Wow, I am amazed how good my heel area feels!  I am having some pains but OMG I am having electrical pains shooting through the lateral part of my foot.  That and my "pinky" toe is numb.  I feel like my cast is too tight there.  Looking at it, said toe appears out of place a bit and under its neighbor a bit.

Oh well I go back soon for my 2 week post-op visit, I’ll deal with it then.

It is Monday March 10th, five days after my injury.  Got up at 5am for the 8 am surgery, no big deal because I get up at 5am to get ready for work anyhow, my amazing wife, not so easy for her.  Anyhow, gave the kids instructions for the morning and off we go to Kenmore Mercy Hospital just north of Buffalo, NY.  Anxiety is there but I almost have myself in a Zen like state because I know that this is the first step on the way to recovery, the sooner it is over the quicker the healing can begin.

We made it on time and I was in pre-op after 5-10 minutes in the waiting room.  The staff was great!  Of course the litany of 1000 question was gone through more than once but I was glad they made sure we were covered.  The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the option of a local (spinal block) or general anesthesia.  Once I realized that the local would have me awake for the whole thing, i said, I could use some extra sleep and he said given my slight anxiety, that was a good idea. An IV was placed in my left hand and fluids had began flowing.  I was told I’d be prone for the procedure, laying on my stomach, and given that fact I would be intubated (a breathing tube would be placed in my trachea to keep my airway opened.

Dr. Shields came in right at 07:55 and asked if there were any questions.  Nope, just a thanks for getting me in so quick to begin the repair.  His reply was educational.  The quicker the better in these cases he said because time does not help the tendon at the rupture site.  Apparently the ends get, for lack of a better way of saying this, soupy.  That caused more tendon removal before repair so the sooner the better.  I was a bit more relieved.  OK, see you in the OR, and off we went.

On the way to the OR, the nurse transporting me asked if I’d like a blanket.  Given the anxiety my adrenaline was flying so I didn’t think it was too cold outside the OR so I declined, that is until I was actually in the OR.  Oh God was it cold in there.  I saw the equipment but didn’t care, I needed a blanket.

Well the anesthesiologist told ne he was adding a sedative to my IV line and it was no big deal, all will be fine.  I glanced at the clock, 08:05 am.  Then he said he was adding vitamin F as well.  "you ever hear of vitamin F?"  I replied no and he chuckled and said, "Its right after vitamin E."  That was the last thing I remember.

Next thing I remember was being told to wake up but relax a few ok’s were said then my lip felt wet.  I assumed the tube just came out.  I began to get worked up, everything was blurry, oh God, what had happened?  Slowly, the fog in my mind lifted.  I could see the clock and it was about 09:35 or so, amazing that was almost exactly how long I was told the procedure would talk, an hour and a half.  I was still hazy but I was coming around and realized I just needed to relax, I’d be going home soon.  About 10 minutes in recovery and back to my pre-op room.

I laid there for a bit in the pre-op room and was struggling to stay awake, looking back on it I should have just went back to sleep but too late now.  My wife was brought in to see me and we just sat and exchanged pleasantries.  I just was not in the talking mood, beside for some reason my throat was sore.  I am usually quite talkative but not right now.   The PA and nurse came in to bee me and remove my IV.  Wait a minute, why is the IV in my right hand, how on earth did that happen?  I could swear it was in my left when I went to the OR.  Eh, who cares, its over so I never asked.  The PA gave a brief overview of things and the nurse gave me specific post surgical instructions.  I was also told my throat would be sore, there was some difficulty intubating me, keep that in mind if I ever have surgery again.

I sat in the room for an hour uneventfully when the nurse asked how I was.  I felt pretty good so he asked me if I could use the crutches to get to the bathroom.  That was my test for discharge.  Hell yes I could, I want to go home!  I willed myself out of the bed and made it unsteadily but ok there and back.  Discharge was on the horizon!

I was ready and was wheeled out the door.  Time to go home.  On the way home my wife stopped for a treat for being a good patient.  We stopped at Paula’s Donuts (a local favorite of mine that has amazing donuts).

Once home things were good, I was hungry but as advised, I took it easy.  The rest of the day went well as did the next week.

So Thursday March 6th I had an appointment scheduled for around 4 or 5 pm.  To me that was not soon enough.  My wife had already called in sick to work to take care of me.  I knew of a great orthopedic clinic in the area (Excelsior Orthopedics) so I figured why not give them a call and see if I could get in earlier with them.  Finally my luck improved, I could get in to see someone in about an hour and a half.

As expected, they were awesome.  Unfortunately the news wasn’t good.  After the usual tests and another set of x-rays and an MRI along with some painful squeezes which had me jumping off the table it was confirmed, a ruptured Achilles.  I met with a surgeon, Dr. Peter Shields and he said there were basically 2 options; surgery or try and let it heal on its own (a method which nobody in my area will treat this injury).

I was placed in a hard splint and wrapped pretty well.  Actually I felt better already

I said whatever he thinks is best.  I just want to get fixed!  He said he could do the surgery either on Monday the 10th or Wednesday the 12.  I said lets do it as soon as possible and go with the 10th.

See you then

Oh my God! The pain was excruciating! On Wednesday March 5th I was playing in a parent/son basketball game to celebrate the season ending and we did with a bang! I’m 43 and wigh a bit too much especially around the middle. Surprisingly I had been doing pretty well and knew to slow down when I felt I was overdoing it. Everyone was having a great time and I was actually feeling pretty good.

Three and a half minutes to go and I went up for a rebound. When I landed, I thought someone hand come down on the Achilles region of my left leg. Either that or someone took a 2×4 and really smacked my leg but good. Since nobody was near me and didn’t know why I was on the floor I figured this has to be bad.

I tried standing up but there was no way I could! People always ask, “Did you hear a pop when it happened?” No way, i was too busy saying “OUCH!!!” (I wanted to say other things but remember there were kids present).

So I had a couple of friends drag me to the sidelines and I waited for the game to end, at this point I already figured out exactly what was wrong. I am no doctor but I was an EMT and do have some background in human anatomy.

Luckily a parent there was watching and had crutches as they had just had a MCL/ACL repaired. Even though they were too short for me I made do with them and got to the car.

Off to an immediate care center. The 7 minute ride seemed like forever. I live in the Buffalo, NY area so you can imagine there were plenty of pothole on the road and I thought my wife hit every one. Every little bump felt worse than the first.

Once we got to the center, the folks there x rayed me and ran me through the tests. My favorite the squeeze my calf and watch nothing happen. They concurred with my prior assesment, probably a ruptured Achilles.