My left foot

Posted on May 16th, 2008 by karen

God, where was this blog 8 long weeks ago when I started this journey?! I am so-ooo glad I found this site. As the saying goes “misery loves company.” I had my surgery on March 12, 2008. I work as an ER nurse is a very busy metro hospital in Florida. My left ankle and leg hurt for the better part of year but I thought it was just from being on my feet for 12 hours a day, instead one day I had shooting white hot pain, couldn’t walk and I found out my tendon had ruptured. Less than a week later I went in for surgery. The Doc said it was one of the worse cases he’d ever seen. I had a nerve block inserted in my leg for five days post-surgery. That’s the way to go. I had a portable narcaine pain pump in a fanny pack that brought me a lot of relief. My entire tendon was blown, so it had to be rebuilt with a tendon transplant along with an upper calf muscle incision to loosen that muscle which was contracted. I also had a bone spur so that had to be removed and the tendon reattached through a hole drilled in my heel bone with absorbable screws. Unlike some of the rest of you, I work on my feet so getting back to work ASAP was a real concern. My doctor is agreeable to my returning to work after 10 weeks but just 8 hours a day, not 12 for a couple of weeks. The hospital is not happy. I’m a very active person so sitting at home for weeks with my leg elevated drove me crazy - and I was not prepared for the depression I felt. I spent two weeks in the post-op splint, and another two weeks in a hard cast, then on to the cam boot but I couldn’t walk without crutches or a walker. By week five I was in the pool playing one-legged water volleyball and swimming. The beginning of week 8 and I am finally walking without any apparatus of any kind - what a milestone! I’ve just finished week 2 of rehab (that’s killer too with the weights and stretching), but determined to go back to work on May 28. This is a great blog especially for those people early on in the healing process! Good idea

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2 Responses to “My left foot”

  1. dennis, on May 16th, 2008 at 11:15 pm Said:

    Karen -
    Glad to have you with us, and welcome to the 2-shoes club!
    I like the phrase: Recovery loves company! better. :P

  2. jmon, on May 17th, 2008 at 4:18 am Said:

    Karen,
    I think a lot of us can relate to your joy in finding this site. Dennis is doing us all a great service in maintaining it. I’m a member of what appears to be a rapidly growing group of us whose friends and family are getting tired of sentences that start with “well my friends at achillesblog say….”.

    Good luck with your recovery,
    -J

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  • brendan | May 19th, 2008 | 7:07 am

    Karen - after my morning stretch, my AT/heel feels at it’s best. But as you mentioned, the more I’m on my feet (either in the boot or shoe, the worse it feels…primarily sore heel as I can’t shift any weight to my toe yet because of the lack of calf strength. I don’t think the recovery curve is exponential…it’s more more linear, with the slope decreasing at each checkpoint (Boot, FWB, PT, Shoe, etc). Each stage seems to take longer and progress is harder to notice unless you look at bigger chunks of time. The good thing for me is to always remember that first few days out of surgery and I think, WOW! I sure have come a long way from there!

  • jmon | May 19th, 2008 | 12:52 am

    Karen,
    I’m 2 weeks in 2 shoes and still walking like the Tin Man. I keep telling myself this is a marathon, not a sprint, but it still gets frustrating.

    Stay patient. Your calf hasn’t forgotten the nasties you put it through over the last few months.
    -J

  • johnskier | May 18th, 2008 | 9:35 am

    Karen - just keep working at it. I’m at 13 weeks and not there yet. The ROM is fine. Strength is not there but getting better. I can now do heal raises and last week when I started strength work I could not. And my hip is weak so that affects my gait. Summing up: Patience is a virtue (and so is persistence).

  • johnk | May 18th, 2008 | 8:39 am

    Hi Drew,

    Normal walking will happen when it happens. I am getting there after 2 weeks in 2 shoes, every day it improves little by little,.
    The one thing i have learnt through this is to be patient and it will happen ! :)

    Johnk

  • drew | May 18th, 2008 | 8:28 am

    Karen,

    I’ve been walking in two shoes now for almost one week and my tendon is still very stiff and I have to walk with a big limp. I am also very slow. I too am wondering when this will get better and when I (we) can expect to have a more normal gait. When I have to walk any distance or go somewhere quickly, I put on my boot. I can walk pretty normally in that thing now.

    Drew

  • jmon | May 17th, 2008 | 4:18 am

    Karen,
    I think a lot of us can relate to your joy in finding this site. Dennis is doing us all a great service in maintaining it. I’m a member of what appears to be a rapidly growing group of us whose friends and family are getting tired of sentences that start with “well my friends at achillesblog say….”.

    Good luck with your recovery,
    -J

  • dennis | May 16th, 2008 | 11:15 pm

    Karen -
    Glad to have you with us, and welcome to the 2-shoes club!
    I like the phrase: Recovery loves company! better. :P

  • Mr WordPress | May 16th, 2008 | 4:30 pm

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