Achilles Tendon Rupture
I ruptured my achilles at netball whilst showing my daughters netball team how to dodge…lol….I enjoy running and have been doing so since I was 15 and mostly on the roads. I am not an athlete by all means but have always enjoyed exercising. I am 45 am quite active. Running has kept me sane and helped me maintain a healthy weight range. However I was not running regularly and when I did this I did not stretch properly!!! Now I reflect on things I have done to my body I do feel sorry for my poor achilles and the strain I have put on it over the years. Anyway, I had gone for a run on a cold winters Saturday morning, umpired 4 netball games and then proceeded to do a demo of how to ‘dodge’. Then snap!!! It felt like I had been stabbed in the back of my ankle…the pain was insane. My husband took me to A&E and I was placed in a cast for 2 weeks. There was no option I was told I would be undergoing the non-evasive approach. 2 weeks later I was placed in a moon boot..4 days in, I slipped and I felt it pop again!! I cried. My PT told me to go and get an MRI and they found that I had a huge gap between my tendon and that I needed surgery. I was so scared. It happened just like that. I went to hospital on a Monday to see an orthopedic surgeon as the Doctor managing me went away on holiday!! I had to return the next day for possible surgery if they could fit me in. I was so unprepared. Lucky I had my Mum to hold my hand. I arrived at 8 in the morning not knowing what to expect and went into surgery at 10 am. It went well however what was not nice was when I woke up from surgery and I could feel every single stitch and cut in the back of my leg. The nerve block medicine did not work…Its now day 3 post op and I’m at home…healing 
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I’m sorry the nerve block didn’t work! I assume they told you to ice (behind the knee) and elevate. You can read a lot hear about the process you’ll be going through (with variations based on what your particular doc likes to do - LOL!). I was lucky that I never really had any pain. Took the pain meds when indicated so they would be in my system when the painkiller they gave me during surgery wore off. Took them for about 5 days, then went to 1/2 dose for about 3 more days then just tylenol. Never did have any pain and my doctor told me this would be the most painful surgery every and he was sorry it was my first surgery ever. LOL! I gave him a hard time for telling me that and giving me a scare. He said I had high pain tolerance … whatever! Good luck with the healing! The NWB stage is definitely the longest mentally!
Sorry to hear of your injury but welcome to our club of the unfortunate! Being non-weight bearing is the worst - the boredom of being on the couch and the difficulty of doing simple things like brushing teeth while standing on one leg. The good news is that every day is better than the one before. Hang in there, good luck, and please keep us posted on your progress.
Hello I just replied to myself. ..lol…don’t even know how to delete it….
Hi sorry to hear about your injury. I had my surgery 2 days ago and unfortunately my surgery didn’t go according to plan as my Achilles was damaged beyond repair and they couldn’t do and fhl graft as that was damaged as well so they created a flap from another tendon in my foot and pulled in theough. I’m now in a nwb cast for a min of 3 weeks and in a cast for anoth 6-8 weeks befor they will even consider putting me in a boot. This is my 3rd rupture of the same Achilles. Rest and elevate as much as possible is my advice to u Hun. Don’t try and rush it. Ice behind the knee is good. I’m suffering with terrible calf spasms at the moment which is agony at the moment but I have some great drugs from the docs!! Good luck with ur recovery
Thank you for your kind words. Keeping this blog is a great way to pass the time and it also helps others in a similar situation. We are all there to help each other which is great. Getting over the boredom factor is the hardest thing for me as I’m used to being so active. Once I am able to weight bear it will be a lot easier but the Drs have just increased the length of nwb to min of 4 weeks and I have to keep my leg up at all times. Lots of box sets for me!! Thankfully I have a great family and awesome network of friends who are always popping in. Xxx
Hi. have a question. I am 5 weeks post surgery, just removed my cast and on to the boot. I experience pain with the boot around my incision, some broken skin i guess its friction. Did you experience this?