12 week mark……..&… OLCR !
(this post is a week late ☺)
Well I cant believe its been 12 weeks since my surgery but the calendar doesn’t lie.
Crutching around seems like a long time ago. Since getting out of my walking boot at 9 weeks things have really moved on and I thought I write this to give some info for those behind me.
My AT seems to go from strength to strength. I’ve found just walking and doing normal stuff seems to have been great for stretching and working it out. I’ve forced myself to go up stairs normally and after a couple of goes managed fine, now I don’t even think about it.
Finally rode my big motorbike (Triumph Speed Triple) for the first time around London and now use it all the time ☺ Last Sunday was my first time back in the gym and my physio gave me a workout program of squats, heel raises, stationary bike, hill climber, wobble board etc. I’ve been riding a push bike on the road since week 7 so that’s helped. But today I pushed around 165lbs on the scales which is has come about really quickly. When I started last week it was only around 120lbs
I am please to say I have got to the stage where I sometimes forget about the injury which is a blessing. In fact I do forget, as I found when trying to take a short cut to my sister’s front door, I put my foot on top of the low wall in front of the house and then jumped over…..ouch !!! It’s generally just when I first start to walk I can feel the tightness in the AT. After a good gym session I can walk totally normally although my calf muscle is definitely worn out by then.
Last week I was joking around trying to do a one legged calf raise and did it ! I was really surprised and almost scared to do it again ☺ So haven’t but have pushed my gym training a lot harder since. Here’s a picture of my calf after 11 weeks and before I even started in the gym.
To help others behind me I have a quick summary of some of my experiences.
This site has been brilliant and I checked it and read posts hourly in the beginning then daily and now almost daily. One thing is clear everybody seems to heal at different rates and every surgeon has their own protocol. So I can only give my own experience of recovery.
1. Get a Limbo or cast protector as soon as you join the ATR club. You can shower immediately and that makes life at least feel better ☺ Took me 2 weeks to get one and I regret not having one on DAY 1
2. Don’t get down with this injury, it will test you, scare you, but you will come out of it and you’ll be stronger and certainly respect your lower leg/feet more.
3. Take motivation from those ahead of you on this journey, its great to know other people have been there survived, and are now back to normal activities
4. Everyone seems to recover at different paces. Listen to your body. I never pushed my foot so it was painful despite doing as much as I could everyday.
5. I was bad at icing and have only done it about 5 times. My ankle gets a bit swollen at the end of the day but its getting less day by day.
6. Use the time you have wisely as once you get back to two feet you’ll have a lot of catching up to do and life will be more hectic trying to make up for lost time ☺
7. Don’t drink too much, not because alcohol stops recovery, but because you’ll either feel great and walk normally and hurt yourself. Or wake up and freak thinking any new pain you have is due to ??? you did the night before ☺
There’s more but I’ll finish here as this post is way too long already..
Happy healing everyone… Jules
Sounds (and looks) great, Jules! Don’t stop!
HI Jules,
Glad all is going well, I’m 7 weeks in and just started walking with one crutch, it’s amazing how ‘quickly’ things start happening when they do, my first injury and like you I’v looked after myself, I do feel like I’m coming out the other side now.
Good luck with the rest of your healing.
M
http://meandmyachilles.wordpress.com/
Cheers Norm, Its getting better all the time. This week the muscle seems tight all the way up my calf now as opposed to a bit saggy if you know what i mean. Just got to keep building it up
You never really post about your AT ? I know the heart problem got in the way but how is it?
Hope you are healing well - Jules
I think I’ve updated about my AT (SOMEwhere here), but there isn’t a lot to report. My OLCR is still wimpy and difficult. But my Cardio Rehab has recently added some jogging to my (supposedly) daily exercise routine — it’s now “walk-jog”, 7:1 ratio — and the jogging feels normal and fine as far as my AT and calf and ankle are concerned. I’ve still got some CV-fitness recovery to do — it’s another slow-but-steady “marathon” added onto the other one.
The jogging feels good enough that I’m hopeful that I’ll be back at competitive volleyball in the Fall, playing with the 30-somethings again (at 67!). I don’t know if the wimpy OLCR will translate into a “vertical” deficit at the net, or how much (compared to the REST of my aging body!). I think I’ll find out!
Wow look at that calf definition ;P hehehe. Glad to hear you are doing well at 12w post op, hoping that I will be doing just as well when I get to your stage, but like you said, everyone heals differently.
Can’t believe you only iced 5 times - in the past few weeks I tried to ice twice daily, once during the day then once before I went to bed. During the few weeks when my AT would ache a bit it really helped. Last night though I iced and it just seemed way too cold and not soothing… I’m taking it as a sign that I don’t have to ice as often!!
Norm it’s nice to hear your heart is going well. I think it’s great that you are planning on going back to volleyball and holding your own with the younger ones hehehe