I’ve already commented about a re-injury that occurred earlier this week, so I guess I need to provide the background of HOW I got to this point in my broken Achilles tendon career!
For starters, the original injury happened on Thursday February 7th while snowboarding at Panorama Resort in eastern British Columbia, Canada. I’d just celebrated my 57th birthday the previous day, and headed out to the slopes to enjoy a breathtakingly beautiful day on the almost perfect slopes. I’d already spent 4 whole days boarding and was thoroughly enjoying my vacation.
Then I took the right turn over to some new runs I’d discovered the previous day. I headed towards the far side of the run and went to make a heel turn back towards the left. It felt like the board dug into the soft snow on the edge of the run, and I tumbled over the front of the board. I thought the "crack" sound I heard was the edge of my board hitting a rock, but the sound AND the sharp pain I felt in my left leg were simultaneous. I was laying semi-upside down with both feet strapped onto the board behind and underneath me. I was able to undo the bindings and get myself and the board turned around, and I just sat still for a few minutes waiting for the pain to subside.
The initial pain was quite sharp, but I thought (HOPED) I’d just pulled a calf muscle. The pain subsided after about 10 minutes, so I thought I’d try to buckle up back into the bindings again and see if I’d be able to continue on down the trail. As soon as I tried to lean forward onto the front edge, I realized I had no left leg control with the board at all. I was able to skid the rest of the way down the trail on the back edge of the board, and had to walk (hobble) over to the top of the chairlift, where I was able to hop a ride to the base. Ski patrol iced it down for me and Security gave me a ride back to our condo where I continued to ice the ankle for the rest of the day.
I drove to the hospital in Invermere the next day where they took X-rays and ultrasound of the tendon. By then my foot had swelled up and looked a LOT like a football. I could feel a "dent" or void on the tendon - instead of a smooth line between the calf muscle and the heel, there was a slight "divot" along the tendon that could be felt. No bones were broken, but the ultrasound showed what looked like bleeding within the tendon. The Dr. put me in an air cast with a 20 degree rise in the heel, and stuck a pair of crutches under my arms. He suggested I follow up with my Orthopedist when I returned home the following week.
We flew home on Sunday the 10th, and I saw my Ortho Dr. on Monday morning the 11th. He rush ordered a MRI for that evening, with follow-up 2 days later. I had a gut feeling that I was not going to get through this whole experience WITHOUT a short trip through the surgical center, and on Wednesday my Dr. confirmed that thought. I had a complete separation about 8 cm above the heel bone. The surgery was scheduled for the following afternoon.
The surgery was flawless. I arrived at the hospital at 3 PM; was cleaned and in the pre-op area within 45 minutes, had an IV started (with a dose of pain med for late lunch). I opted for the nerve block option, and it was administered about 5. They rolled me into the surgical suite a little after 6 PM. We were home before 11 PM - I remember watching Conan at 11 PM. I’d had so much fluid pushed into me that I woke up about every hour to pee. (NOTE - make sure you have at least 2 of the portable urinals that you can keep within reach so you don’t have to get up and crutch yourself to the bathroom every time you have to take a leak).
The nerve block wore off around 10 AM Friday morning, and IT SUCKED BIG TIME! I’d been popping Dulaudid every 4 hours prior but it still hurt like hell. I spent the first week laying / sleeping on the sofa and I propped my foot up on the sofa back to keep it elevated above my heart. It still throbbed pretty badly though. I also started running a fever that afternoon and by 8 PM it was over 101 F. My discharge instructions said to notify the Dr. if the temp was over 100.5, so I called around 9 PM. Dr. suggested I take some ibuprofin to help with both the fever and the pain. I popped 400 mG, fell asleep shortly afterwards, and around 11 PM woke up to NO PAIN AT ALL, and the fever was gone! I kept up with 200 mG of ibuprofin every 4 hours the next day - had a little bit of upset stomach. By Monday I was feeling pretty good so I stopped the vitamin I and was also able to reduce the amount of pain meds I’d been taking.
The first week post-op was completely uneventful; lots of relaxing, watching TV, and letting my foot heal. I had my follow-up with the surgeon on Friday, and he removed the soft splint and I started wearing the air boot I’d initially been put in while in Canada. That was working very well - until earlier this week.
That’s the topic of the NEXT POST! (I mean the REAL first post)
Jack
