Comments on: 2 Weeks Post Surgery http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/2008/07/23/2-weeks-post-surgery/ Simply a place for me to complain :0) Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:31:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: hobblit http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/2008/07/23/2-weeks-post-surgery/#comment-11 hobblit Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:48:07 +0000 http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/?p=4#comment-11 I'd push through the pain only if I were at war and it was a matter of life and death. There's a reason why the Greek warrior was named Achilles: "Achilles was the son of the mortal Peleus and the nymph Thetis. Thetis tried to make her son immortal by dipping him into the River Styx, while holding him by his ankle. His ankle was therefore the only portion of him capable of sustaining a mortal wound" Regarding your numbness in your foot, did you get a knee nerve block during surgery? You should mention it to your doctor. Good luck with the staples. I’d push through the pain only if I were at war and it was a matter of life and death. There’s a reason why the Greek warrior was named Achilles: “Achilles was the son of the mortal Peleus and the nymph Thetis. Thetis tried to make her son immortal by dipping him into the River Styx, while holding him by his ankle. His ankle was therefore the only portion of him capable of sustaining a mortal wound”

Regarding your numbness in your foot, did you get a knee nerve block during surgery? You should mention it to your doctor. Good luck with the staples.

]]> By: Sheila http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/2008/07/23/2-weeks-post-surgery/#comment-10 Sheila Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:23:20 +0000 http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/?p=4#comment-10 My spam word to reply here is 'patience', which is what I was going to 2nd about Rich's post. The harder you push, the greater the risk of slowing things down because you aggravate the wound and may keep it from healing as quickly and/or risking a rerupture because you push a little too hard. It took a while for this to sink in to me. I wanted to get my mobility back, even if I wasn't playing tennis again for 6 months, at least be able to walk w/o crutches, drive, etc., but it finally sank in that pushing will increase the chances of making this take longer or starting that clock over with a rerupture. So in comparison, taking a few extra weeks to let myself heal & get stronger isn't a bad thing. Whatever you do, just take care and be thoughtful about your movements. Don't take it for granted even if it isn't hurting. You remind me a lot of a close friend - no time to rest! She would go nuts with this injury. :) My spam word to reply here is ‘patience’, which is what I was going to 2nd about Rich’s post. The harder you push, the greater the risk of slowing things down because you aggravate the wound and may keep it from healing as quickly and/or risking a rerupture because you push a little too hard. It took a while for this to sink in to me. I wanted to get my mobility back, even if I wasn’t playing tennis again for 6 months, at least be able to walk w/o crutches, drive, etc., but it finally sank in that pushing will increase the chances of making this take longer or starting that clock over with a rerupture. So in comparison, taking a few extra weeks to let myself heal & get stronger isn’t a bad thing.

Whatever you do, just take care and be thoughtful about your movements. Don’t take it for granted even if it isn’t hurting. You remind me a lot of a close friend - no time to rest! She would go nuts with this injury. :)

]]> By: rich http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/2008/07/23/2-weeks-post-surgery/#comment-9 rich Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:51:08 +0000 http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/?p=4#comment-9 Good to hear you're doing well after the first two weeks. After 16 years, I'm guessing you retired a GySgt? The good news is, you don't have to "carry it that way" with this injury. My humble opinion suggests that you shouldn't be pushing yourself to walk this early on and you really need to take it easy on yourself. It's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of injury. I probably think a lot like you in terms of feeling like I have to man up and get things done, but that really isn't realistic and it's a recipe for re-injury. Pain is not weakness leaving the body in this situation . . . it's more like adding time to your injury. One of the things I have done is checked out the various rehab protocols and compared them with one another. Some are aggressive and some are conservative, but there are similarities that can provide timeframes for recovery. I put together a timeline with specific milestones so that I can keep things in perspective and always have something to look forward to. It's one of the things I can do with a computer and a lot of time on my hands! The marathon tracker on this website is similar and the averages at the bottom of the tracker seem to fit right in with where I'm at (not that I really "want" to be average). Anyway . . . As far as the foot numbness, is it really numb or is it swollen and it feels kind of numb? My toes felt a little numb for a few weeks following surgery, but that was more of a swelling issue. The cure, keep my bad leg elevated so the fluid could drain out. Keep posting on your recovery and go easy brotha! Good to hear you’re doing well after the first two weeks. After 16 years, I’m guessing you retired a GySgt? The good news is, you don’t have to “carry it that way” with this injury. My humble opinion suggests that you shouldn’t be pushing yourself to walk this early on and you really need to take it easy on yourself. It’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of injury.

I probably think a lot like you in terms of feeling like I have to man up and get things done, but that really isn’t realistic and it’s a recipe for re-injury. Pain is not weakness leaving the body in this situation . . . it’s more like adding time to your injury.

One of the things I have done is checked out the various rehab protocols and compared them with one another. Some are aggressive and some are conservative, but there are similarities that can provide timeframes for recovery. I put together a timeline with specific milestones so that I can keep things in perspective and always have something to look forward to. It’s one of the things I can do with a computer and a lot of time on my hands!

The marathon tracker on this website is similar and the averages at the bottom of the tracker seem to fit right in with where I’m at (not that I really “want” to be average). Anyway . . .

As far as the foot numbness, is it really numb or is it swollen and it feels kind of numb? My toes felt a little numb for a few weeks following surgery, but that was more of a swelling issue. The cure, keep my bad leg elevated so the fluid could drain out.

Keep posting on your recovery and go easy brotha!

]]> By: damacar http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/2008/07/23/2-weeks-post-surgery/#comment-8 damacar Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:21:35 +0000 http://achillesblog.com/horselvr/?p=4#comment-8 I should have been a Marine! I've always pushed through. So what, if it hurts, do it anyway. That attitude is what allowed me to have such kick ass workouts the last 6 months with my trainer. But, this injury....my "All or Nothing" mentally got shoved right in my face. Here's a quote I got in an email the week I came back to work that helped a little, I have it on my desk at work. "If you haven't already, it's definately time to kill the all-or-nothing attitude. One great way to do that is to get real regarding setbacks. We are all bound to have lapses on the road of health, but it is critical that we learn how to handle small failures positively so that we can minimize their long-term desructive effects. One setback is one setback--it's not the end of the world, nor is it the end of your jouney." I should have been a Marine! I’ve always pushed through. So what, if it hurts, do it anyway. That attitude is what allowed me to have such kick ass workouts the last 6 months with my trainer. But, this injury….my “All or Nothing” mentally got shoved right in my face. Here’s a quote I got in an email the week I came back to work that helped a little, I have it on my desk at work.

“If you haven’t already, it’s definately time to kill the all-or-nothing attitude. One great way to do that is to get real regarding setbacks. We are all bound to have lapses on the road of health, but it is critical that we learn how to handle small failures positively so that we can minimize their long-term desructive effects. One setback is one setback–it’s not the end of the world, nor is it the end of your jouney.”

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