Hood’s AchillesBlog

So I forgot to mention that the day after my surgery, about 24 hours after my saphenous block was placed, I started to have some pain at the incision site. I had some norcos that my surgeon gave me, and they took care of the pain pretty well. I was also taking ibuprofen. The norcos worked, but they made me just sleepy as hell, so I wasn’t too excited about taking them for long. I only took about 10 in total before I couldn’t handle being a zombie anymore. At about 5 days postop, I wasn’t taking anything for pain. The struggle was more mental - getting used to hobbling around and living without the use of a leg. I have so much more respect for disabled/injured people. We take so much for granted on a day-to-day basis.

I got around ok on my knee-scooter, only using crutches when I absolutely had to. I wasn’t sleeping well - my cast was so hot, and I felt sweaty all the time. Pretty miserable. I went back to work on POD 12, and coincidentally had another appointment with my surgeon that day as well. Here’s my incision that day, and then my legs after only 12 days in a cast. Injured leg on the right. My calves have always been pretty big, so the difference is really obvious here.

At this point they put me in a new cast, with a toe plate, and a slight "build" on the heel, that allowed me to partially weight bear. When the cast tech finished, and told me to take a step, I was super nervous. But I was assured by the surgeon and all my orthopod friends that since I was in a cast, it was virtually impossible for me to injure my tendon. Here’s the new cast, with the sweet boot they gave me.

I lasted 4 days with this cast before I couldn’t handle it anymore. The toe plate allowed no air to circulate and I felt like I was in a wet sock. On POD 16, I went into my surgeon’s clinic to get a new cast put on, without the toe plate. I still had the build on and was partially weight-bearing. I hated the cast, but being able to put a little weight on it was much better than the one-legged routine. Here’s further atrophy at POD 16.

I don’t have a picture of the 3rd cast, but I will offer this piece of advice: if you have the chance, opt for no toe plate. I couldn’t stand it.