the load on my injured side. The one sort of funny side effect is that I have almost tripped on my one crutch several times as I set it aside nearby in case I need it but then forget I have set it down. I guess it is payback for the many times I have almost tripped up my boy and my wife in the common spaces of our house 
After reading about it on this site on Friday I immediately bought an Evenup shoe balancer and had it shipped expensive 2nd day so that it would arrive by Saturday. That turned out to be a good purchase and I have had it on my left shoe since receiving it.
Today I meet with Ortho surgeon to discuss progress and to find out why o why was I recommended to not get on an exercise bike for three weeks. So a blog would not be a proper blog without at least some (more) complaining 
I am mystified by that advice. Somebody, please clue me in as to why I am ok to put 90 pounds of force on my leg, albeit protected by a nice sturdy high-tech plastic boot, in a downward motion with thrusting force that sometimes ends in a stomp. And yet I should avoid sitting pleasantly on an indoor exercise bike and pedal for a few minutes? Oh come on get real people. Ok, enough complaining I’ll get that answer later today, time to move on.
On an unrelated note I am finding that as I heal it is getting more difficult to do the exercises. I am not sure why, because Lord knows I don’t need much more motivation to get better faster. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t drive. Life’s pretty boring right now. But somehow I am finding that I have to push myself to do all the exercises. But then I guess that is part of the reason why the ATR happened in the first place. And as I type I realize that is the problem: the exercises to speed recovery ARE boring. Every single part of this recovery is boring. I mean what one wants to do is go fast. Run fast. Ride fast. Ski fast.
Oh well, at least molasses is sweet.
9 responses so far
Nice post. Yes, time does move slowly in the ATR recovery lane, but at least we’re moving forward! I know what you mean about the exercises, too–it’s hard to stay motivated on the same boring stuff for so long. I do mine twice a day, and have to force myself to get 1 set in before noon or the day gets away from me. Progressing to full-time FWB has been great, though, and I hope you get there soon–keep at it. When I started, I did have some heel pain, but now that has faded away. I found that I had to push through a little pain to make that (literal) step. -David
Yeah David, it is good to be reminded that we are moving forward. And today I found out from my Doc that yes indeed it is fine to lightly use the exercise bike. The one big thing that I asked him about but we got interrupted before he could answer, and then I forgot to ask again before leaving for home — WHEN CAN I DRIVE!? …so I guess I gotta call his office in the morning.
Jon, my thoughts are with you daily with your “non driving” status. Can’t even imagine. Have you considered doing it with your left leg?? I’m just curious - though I must imagine that the option has certainly crossed your mind and for whatever reason it doesn’t work. Without driving, time must seem to move much more slowly. Hopefully this will be over for you soon enough. Riding the exercise bike is great - I was taught to keep your foot closer to the heel while in the boot and it does seem to help the odd leverage placed on your foot when pedaling in the boot. However, I can easily achieve 80-85rpm’s at decent tension to get a good sweat going. Stay positive! -Rob
Your pure routine reminds me of one of my (ancient) Dad’s (ancient) jokes: Did you hear about the guy who cut out wine, cut out women, and cut out song? Now he’s cutting out paper dolls! Don’t forget that coffee is mostly GOOD for you!
ha ha LOL Norm. I am back on me beloved coffee, but trying to keep it down to a couple cups per day. Last week I treated myself to some beer and wine, and then I glanced at the side of the Xeralto pill bottle: “LIMIT ALCOHOL USE. DAILY ALCOHOL USE IS RISKY.” So I’m back to near zero on that vice. I was wistfully looking over my little cigar collection , but then I probably shouldn’t be pushing tobacco on a site devoted to recovery from a major injury, eh?
Rob, I did consider driving with left leg — I even called my nearby mechanic and asked him if he could install a lefty driving kit (I had read somewhere online about somebody who supposedly did such a thing for a few months while they recovered), but he knew nothing of such a device. My pickup truck is old school — another carry-over from my New Mexico days - it’s a 1994 Ford Ranger, in near perfect condition due to being driven exclusively in the Southwest, that is until I brought it to Massachusetts where it is slowly rusting away now. Very sad. Anyway, it’s manual transmission, so requires all feet to drive. Luckily I live near the commuter train so between that, the wife, friends, and telecommuting from home I have somehow cobbled together a schedule that sort of works. Regardless it is still a major inconvenience to not be able to drive, but now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday my Doc gave me the plan to a) move to FWB no crutches _very_ soon as in today; b) transition to two shoes over the next couple weeks; c) and I presume once I start moving into shoes I can start driving or at least experimenting with short drives, and so I am hopeful I will be driving back into work a month from now.
cheers!
Jon
Yeah, you can do the bike easily. At week 6 I can do a full standing cardio routine FWB in the boot. The only thing I can’t do is lateral agility movements and running. As long as the boot is there, there’s really no tension in the tendon to worry about stressing it. As long as swelling is down you should be fine. This friday, when I see my dr again I’m going to tell him to speed it up or we’re going to have a forest gump situation with the boot exploding off my foot soon and that’s how we’ll know its all healed up.
I’ve also switched to using just one crutch for longer distances and might get an evenup soon because swinging my hips around is annoying, but I have very good hip and knee ROM.
Also, I just discovered Pilates, which was a great workout that I was able to do mostly lying on my back. I’ll probably incorporate that more into my routine.
Hey Roark, or should I say Gump? did you get yer Doc to free you from the shackles of the boot? I still don’t see your blog… when i go to achillesblog.com/Roark it sends me to some page on Valhalla and Odin. Just kidding
I may have bugged you once before to make your own blog so I will stop now, but I do think you have a lot to contribute to ATR healing. Oh one more thing, Pilates sounds good, and I have been doing some core exercises, I especially like the plank since I could do nicely with boot and weak leg. I have not tried it yet with two shoes. Since my Doc is a mostly hands off guy at this point I have to find everything on my own (like on this super mega awesome site), and this simple core site has been good for me: sportsmedicine.about.com/od/abdominalcorestrength1/ss/Quick-Core-Workout.htm. over and out.
I entrusted my project to the ghostwriting services , and the results were outstanding. The website’s layout is efficient, aiding in a seamless process from selection to project completion. The assigned ghostwriter demonstrated a deep understanding of my requirements, delivering a polished and engaging piece. For those in need of trustworthy ghostwriting services in the UK, this platform is a standout choice.