Week 13 - Nothing exciting, but that’s a good thing
30 08 2008Like many others who have reached this point in the recovery process, there is nothing much happening. Just good and steady healing and improvement. Despite the lack of huge developments, I will continue to post each week in the hopes that some observation or experience might be helpful and so I can look back to see what happened. Like it or not, I’m here at least until that one year mark.
I continue to get physio 3 times a week, and my limp is pretty much gone. I only do so when my heel starts hurting from too much time on my feet. Nothing to do with the actual Achilles at all. My balance is tons better (working on the balance board — front/back, side to side, squatting, and closed eyes). One legged strength is slowly getting better on the left side too.
My physiotherapist continues to do deep massage to mush out the scar tissue. I still have a bit of a bump at the bottom incisions but the surgeon says that is normal. Last Friday, my massage therapist gave me a deep massage on my gastroc, soleus, achilles, etc., and while it hurt like heck during the massage, afterwards I felt like I never had any injury whatsoever. She totally stripped the muscles and wiped any tightness away. I’ll be making bi-weekly or weekly visits if possible. I definitely suggest doing this to help your recovery. Make sure you find a massage therapist that is not scared to get in deep and knows what they are doing. I had one who did a light massage one week earlier and that did not do the trick.
I continue to ride the bike as much as I can (highlighted by a 1 hr 22 min. ride while watching the Olympic Marathon on TV) and I’m up to pushing 180 watts for at least 10 minutes. I can do more but why push things at this point in time. Just steady aerobic riding as often as I can to shed all these pounds I’ve put on since the ATR. I was 172.8 lbs on the day of the rupture and I am 185 lbs today. I expected much worse actually so I’m quite happy it is only a 12 lb gain.
The fun begins next week because school is back in session and I return to work. My heel will get a real workout since I’ll be a lot more active. I will make sure to get my sit breaks though.
Thanks for reading,
Hoss.
I’ve included some pictures below. They are not the greatest quality but not bad for a cell phone camera and you should be able to still see the little bump near the bottom.
hoss,
keep the healing goin man. also let us know how it goes - back to work.
im a bit behind as my doctor still has me on the boot set at 10 degrees dorsiflexion and cant do more than that which limits my abilities .
i have been doing physio 2-3x a week.
i have ben rding the workout bike too about an hour each sesion but i cant crank th watts up just yet , just a steady 100 watts for me .
i did ride my road bike but i switches out my clipless pedals for some platform pedals . been doing a lot of walking in the boot .
next appointment is sept 16 .
Yeah, I was reading your blog a month ago and could not believe what I read. And I thought my guy was conservative? Hopefully everything works out for the best. Like I’ve been saying constantly, patience, patience, patience.
Good for you on the bike. Or you a serious cyclist? If not, then those watts don’t mean much. I am just trying to get back my pre-ATR Ironman bike fitness where I can comfortably sustain 180-220 watts for 6 hours. Then I can hopefully improve from that point onwards and take Ironman Lake Placid by storm next July.
I was seriously considering the platform pedals too but after a few weeks I was able to clip in. Good luck with your Sept. 16 appointment. You’ll probably get your freedom from the boot.