I played in my first softball game this week. I was pretty nervous not having played in a sport such as this since my injury. It went well though, other than misjudging a fly ball in the outfield. I am not the fastest guy on the base pads, but it was still fun running them. I wore a calf sleeve again because I seem to easily strain my calf muscle and it definitely helps. I would suggest one to anyone struggle with calf strains.
I had originally set a recovery goal to run a half-marathon in September, but I decided to try one in May instead. Yesterday, 6 months and 2 days since my surgery, I was able to meet my goal. I ran a half-marathon and finished it in 1:46:10 (8:07/ mile) and 592nd place out of 5365 runners. I wasn’t sure how the run would go because I had mildly strained the calf muscle on my repaired leg the week before and also gotten sick during the week leading up to the race, but I’ll take it. My calf felt pretty good by race day and I ended up wearing a compression sleeve on it which appeared to help. I think I will continue to wear the sleeve for higher intensity activities and workouts. Now I have to decide on a new goal. Any thoughts on a goal?
There are only two weeks left until I attempt a half-marathon, my initial recovery goal. I actually set the half-marathon date for a race in September, but I got a little ambitious and chose May instead. So with only 14 days remaining I have a little work left to do. Adding strength in my calve muscle on the injured leg is my biggest challenge. I continue to make improvements, but if feels like I’m watching grass grow at times.
I felt my first my pain (well, the first in a long time) in my achilles yesterday while I was shooting jump shots during my lunch break at work. It was breif and lingered throughout the remainder of the day. Today I felf fine so I went for my longest run to date. I managed to complete 11 miles and it went as well as expected. I am starting to get into at least some sort of shape, but my struggle is getting my calve muscle to make the distance. The faster pace I try to run the sooner calve muscle fatigues.
Has anyone tried a compression sleeve for their calve muscle?
I have also quit attempting single leg calve raises since I can only do 2-3. I felt that it was doing more good than bad because I was just stressing the muscle trying to do something it couldn’t really do. I have still been able to gain strength at the same rate and I have experienced less soreness. I will resume them when I can do a substantial amount.
In my opinion the biggest obstacle in recovering from an ATR is trying to find the fine line between overdoing it and exercising/strengthening my injured leg to the fullest.
I am finally getting to some projects that I postponed the winter (because of my ATR) and then got pushed back because of other projects. One of them is cleaning, organizing, and insulating my garage. I created some storage so I could move stuff out of our basement (which I am also trying to finish). One of the items was my boot, which I haven’t worn since January. I am trying to decide what to do with it. I can’t bring myself to discarding because of the hefty price tag that came with it, but I don’t want to hang on to it either because I hope to never use it again. Any ideas would be welcomed? I have crutches yet too.
As far as recovery goes I am know able to do about 2-3 quality single leg calf raises and my repaired leg. Just a couple of weeks ago I couldn’t do any so that is exciting. I jumped rope yesterday and was even able to do some single leg jumps, about 10 or so. They weren’t pretty and I couldn’t help my heel from touching the ground on my repaired leg between each “jump”. It just goes to show how far I have yet to go. I have been doing some mild softball practices each week as well. This pretty much consists of playing catch, hitting a few balls, and running after fly balls in the outfield. It is kind of fun being able to get back into playing a sport again other than running.
Thanks to Dennis for reuniting all of us again. I found that I really missed reading everyone’s updates. As for myself, I am still working on training for a half-marathon in May. I have been able to do a 7 mile run both on the treadmill and outside. Getting strength back in my injured leg (calf) has been a bit of a challenge though. I would like to be able to do single leg calf raises, but I can only do a few that don’t quite have the extension of my good leg. I am also hoping to play softball this summer, but without the calf strength running at top speeds is impossible.
I hit the 17 week mark yesterday and thought I would post a quick update. I did a follow up with my PT last week to monitor my progress and he gave me some new exercises (light plyometrics) such as the dot drill and jumping in a line. I still can’t do a single leg (right leg) calf raise so I am left leg dominate with these exercises right now, but it is improving. I alternate days with running or elliptical. I ran outside for the 1st time last weekend and I am now able to do a 5 mileon the treadmill. Any suggestions on how to gain back calf strength would be greatly appreciated.
I am 15 weeks post op today and I am thinking that I might try to run outside for the first time tomorrow. We have had great weather up here in Minnesota and the roads are almost completly clear of ice and snow. I am a little nervous about it because my calf muscle is pretty weak yet and pushing off the ground requires more effort than on the treadmill so I hope I don’t tire out too fast. I was able to run 3 miles on the treadmill two days in a row this week. It went fine, but I have noticed that my achilles is a little more stiff and sore. I am wondering what everybody else has experienced when they first started running. A lot of aches and pains? No trouble at all? My pace is still slow, but it has increased slightly.
Other than running I have been working on gaining back my leg strength with exercises given to me by my PT. I am no longer seeing my PT, but I do have a follow up appointment next week to evaluate my progress. I still get some swelling on a daily basis so I have to ice on a regular basis. All in all it is good to be at 15 weeks and feeling somewhat normal. I can’t wait to increase my mileage running, shoot a jump shot, and play some volleyball or softball. Hopefully by this summer these things will all happen. I do still plan on running a half-marathon in May if I can avoid any setbacks. The race I am looking at is 6 months and 1 day after my surgery, which I think would be a good way to celebrate the 6 month mark.
I was able to run 2 miles straight today and my achilles feels great. I might try for 3 miles next week. I still need to find a way to keep the swelling down though
It has been quite a while since I have posted and I guess that is a good thing as I have been quite busy. I am at about 12.5 weeks post op. I have seen my physical therapist for almost 7 weeks now and it has helped so much. In fact, I am winding down and may only have a few appointments left. When I first start I was just learning how to walk without the boot and still wearing it for much of the day. I eventually transitioned to just wearing the boot outdoors because of snow and ice and I have now had my boot in storage for the last 3 weeks. I have been struggling with a couple of issues otherwise everything has gone well. Range of motion has been a bit of a challenge, particularly dorsi-flexion. I still do not have all of my range of motion back, but it seems to gradually improve little by little. I am also dealing with a fair amount of swelling on the lateral side of my ankle. The best news is that I might with my surgeon two weeks ago. He knew that I had a goal to run a half-marathon 6 months and 1 day post op so he asked if I had tried running yet. I told him that I hadn’t because I didn’t know if I could do it (mostly due to my range of motion) and stated that if it didn’t hurt or cause any discomfort I could slowly get started. Since then I have gradually started jogging during my walks on the treadmill. It started by only running .05 miles, then .1, .25, .5, .75, and finally today I ran 1 mile. My pace is rather slow, but I did manage to reach a pace of 6 min/mile by the end. I finished with 20 minutes of the elliptical. I am going to try for 1.5 miles later this week, I can’t wait. Now if I could only control the swelling.
I meet my PT for the first time yesterday. I think he will be a good match for me. He went through a number of range of motion and strengthening exercises with me. I practiced transfering my weight to my injured leg without the boot on. I also walked with crutches and using a railing without the boot on. He massaged my achilles and gave me a few more instructions. I am back again next Tuesday. Until then he said to practice walking around the house with two crutches, then in a few days with one crutch. When I see him next I should be able to elminate the crutches and walk into shoes, except outside becuase of the snow and ice. Although I have lost a lot of strength I think that I need to concentrate on improving my range of motion so it easy to walk and do some of the exercises. I won’t be able to bring in the new year on two shoes, but I have tried walking a little bit around the house and it went fine. I have some great plans for the long weekend. I am going to go ice fishing today, pheasant hunting tomorrow, and then visit family on Saturday so I will have plenty to do. This is good because otherwise I would probably be rushing walking in two shoes because I keep the boot off most of the time while I am around the house.
You are becoming a Zen tennis player, Grasshopper!
Gunner,
I actually tore my ATR playing basketball and had not been playing tennis much prior so I can’t say that I was at a high level. My tennis game pretty much consisted of me out hustling my opponent because I am decent at volleying but a poor server. I am hoping to play more this summer though. As far as how it went, I was really happy with the level I was able to play at. There were some balls that I couldn’t get to that I normally could have and my footwork wasn’t always there, but I was able to cover the court enough to be competitive. I didn’t think about my achilles that much, however I was a little slow when it came to starting and stopping. So really my only adjustment came in anticipation. Because I am not as explosive making cuts on the court I had to do a better job placing my shots and then reading my opponent to prepare myself for the return. In the long run I think it will make me a better player.
Hi Josher: I’m a tennis ATR guy so looking for tips on the return. How was it? what level did you play before and what adjustments did you have to make? thx
Norm I am starting to feel normal. I played a little tennis yesterday too. I have tried any court sports until then except for shooting a basketball.
Yay! That’s a huge step towards “normal”!
Congrats!
As far as a new goal, how about coming out to Colorado and climbing one of our 14ers (peaks 14,000 ft or higher). Depending on how you count them, we’ve got 53-58 of them. I’m planning to hike Long’s Peak on the 1 yr anniv of my surgery.
Beach volleyball, tennis, and softball! I can’t wait to start playing with my softball team soon. I think I will sit out the first game because it is 2 days before the race, but I’ll probably play the following week.
Norm, I have read about your story from your 1st ATR. It has been a good reminder when I am thinking of pushing it too hard.
Go Josh Go!
I agree with you that the fine line between stressing/overstressing is very important, and recovery does not depend on calf raises, but on using the calf muscles to rebuild strength. At 15 weeks been playing softball (outfield) and doubles tennis for weeks. My major PT - walking the beach 1+ miles a day from 3 weeks postop.
Sounds ambitious, alright! I agree with your analysis. too. I won’t repeat my cautionary tale from 8 yrs ago — it’s already plastered all over this website!! — but it happened when i could do about as many 2-leg heel raises as you can do now.
I’m a big fan of “aggressive” and not “conservative”, but do remember that there’s no shame in NOT finishing a half-marathon at 26 weeks!
(Me, I was thinking of going to late-night drop-in indoor beach volleyball tonight, at 21 weeks! But it would have been “one step at a time” — and besides, I’ve never torn an AT playing BEACH volleyball!!)
It still sounds familiar, Josher. “The gang” seems to be filtering back, after our little “holiday”. . .
Welcome to the weak-calf club, Josher! You might want to commiserate at the post “This damn single leg calf raise!!! by placervillemadman”!
At 14 weeks, I’m finally taking some fast long strides without any “limp-dip”, when I concentrate and work at it. Still not very close to 1-leg calf raises, though.
I hope you get to meet your GOALS.
This week I go to 16 wks post-op and I’ve been told no running for a few more weeks. I’ve made the promise to wait until April until I give it a try.
I too feel pretty much back to normal with limited activity, Just today I’ve been cut off of therapy, so I have a check up in a month to see how I’m doing. I’d like to compete in the Triathlon the end of June that really caused everything, but that would be 7 months after surgery and the PT says that would pushing it a little to close. If it were 9 to 10 months, maybe better.
Good Luck and keep us posted.
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression, at this point my running is basically a jog. I haven’t tried going to fast because it would be difficult and it lengthens your stride which puts an increased load on the achilles. I did increase the treadmill to 7mph right at the very end of my run though. It felt o.k., but I am not ready for that yet.
WAY TO GO!!!
You’re going to make a lot of us very jealous with all the talk of jogging\running. I could never run…mine was always a little faster jog…and I can’t wait until I can even do half that again.
Keep going and remember…
“Slow and Steady Wins THIS Race”.
Great work!
It seems that for most of us, with or without surgery, the need to elevate persists surprisingly long. I’m extremely comfy in two shoes now (though still not quite walking straight with a strong “push-off”). But after I spend about an hour standing up, or several hours sitting normally, my leg starts complaining until I put it up.
Don’t overdo it!
I have and boy is it nasty!
Nice. And congratulations on graduating to two shoes. You may have to go buy a new pair because your injured foot will be bigger for a while. I’ve been at two shoes for several weeks and still have two pair I can’t wear because they’re just too tight on my left foot.
Josher, that’s great! I’m 5 weeks 5 days post-op, is a day ahead of you and I haven’t heard anything about shoes yet.
Luckily my pride was hurt more then any body part. I just used my volleyball skills to make it down without injuring myself.
Deanne (aka DREAMS)
I’d had been using the crutches only to speed up long walks, but I have now officially retired them after that. Deanne, I hope you are OK after your incidents.
I’ve recreated the scene where Bambi hits the ice for the first time twice this past week…I’m looking forward to losing the crutches.
Deanne (aka DREAMS)
Oh, man, I think that while everyone who has an ATR is supremely unlucky, those of us who are in the crutches stage during the winter months of rain and snow are the unluckiest of all! Sounds like you didn’t do any damage, thank goodness. And you guys who are thinking about drinking- rent a wheelchair 
It’s hard enough not falling sober.
Josher- that’s great news…I was given the ‘as much weight as tolerated’ until I can walk line at yesterday’s appointment. It’s weird that I waited 6 weeks, and now I’m nervous. I have only taken a few steps around the house, but I figure that since I am stuck in the house today (snowed in) I might as well test it out in small increments. I find it amazing how in only 6 weeks I seem to have completely forgotten the mechanics of walking :S
Have fun…
Deanne (aka DREAMS)
maryk, don’t get discouraged. Every doctor has a different idea of how their patients should go through the healing/recovery process. We are all headed towards the same goal. I have been through an ACL reconstruction also and it is very important to stay positive and stay determined. I am a firm believer that your state of mind can influence your body’s recovery.
I wish I had your doctor! I had surgery 2 weeks ago, too (November 19) and I just now have a cast and no weight bearing for 2 weeks.
littlefeeties, anything to you can do to keep the inflammation down
ultidad, thanks for the info. Putting a wedge in my shoe sounds like a plan. I can see how it will take close to week to go crutchless.
It took me one week from getting into the boot to being able to walk w/out any crutches, with a couple of days of using 1 crutch toward the end of that week. With a big heel wedge, it is pretty tough to get evened out with your other leg, but as you remove risers, it’ll get easier. I found that putting a wedge in the shoe of my non-injured leg (I hate saying “good leg”), helped to even things out. Congrats on making it to the next phase!
Uh-oh! I thought you didnt have to ice anymore after you got the cast on! eeekk!
I am so jealous! We are on almost the exact same time-line, but yesterday my doctor took my stitches out and put me in a cast and NWB for 2 weeks. Since this happens to so many people, you’d think there’d be agreement on the treatment protocol- maybe it’s because my AT was torn at both ends? Who knows- anyway I am glad for you, even if my boot-scootin’ days are not here yet.
Josh, sounds like your doc and my husband’s doc gave similar timelines (though my husband went into a boot a week earlier). My friend is a PA in a different state for a large orthopedic practice; she says that even within their practice, the doctors pursue different methods of treatment.
It is somewhat unnerving to read about other treatment that seems so different than what is happening firsthand — my pal assured me that it’s all just a different road to the same place.
Hi, Josh. I had my surgery on November 19th- just one day before you did. I am in a splint for 2 weeks, then cast for 6 weeks, then boot for I have no idea, I’m trying not to think about it. Lucky me, I tore my tendon on BOTH ends. Sheesh. I agree with you- it’s very confusing to read about cast v splint, early mobilization vs complete immobilization for months.
It’s only been 5 days and only you will know how you feel.
Don’t overdo it but also don’t underdo it.
I’d be worried about a DR would only stick with the text book, you know?
Sure I wish you such an awesome recovery but be prepared for bumps.
My story is very similar to stevem, I am 2 and a bit weeks post op, mine too tore in two and had frayed ends. I am wondering if there are any light exercises that one can do with toes or massage the calf muscle where possibl whilst in the cast.
I find the mental aspect to be worse than the actual injury, I get very depressed as I am unable to do most of what I use to do. I am very glad I found this site, gives reassurance when reading other sad tales.
“Well the first days are the hardest days, don’t you worry any more”
Mental aspect is def tough, esp if you’re used to being independent. i’m used to sleeping on my side, so when i had a cast on that was a little tricky. i used to rest my leg on some pillows at night, on it’s side. i found out that when staples were still in it was a little painful to rest it on the heel. as for day time television………let’s make a deal comes on at 10, then the price is right is next at 11, the dog whisperer comes on at 2, and then something interesting is usually on after that.
I’m 2 weeks post-op. I experienced the same dreams the first week. Seems like I woke up in fear every hour for the first few nights. I finally figured out I was waking up every time my wife moved, out of fear she would hit my leg/foot.
My tendon tore in two. The doc told me he cleaned up both ends (they are frayed after a tear) and sewed it back together using material that is much stronger than I could break. The cast is preventing me from being able to move my foot up enough to do any damage. I assume yours is the same.
The mental aspect of this injury seems to be just as hard as the physical. Good luck with the recovery. Keep us posted.
Hulu.com is your friend if you are in the US.
My recommendation is do nothing or as close to it as you can get…
Keep your foot elevated as much as you can, watch college football today, Pro tomorrow, and all the college basketball you can find.
Thanks for the replies. I know as much as I want to get up and get going I need to rest and give my body an opportunity to heal.
I’m a 4 time half marathoner (walking) and as impatient as they get.
BUT, take your time.
I’m 7 weeks out and I echo pender’s suggestion. Elevate, ice and REST!
Honestly it will pay off, so far my best progress has been with rest.
Enjoy the numbness….you are where everyone of us has been, but I assure you that the time will pass and you will be a little more mobile with each passing month.
Advice I would offer is to keep your leg elevated…the less you are up and about the better.
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