1 shoe, 2 shoe, red shoe, blue shoe
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.
Sounds very positive, jenn! Make it so, and good luck in your efforts. But I have managed to get myself in trouble — both 8 years ago and this time — by getting too close to “as many times as humanly possible” and “excruciatingly hard”. So I’d add a HUGE dose of “listen to your body” and “pain is nature’s way of telling you to back off”.
8 yrs ago, when I could first walk “right” in bare feet, my physio told me to do some 1-legged calf raises. I told her it was too soon, because there was no way I could do 8 of them. She said “so just do as many as you can”. (That is something that NOBODY should EVER say to me!)
I did a few, but “as many as humanly possible”, and I couldn’t walk right again for a whole month, honest! And it hurt a lot! I’d overstressed the attachment point between my AT and my heel bone. That is no way to hustle back to volleyball!
This time, I’ve been grunting at a bunch of 2-leg heel raises and struggling to eradicate the last hint of “limp-dip” in my stride while walking (including literally clenching my fists and grunting once per stride!), and I’ve developed a much less painful sore spot under my ankle, where the posterior tibial tendon attaches to my foot. (That minor tendon has been working overtime to do “fill in” for my wimpy calf!) So now I’m taking it a little easier until that spot feels right.
You’ve got 2 months to think about those championships, but from one injured volleyball player to another — and BOTH of us hopefully returning to the game and regaining all our abilities and then some! — if you are at all from the same planet I’m from, you’ll end up stepping onto the court planning to hold back, but you’ll do absolutely no such thing. And if there’s a way to reinjure yourself in the process, well, look out!
So enjoy the hopes, and nourish the dream, but also listen to your body a LOT and try hard NOT to injure yourself. It’s a tight-rope. I’m a huge fan of aggressive rehab, but even relatively minor reinjuries are a real bummer — just as inconvenient and non-negotiable in their own way as the original ATR!
‘Nuff said.
Jenn your posting was wonderful.
Congrats on the two-shoe status!!
I’ve been wearing my Crocs everywhere I went. I’ve tried to get back into running shoes but the back of them rub up against my new AT and makes it hurt more than it should.
But two days ago I have moved back into my Dr Martens lace-up loafers shoes…with no pain. I had to dust off my leather loafers to make them look nice again.
Keep us posted..you’re doing great.
Great to hear of your progress, Jenn.
I walk about 3-4 miles (I use a pedometer) a day, and at 8 weeks after ATR my ROM is close to normal. My PT agrees his ROM exercises aren’t doing me much good, so we changed from 2 X week down to one. However, he is bound by the prescription protocol of my very conservative surgeon (I was in fiberglas cast for 4 1/2 weeks).
My progress is not due to the PT, but because I went non-compliant early - PWB on day 2 after surgery, FWB at 4 weeks, 2 shoes at 6 weeks. Put a Bledsoe Boot (with 3 - 10 degree heel wedges) over the cast and used 1 crutch. I have had very little pain or swelling throughout this process because I did not let my muscles atrophy. My surgeon and PT knew what I was doing - my surgeon caught me at the beach walking my dog 6 days after surgery - but he let our dogs play for 1/2 hour as we chatted.
My hope is to play softball in my over 55 league that starts April 25. I know I can play some positions - just can’t get back to the outfield just yet. But I have already pitched practice, and batted (200 feet), and done light fielding without any discomfort. I’m right-handed, and have trained myself to push off on the uninjured ankle, and when landing on my left, injured ankle, to take most of the weight on the heel. I also had to learn which balls I just have to let go. I will not push off the injured foot because it lacks strength.
Regarding your hope to play volleyball in late May, I think it is possible. Especially if you rebuild muscle strength ASAP, learn to push off the uninjured foot when serving, and position yourself to favor the side you cannot reach as well. You will also have to learn to just let some balls go. By late May you will be about 4 1/2 months post ATR, so should have very low likelihood of re-rupture.