hashish’s AchillesBlog

So I am out of my boot officially on Tuesday and I had my first PT session on Thursday. I wore an ankle Brace on Tuesday and Wednesday because I was worried about the bus ride, but I have been doing all right walking around lately.

It is hard walking. I have a serious hitch in my gait (hence the pimp walk). I can walk on my tip toes with my right foot. It’s so weird, when I try to step with my fore foot its like the mechanism to hold me up is missing. It is so hard to push off with my toes to walk with a proper gait. Any my ankle is still real thick and swollen. My achilles is real thick too.

My PT was pretty easy, mostly hip and trunk exercises and a little ankle stuff. I have a long recovery outlook, which my PT was happy to hear. I told her I expect close to a year for full recovery and 6 months till i’m doing anything somewhat strenuous. My PT warned me to not stretch it too much, which I totally understand. As you stretch you create micro-tears which will be filled as it heals. This is will lead to a tendon that is too long.

I do plan to be very discipline with my exercises, as I did with my shoulder and knee rehabs in the past (which both healed wonderfully so far). I do have a TENS unit which I will use to keep the blood flowing down there and luckily we have an indoor pool in my building so I will be doing a lot of stuff in there. Stationary bike is also our friend, so I will get a healthy dose of that.

So I have one more week with the boot according to my doctor. I’m not sure what to expect from then on. Will I be walking with a boot and with crutches, no boot + no crutches, use an ankle splint?

I know I shouldn’t, but I have just started walking around the apartment without my boot for short distances and sleeping without my boot. Basically I can walk but I am keeping my ankle immobilized as if it were in the boot. The pad of my foot is tender and soft. I don’t fully trust my ankle yet but I know that will come with PT exercises. I am just wondering how I should manage my daily bus commute with a week ankle until it gets strong. I imagine I will be using crutches without the boot for partial weight bearing to build up the ankle strength. I wouldn’t mind wearing an ankle splint because as we all know, crutches are a pain.

I cannot weight to get into the pool and start swimming. I have also bolstered my fruit intake to help promote healing and improve elasticity in my muscles and tendons/ligaments. I don’t want to endure this ever again in my life.

So I finally got a good night’s sleep last night with the aid of Zzquil. I am still tired, but I did notice a whole lot less swelling in my foot. I didn’t think there was much before, but my foot is even smaller. It definitely looks different because the tendon transfer, my foot is narrower now. Not much else to report.

Hi guys, so I am little late after my ATR, but here goes my story.

So I ruptured my achilles on July 21 playing in an ultimate frisbee tournament. Towards the end of the 3rd game, I ran hard for a huck and a jumped high to grab it. Well on the way up my right achilles gave out and luckily I landed on my left left clutching my right ankle. I knew right away I did something bad, and I had a feeling it was my achilles. Well the trainer came over iced and and wrapped and basically said that the emergency room can’t do anything for me. So I had a friend drive me and my car home. Luckily my friend and neighbor was an orthopedic surgeon and he came over and checked me out. He tentatively said that it was a rupture and that I’ll need an MRI, surgery, etc… So on that Wednesday I had my surgery.

The doc elected for tendon transfer which I am now upset about. Basically, he used the big toe tendon the strengthen the achilles. This procedure gets you walking faster (no wedges or angled casts or boots). Two weeks after surgery I get the partial cast off and I’m in a boot (that is too big so I had to go back get a new one just two days ago). I was allowed to bear full weight pretty much right after my surgery, but I still elected to use crutches to move around outside because its faster.

As for the tendon transfer, I no longer have movement in my big toe. I am really upset about that. I would rather have my big toe and a longer recovery time than vice versa. I’m not sure what my gap was, but my doctor was not very forthcoming with information. I hear he’s a great surgeon, but his bedside manner is quite lacking.

I have two scars, one at the arch of my foot, and the normal achilles scar. Both have healed really well over the past 2 weeks since I got the cast off. Honestly, I think they are completely healed. My dad major surgery a few years ago so I had some of his left over Skintegrity hydrogel that I used. really sped up healing over the 4 days before it ran out.

So I mentioned my cast was too big. I was really upset about that. I hope it didn’t hinder my progress. But now I have to adjust to a new boot. I don’t know about you guys but it took me a few days to build up my heel pad in the boot and now my new boot hurts too. I went from a Maxtrack Airwalker to an Aircast FP walker. The aircast is more snug and the footbed is shorter so its easier to walk around. But its more plastic so it does not breathe at all. It also had a small heel pad which I think put pressure on my achilles, but I took that out. In my old cast, my ankle was a bit sloppy because it was too big but I never had any pain in my achilles. In the new boot, every now and then I get a sharp, shooting pain. It very brief and only happens when sitting.

I tried to get insurance to cover a new boot, but they said no. The office billed my insurance $300 for a $40 boot (the first one). The second one they gave free or exchanged it, but that one only costs $80 online. What a scam, a vacocast is $300 bucks out of pocket. I could submit a claim, but no guarantee that it will be covered. What a scam.

I see my doc in 2.5 weeks to for my second follow up and to start physical therapy. Supposedly, I will be in two shoes after that, but we’ll see. I could use some words of encouragement, especially those with a similar treatment plan.

Recap:

July 21st Rupture

July 24 FHL Transfer Surgery & Partial Cast

August 6 Cast & Stitches Removal

August 29 New Boot

(September 10 Boot Removal & PT Schedule).