jodi4512’s AchillesBlog

Keep on keepin’ on, Jodi!

Fantastic - there’s not much you can’t do now and that’s exactly where I aim to be at 20wks too.

What a brilliant milestone to reach, congratulations and your holiday sounds fantastic!!

Happy continued healing.

I’ve just come out I’ve just taken the last wedge out of my boot I’m experiencing the same amount of weirdnes I’m using a

strassburg sock a night to stretch it which seems to be helping try this out there about 40 pounds tl buy but well worth it,heel is very numb still but the skin is not so sore now my muscle deteriation is horrific I have big muscles and am shooked at how thin it is,admitidley I was in a cast longer than most, stay positive people

The skin hyper-sensitivity seems common, esp below the heel and sole. Many of us thought that hard smooth floors felt like concrete with pebbles on it, and concrete felt like a bed of nails. Accidentally stepping on a light cord was Yee-Yikes!

Many of us just babied it until it passed. Crocs and gel footbeds are very comfy. Carpeted floors are OK, too.

Mike, Scott and Kim - thanks for the responses and encouragement! Its day 3 now of no wedges, and it IS getting better. I did put an extra sole pad (not the wedge) back in for just a tiny bit more elevation. In the am’s its still very stiff and sore, but I’m now able to work up to no crutches during the course of a day. I just keep telling myself that it is one step closer to weaning FROM the boot!

Mike - my skin on and around the scar is very sensitive, it feels so odd when touched, a strange kind of pain. My skin on my foot and leg has also flaked off over the course of this recovery. From what I’ve seen here, the sensitivity and swelling WILL go away in time..

Hello All,
I am on the sixth week after surgery. The first 5 weeks were Hell. I have had many injuries, but this is so much worse. To get up and go the bathroom was so painful. Just battling the gravity before I went into the bathroom and then by the time I got back to the couch my foot would be almost black in color. I put my foot back on the stack of pillows and it would take 3-4 minutes and it would be pink again.

The skin on my foot felt like someone sanded all the skin off and dropped a couple pebbles inside the cast. If I move, or stayed in one postion the cast would feel like it was rubbing the skin off. It was so painful I fully expected to see dried blood inside the cast when they took it off. When I did get the cast off there was no dried blood, but something happened to my skin. They said that the nerves get hyper-sensitive. I could not even touch the skin. Even now, all these weeks past, if I lay my fooot on a blanket, or sheet it feels as tho I have my foot on a stick. I am suppose to use vitamin E and massage it!! It is very hard. The experts liken this sensitivity to the way Shingles feel.

Do any of you hav

My last wedge was the worst. It felt like someone was trying to stretch an old dry rotted bungee cord. I ended up taking a wedge to work with me and swapping it in out of the boot every hour or so. I did this for two days and it got better.

Keep the faith! It just keeps getting better.
See Ya - Scott (aka: Skutr)

Jodi,
As I get to lower angles, it takes longer to adjust. The doc says he had to cut out lots of damaged tissue so I’m healing really tight. Some folks come out of the cast at 90 - but it’s a struggle for me. Also, every change I make takes time for me to adjust to the new hot spots etc. it will get better, but this last one took a couple of days. Even when I take my foot out to breath for a while,I feel the stretch when I put It back in now. It just doesn’t want to stay flat! I took my first pain pill in 4 weeks after the last adjustment, but the doc and PT guys say I need to keep moving forward or I’ll heal too tight, HTH, Kim

Jodi/Michael,
It does sound like you guys are trapped in conservative recovery limbo. Hopefully your doctors will respond to Norm’s suggestion. Even though I have considered myself to be on a bit of a fast pace, I still had to plead my case to my therapist for doing stairs and walking outside in 2 shoes. I think my therapist is looking for some signs of confidence from me in the form of asking permission before going to the next level. So while I would not recommend that you make unilateral decisions on your rate of progress, you do have to be your own strongest advocate.

Excellent post, Michael. Great perspective. Thank you!

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I must say it sounds par for the course. It really depends on the surgeon, their comfort, and the type or extent of damage/repair that was done. In my case I have been labeled non-compliant by both my surgeon and PT. They know that I won’t do something I’m explicitly told not to do but I keep pushing the limits. The problem is that we tend to go in with positive expectations and then get our bubble burst.

I was feeling much stronger the other day and thought since I was in the boot taking small steps putting most of my weight on my crutch and good leg, that I could just use one crutch. My PT scolded me for pushing it. I Crutched out of the session and didn’t put my foot on the ground the rest of the day. It wasn’t long before I started thinking about the possibility of a re-rupture and the fear starts to consume.

Just know that most of the care providers are looking out for our best interest. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t push them and ourselves toward recovery.

Wow! It is a small scar! And what a big difference a few weeks makes. Sounds like you had an easy, quick repair.

I’d find the UWO Study (& its fast protocol) on this site and share it with her. They got excellent results with much less waiting, so why not try that?

I agree with John, don’t give up on it yet. Though moving a bit slower than normal, at 10 weeks, I was doing some fairly decent mountain hikes:

http://achillesblog.com/ryanb/2011/11/04/10-week-update/

Thanks, John. I love hearing stories like that! Gives me HOPE!

Hi Jodi4512 and kimjax,

Don’t give up on hiking this summer just yet.

Depending on how comfortable you are walking in your boot by then, you could hike a couple of miles per day in your boot - just take ice packs and be ready for a little swelling/pain afterwards.

I’m a middle-aged weekend-only athlete, yet walked all over Spain (with my kids/grandkids) at around 10 weeks post-ATR surgery on miles of cobblestone streets, old castle stairs, train stations, roads, beaches etc and felt really safe in my boot (even in bare feet on the beaches).

As long as the trails you hike are pretty wide and not too rocky it might work out fine for you all as well. Of course your boot may get dirty and trashed, but might as well use it to do fun things like your trips with family and friends.

Just double check with your doc before you go for any other advice!

So good luck with your rehabs, and here’s hoping you both still get those hikes in

John

Yep, Jodi, I am dying for a pedicure. It’s hard to even stretch enough to cut my toenails. I’m like you - I’m going to wear the old lady tennis shoes and forget the flip flops until I’m off crutches. I have NO desire to have difficulty catching myself during near spills (which are frequent with 6 kids and a dog - all wanting to “help.” I’m so thankful I got to wash my leg with something other than wipies yesterday - woohoo!

Bummer you’re missing the hiking trips. We hike Maine every summer and this is the first that I’ll miss. I can take a shower by myself now - I’ll try to post the setup. I keep the towel on an upside down laundry basket and use a toilet chair in the shower - works great. I just cover the boot with a trash bag and medical tape - it’s all near the shower. My kids get the clothes I throw on the floor (sweet revenge!) after years of picking theirs up, lol! I use a backpack to move around the house with camera cords, iPad, paper, pen, snacks, etc. in it.
I was in great shape from biking and swimming - but blew it to pieces stepping off a high curb wrong and landing hard on my heel. Heard the

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