Well hello there to all my left shoes that have been burried in the back of the closet for the last 2  months Well, maybe the high heels will stay back there for a while longer… but hey I’m not complaining!

It’s official, the boot can go. What a relief. Seems I was just getting used to it too…

I have a friend who had a major ankle sprain a while back and said her physiotherapist was amazing. He got her back on the basketball court in 3 weeks instead of 6. I had already started with another PT when she recommended him so I didn’t really bother to look into it. The guy I began with is very young and seems very inexperienced with the achilles rupture, I believe I might even be the first one he’s dealt with before. Over the last few days I decided that if I want to get better fast, he wasn’t the right one because with inexperience comes a conservative protocall. Not what I want. So yesterday I made an appointment with the PT my friend recommended just to see if things might change a little.

Now, of course this is no simple ankle sprain, but he is AWESOME. He clearly knows what he is doing and has a much more agressive approach than my original PT. He gave me only about 3 exercices but told me to do them as many times as humanly possible every day and I will make good progress. He has told me that if I work excruciatingly hard that there’s a chance I could be playing a LITTLE bit of volleyball by the end of May (a.k.a MY NATIONALS CHAMPIONSHIPS). I will probably not be able to play at my normal level of 50+ jumps per game, but possibly some defense and serving which basically requires me to stay on the ground for the most part but still involves quick movements and short sprints. I’ve decided to set the goal, hope for the best, and expect the worst.

But for now: walking! It’s getting much easier. I currently wear 2  1/8inch heel lifts. I can walk almost normally with them in (and it’s rapidly improving with practice). Everything has been going happily for the last couple of days. I have a new and improved PT, I’ve ditched the boot hopefully for the last time, and limping is turning into walking! Not too shabby.

Slow. That is the word of the week. Last week I went to my PT and he was impressed with my progress in getting off the crutches, but he thought my range of motion could have been a bit better by that time. This week I’ve been working my rear off to get it going. SLOW. I don’t like that word.

I’ve been doing two or three times more of the work/excercises than I was instructed in attempt to see some sort of significant change. I guess that’s pretty stupid to hope for since nothing has really gone all that quickly so far. By the end of every day it seems like I’ve got a decent amount more movement than I did in the morning, but then by the time I go to sleep and wake up the AT stiffens up again and whatever progress I made seems lost. SLOW.

When I do think back to 5 days ago then I can see that my range of motion is a bit farther, but when I look at yesterday it seems like nothing. This is the kind of slowness I mean, the changes are very minor between days but they add up. New word: Patience. I could also use “commitment” or “focus”. I’m working towards playing volleyball again in the late summer (which I’ve been told is a good goal to work towards) so I don’t have time to get lazy and not do my rehab. It’s hard when it feels like nothing’s changing!

Watching my team lose 15-11 in the fifth set of the gold medal match was another frustrating day. It’s so difficult to sit and watch but at the same time I feel obligated to go support my team. It’s my own choice to continue spending my regular 5 days a week at my volleyball practices and games watching instead of playing and I think I will continue to do so for the rest of the season. I think in the end when I’m back on the court I’ll be glad that I stuck it out.

I have started using the stationary bike at a regular speed now. I just plant my heel rather than my toe on the pedal and it doesn’t affect the AT at all. It feels amazing to get some exercise! I haven’t actually tried putting a shoe on that foot while biking yet, only socks so far. I’m supposed to walk around the house in running shoes at this point which is suprisingly much more comfortable than I imagined it would be. The only sore part is just that the back of the shoe puts pressure on the AT which is still somewhat sensitive to the touch,  but it’s getting better… Slowly.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get out of this feeling of molasses sooner or later so I may as well just keep putting up with it. I feel more energetic than I have in the last few weeks probably due to the fact that I’m now mobile. At least that helps with staying focused on staying on track and not getting lazy. I’m sure I’m just at a little dip in the road this week, if my grandma were still around she’d tell me to just quit my whining and get over it : )

I am loving life right now. I’m taking on walking as a challenge who’s butt I want to kick. I’m officially down to one crutch and REALLY enjoying the freedom! It’s been too long since I’ve been able to carry a plate to the table because of lack of hands.

Since I’m still in high school and have to be in the crowded halls a lot of the day, I was pretty unsure how the transition would go from speed demon on 2 crutches to gimp limp on one. I stuck to hopping on 2 crutches for 2 days after I was allowed to be FWB, practiced up over the weekend with 1, and now have the confidence to hold up everyone in the halls just so I can get back to walking My foot was pretty sore by the end of the day from trying to walk faster than I was comfortable doing, but I guess if I keep pushing the envelope within reason and bite the discomfort then I’ll make faster progress anyway.

I’m enjoying the progression. I don’t have a care in the world at how goofy I look trying to get around. Finally being able to be less dependant is awsome.

I don’t know how long it typically takes most people with ATR to get from NWB to fully walking but I feel that I’m doing a good job. Over the course of 5 days I’ve gone from completely NWB to walking around the house with no boot and no crutches. And it only gets better every day. Now I can get on the stationary bike and pedal smoothly (but still really slowly) and my exercises are getting less painful. I haven’t had much to complain about lately!

I can’t believe I would ever appreciate hearing that I’m allowed to walk! I went to see my specialist today and he gave me the go ahead to be FWB. I feel like it’s been forever!

He gave me the freedom to do whatever I like, suggested I continue wearing the boot as long or short as I want and as I gain some confidence (and coordination) get myself back into 2 shoes. I can’t exactly walk, I’ve tried. The boot I’m in was still not at 90 degrees so the tendon isn’t quite stretched out yet and I can’t stand up totally straight, but it’s a start I guess. For now I’ve adjusted it myself to what’s only slightly uncomfortable and am working on a sort of shuffle with one crutch… it looks ridiculous but I really couldn’t care less.

I’ve been told I’m ahead of my protocall. I wasn’t supposed to be weight bearing for about 2 more weeks. This is the kind of news I want to hear!

Just wondering if anyone has a clue why the bottom of my foot around and including my big toe is painful? I can’t think of anything I’ve done to bruise it or anything and there’s no visual evidence that anything is wrong, but for the last 3 days it’s been painful to touch the area or move my toes.  Any tips?

(I’m 6 weeks post-op still NWB in a boot)