apprehensive about tomorrow’s PT
I am feeling apprehensive about going to my PT appointment tomorrow, but not for the reasons that you might guess.
It is not because there might be pain involved, and it is not because I have been lax on doing my at-home exercises.
It is because I got tired of my crutches, put them away and have been walking without permission. I feel like a teenager who has to confess that I wrecked the car.
It has been 7 weeks since surgery. I spent the first 4 weeks in hard casts and the past 3 weeks in a boot (kind of) NWB. I have had 4 PT sessions so far.
My PT is kind of at a loss. My doctor’s orders only stated "Achilles tendon repair". The doctor is leaving it completely up to the PT to make all of the decisions. The two PTs that I have worked with me both stated that they don’t see this injury very often. The mainstay of this practice seems to be knee replacements.
The last time that I saw this particular PT was two weeks ago and he said that I shouldn’t put any weight on it at all until 6 weeks post op and to not be too anxious to walk.
I always make sure that I have my boot on when I leave the house, but I don’t use crutches. Around the house, I go without the boot and just take small up-and-down steps. I don’t push off with my toes - it is kind of a Frankenstein duck walk. I don’t feel any pressure or pulling on my tendon and the pins and needles sensation on the bottom of my foot is long gone.
I have been reading other blogs, and don’t think that 7 weeks seems too early to walk in a boot. Does it??
Part of me wants just to crutch in and let them think that I am following protocol, but I know I’ll just walk in with my boot and see what happens.
on July 10th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Hi Joan, in my opinion I think you should walk in there without the crutches. He needs to see where you are at in your recovery in order to keep you moving forward. Otherwise he’s most likely going to continue a conservative approach that is only going to frustrate you and possibly leave you wondering why you are even going. Just my thoughts.
on July 10th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Eva - you are right, of course. It would be a waste of time (and money) to attend a session that might focus on skills that I have already surpassed. I want to improve, but fear that he will say I need to take a step back because I am pushing ahead too quickly.
on July 10th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Joan - you’re not going too quickly at all. I’m pretty slow and that’s about what I’ve done! My PT has lots of experience with this injury and I was allowed to FWB at 6 weeks. (earlier actually) It sounds like your tendon is in better shape than mine as you’re not feeling the tension as you walk. I had to laugh at the Frankenstein walk description - that’s exactly how I look when trying to walk in shoes or barefoot. I was reading an old post by jenniferanderson and apparently that’s how we start.
on July 11th, 2012 at 10:05 am
Joan I am a fellow Iowan. It was great to stumble into your story as I sit home with my left foot in a boot. My tendon was not tore completely as most on here seem to have been but my foot was in constant pain for over a year. The Doctor tried PT for several months but ended up with the Surgery last Friday. It’s good to read about the hassle of the shower and not doing what the Doc. told you to do. I have been doing toe taps with my bad foot since coming home from the hospital. I can’t help it but I am feeling guilty. Thanks for your been there done that perspective.
I can’t figure out how to get my blog going any words you can spare would be appreciated.
You get better theres a marathon in your future.
on July 11th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I feel so much better now. I walked in wearing my boot, and didn’t seem surprised at all. Today we focused on my gait. I am learning not to walk on my heel and to push off with my toes.
He even said that we might be able to lose the boot for good next week (Scarey thought!!).
on July 11th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Ronmark - hello to a fellow Iowan. I can not believe how many people I have run into that have had this happen to them. It has been at least 20 so far.
Pain for a year sounds just awful. I feel lucky that mine was a quick, clear full blown tear.
My one word of advice is to rest the first couple of weeks and not try to push too hard. Being cooped up in the house seemed absolutely awful and I was so sick of it.
The week after surgery I decided that I HAD to go to the drug store for girly things. Stupid, stupid me. They don’t have mart-carts at Walgreens and I hopped one footed throughout the store hanging on to a shopping cart. I don’t know why I didn’t collapse right then, and my good tendon has ached ever since.
I also went back to work about a week too early (9 days post op). I was convinced that they could not function without me and I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t a wimp.
That, and make sure you get something to sit on in the shower. I didn’t get a bench until a week after surgery. I thought that I could just hang onto the shower door and I’d be fine. Plus, I figured that those things are for old people. That shows how little I know.
Stupid pride really has no place in the recovery process.
Good Luck!!