Jun 22 2011
About Jeff
On May 21, 2011, I completely tore my Achilles Tendon playing tennis. I have been active my entire life, a former athlete in high school and avid fan and willing participant since. Although my participation in high impact sports has drastically decreased in frequency since my college years, I still work out 5 times a week, walk our two huskies a mile and a half nearly 365 days a year, and run frequently. This has made this injury devastating and disheartening to say the least, but fellow ATR blogs have helped immensely and I look forward to following the progress of others as I work toward the goal of putting this injury behind me. If you are behind me in the recovery process, PLEASE feel free to contact me with any questions. Each of our recoveries is different yet we almost all have the same hurdles to cross at some point.
7 Responses to “About Jeff”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
[...] Achilles Tendon Surgery Recovery Blog [...]
Hey Jeff: My injury occurred the exact same as yours: tennis, going to the net to get a ball, right leg, etc. You can check out my blog for details, if you like.
Mine happened May 10th, surgery May 13. Not that much pain, a little swelling, no ability to walk right. Like a lot of people on this site, I work out quite a bit: about 5 times a week, mostly at lunch time.
Anyway, after 6 weeks since surgery, I am full weight bearing, back in the gym, and almost back to shoes. Even though it is the right leg, I drive full time (left foot) with no issues.
So hang in there! If you are a pretty quick healer, you will follow a similar path. Let me know if you have questions about anything.
Here’s to a quick recovery!
The vast majority of ATR patients who blog here seem to be more active than average, which naturally makes the rehab more frustrating than it would be for somebody who already spends most of their time on the couch and doesn’t get a bunch of joy and self-identity from being active and maybe even competitive.
But that’s the way it is with an ATR, so hang in there!
There may be mental and psychological benefits, and there’s a physical benefit in the sense that the healed AT is generally WAY more resistant to rupture than it was before-hand — and often cured of any tendinosis, as well. (The OTHER Achilles tendon is another story, unfortunately. . .)
Chuck-
Wow, 6 weeks and FWB, great job! For the past two weeks I’ve been doing range of motion exercises (NWB) - I’m now at 4 1/2 wks. I don’t have pain other than normal swelling (after a period of being down). I’m a little concerned that I’m not being aggressive enough on my range of motion exercises - were you already past ‘neutral’ before you first put any weight on it? I feel like I could ’stretch’ it more passively (not pulling on it or anything but just using the muscles in the foot itself) but I’m pretty nervous to do too much. When I stand with the aid of my crutches without the boot, my bad leg still has to be out in front of me quite a bit because of how tight the tendon is. I’m curious how good your up/down flexibility in the ankle was at about 5 weeks?
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.
I appreciate the words of encouragement! Right now I’m just so excited to walk again without crutches that it will be a victory in itself. Have you seen any studies on the rate of rupture patients who have later ruptured the other achilles?
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.
Hey Jeff: At about 3 to 4 weeks, I was mostly walking in the boot with the aid of crutches. I was also doing a lot of ankle flexing, with no weight to try and stretch the tendon. I did not feel any pain at all, my tendon was just really tight, and by the afternoon, my leg/foot was swollen. When I went to see the doctor at about 4 weeks, he said I could start putting weight on the leg, and start removing the wedges. I found that with each wedge that I removed, my foot was less swollen in the afternoon. I have not had any pain in the tendon at all. Two days ago, I ditched the boot (6 weeks since surgery) and put my other shoe on. I limp a little (due to the tightness), but it feels pretty good. I am extremely careful where I step. My biggest concern is tripping or stepping wrong, without a boot on. I don’t care if I am a little slower. As far as heel raises go, I am starting to try. I did a few in the gym today, but I had my hands on a pullup bar above me, to keep from putting full weight on the leg. I doubt that my doctor would approve of 2 shoes yet, (my next appt is July 6th), but I also believe in listening to your body. If I had any pain, I would still be in a boot. Everyone will have a little different timetable. I hope this helps. Thx.
Hi Jeff,
I tore my Achilles on May 9th and had surgery on the 19th.
I tore my other Achilles tendon playing tennis twenty years ago, so I think most people should be good for a while.
Biggest milestone is getting off those crutches which was about 6 weeks.
I was in a boot the whole time except for a soft cast the first week.
It takes about 6 months and you will be just as active as you were before. Most of the time the tendon that you tore will be stronger than it was before.
I’m now at 9 weeks post op, and I am walking in shoes a little slow but walking, I walk in the pool and Ocean on the weekends.
That seems to help with flexibility but foot still gets swollen.
Everybody heels a little differently but at the end of the year, pretty much everybody who was active before will be at the same place or better then before.