7 week progress photo & FINALLY PWB!
A couple of days shy from the 8 week post-surgery appointment and finally starting to PWB with my crutches. There has been some pain not in the Achilles but rather the heel of my foot - understandably it is very sensitive after having no weight on it for 6 weeks! Thank god for the achillesblog community with lots of advice on how to start walking in the boot. My doctor said to only put 10-20% of my weight on the injured leg but as the days go by I am finding myself naturally putting more and more of my weight on the foot, however when I am in a rush I tend to switch back to the crutches and go NWB. Have also finally been allowed to sleep without the boot, the first night was terrifying as I kept waking up to check that my achilles was still there but the second night was back to pre-ATR sleep with the boot not getting tangled up in the sheets! Bliss at last.
There is still a part of the scar that hasn’t completely closed over. It started oozing yellow gunk and some blood at the start of week 6 and the scab is only starting to form now, hopefully this will not stop me from entering the pool in the near future. The calf seems to have shrunken to a new low. The atrophy in the past couple of weeks have left it in a very jelly-like state but the circumference had remained the same as the non-injured leg. Today, the left measured 36cm and right 33cm.
I went to watch a club squash tournament last week and was overcome with a mixture of defeat, helplessness and sadness at my situation. It was hard to watch the women’s matches knowing that pre-ATR I could easily have run them around the court, it is sometimes hard to accept that although its been nearly 2 months there are still many more months ahead before I can get back onto a court and play competitively. After playing for 3 teams simultaneously and making the grand final for all of them in the previous season, having to pull out of all of them has been challenging and somewhat disappointing to let a lot of people down. Nevertheless, I have learnt to appreciate the chance to slow down, get back into reading novels and spend more time on my studies! Once again, a quick trawl of the achillesblog community have lifted my spirits and have spurred me to start regular workouts again - I have managed to find some handy videos of core workouts through andrewc’s blog. If anyone has some great modified exercises worth looking at, please send them this way!
normofthenorth Said,
October 24, 2013 @ 4:36 am
The more active we are, and the more joy we get from being active, the bigger the spiritual challenge from being sidelined. And ATR is not an “equal opportunity employer” that strikes randomly, either. No, it often takes aim at those of us who are most involved in the most physically explosive sports. Ironic, sad, frustrating, but true for us. Nobody chose to go down this road, we can only choose how to proceed and how to think about it and deal with it.
It sounds to me as if you’re doing a good job at all of it — Don’t Stop!
And FWIW, I doubt that any of your club-mates thinks you’ve let them down. (& if they do, they’re nuts or evil!) You’re entitled to feel frustrated and impatient and sad from time to time, but if you find yourself feeling guilty, give your head a shake!! Nobody’s more innocent.
normofthenorth Said,
October 24, 2013 @ 4:42 am
BTW, when I was PWB I also went into “pure crutch mode” when I needed speed. That may sound nuts to some of the crutch-haters here, but I flew on crutches when I was on the open flats. And later, when I got 100% comfy in my hinged boot, I flew again. I think both of those modes were faster than my max walking speed today, all healed, healthy, and fit! (Still not worth doing the ATR for the speed rush, though!
)
josee Said,
October 31, 2013 @ 9:48 am
Thanks Norm, this cheered me up a lot in the lead up to the next appointment! It is easy to forget that after 2 months, a lot of progress has been made but most of it is happening under the surface. I am walking now and it has made me appreciate how amazing the human body is!!