Kevin’s AchillesBlog

Not a whole lot to report this week. My improvement is still happening although much slower than it was. I’m seeing less and less change each week. I’m still doing the same exercises in Physical Therapy (Calf-raises, spin bike, leg presses, Weighted single-leg calf raises (40 lbs x 30), squats, all different kinds of one leg balancing and wobble board stuff, single calf raises in the water (almost ready to move into the shallow water), and treadmill. I still have the same pain in my joints on the top of my foot. I spoke with my Physical Therapist about Ankle Pronation, and she recommended some orthopedic inserts I have yet to try. Opinions???? She also started some kind of arch massage after my workout, that is painful, but helpful for a short amount of time. Hopefully, as my muscles, ligaments, and AT start to strengthen more I will increase my endurance and speed and decrease my pain (:Crossesfingers).  I also found out on Wednesday that my PT Tiffany is transferring to another facility closer to her home  So James will be my new (PT) who I know personally from church and from some of my MTBing friends. Hopefully, this is all for the better, and I know JAmes will keep me honest and on my toes.

I also had to take it easy this week, since I was strickened with a cold and sinus infection. So I took a couple of rest days to try to get my energy back. My biggest achievement this week happened today when I walked with the kids 3.4 miles (my most yet)! Maybe next week I’ll try 4

Most of this week has been the same old routine. Work, PT, cab driver for the kids. my physical therapist also began joint manipulation technique to belp with the pain and stiffness on the top of my foot (This is were most of my pain is). Has anyone else on Achillesblog had experiences with Joint Manipulation? Two other  significant things happened this week. I, managed to go out in my own shoes and celebrate my birthday with old hiking friends and Caskie at our Sushi joint, and today I tried my first hike since my injury back in May!

Physical therapy hasn’t change much although Im focusing more on balancing, and I started using the leg press machine.  With my water workout I started doing single calf raises in the deeper water, which is very exciting, although we obviously have a long way to go. With my land therapy I’ ve started weight training with the leg press in addition to my regular exercises: passive stretching, stair steps, calf raises on the wobble board (only 5-10 at a time), foam balancing, while throwing a 2 lbs. medicine ball, and my hip ROM exercises. At the end of my workout on Friday one of my therapists tried a joint manipulation technique on my foot to improve the flexibility and stiffness. Very painful, but very effective. She basically use her finger (with a lot of pressure) to move the joints in the top part of my foot. I’m still trying to keep up with my walking schedule and Im basically up to 2 miles. That brings me to the biggest development of the week.

I complete my first short hike Post-ATR today! My girlfriend (Caskie) and I went hiking at Saponi Trail, which is located at The White Oak Wildlife Management Area in Blairs, VA. It’s just a short 2.1 mile loop that follows a creek to the White Oak Lake, but a feat nonetheless for me at the moment. The woods and hills were beautiful from the snow a few days ago and it was good to get back and do what I enjoy. Although, I realized that hiking the trails is much more difficult than the hills in the neighborhood. Our only hang up during the hike is we couldn’t make it past the first creek crossing because the water was so high. We tried to walk down the creek to find another way, but ended up having to backtrack to the beginning of trail and started the loop backwards. I wasn’t able to finish the whole trail because of the detour, but it felt like it was an accomplishment even though it left me a little stiff and sore tonight. Here is a map of the hike.

SAPONI TRAIL MAP (Partial)

Here are a few picture from this afternoon.

Anyway, can’t wait until my next hike, I might try the mountain bike trails later this week. Time for some rest and RICE

Today begins my 14th week of recovery, and yesterday my physical therapist and I pushed my limits a bit.  I ended up paying for it the nextday quite a bit. Anyone else had this experience? Did anything help besides RICE? Because work was not  fun.

Yeterday we spent my land exercise time working on different balancing and strengthening activities involving my right “ATR” leg. We started with calf raises on the wobble board, which was difficult, but possible. Stairsteps on the double steps, which were easy.  Then, we used the ankle board standing up, which was impossible and Hurt a bit. After this we did a balancing exercise (standing on the ATR leg slightly bent and toe-tapping with the good leg at 12, 10, 8, and 6 O’clock and slowly bringing it back to the center to the bad leg. I also did 30 reps of 120lbs. with both legs and 40lbs. single-leg Calf raises 10 reps!!!! Along with my water workout And a quick 5 miles on the bike, which I always do.

All of this was obviously too much for my ankle I was worried a little after the workout because there was a little extra swelling, but I didn’t really feel the whole effect until the next day. My ankle was stiff and throbbing all day long today, and should of put my boot back on, but ai accidentally left it at home. My PT was too apologetic IMO and today we just did the hydrotherapy, bike, hip and ankle ROM and some stretching. This was the first day in awhile I had to take some of my NSAIDs. Lucky I seem to be feeling a little better tonight,  so lesson learned, small incremental steps and a continuous workout schedule. Hopefully in a few weeks this wont be as much of an issue. Time for some RICE and tomorrow I might wear my boot to work to give the ankle some more rest time so Ill be 100% by next PT appointment on Thursday.

Not a lot of changes this week other than continuing to ween completely off the boot.  I’ve been riding a stationary bike just under 5 miles or have been walking ( a mile) most days. I still have a lot of stiffness and weakness in the tendon and the calf, especially after walking. At this time the swelling is minimal, but all my shoes on very tight on my recovery foot. I might be hitting that plateau that many other members talk about, but my personal goal is to work on my gait, strength, endurance, and completely ween off the boot.

Today, I had another 90 minute ride up to my surgeon in Lynchburg, VA. I’m still having a hard time driving long distances, so a friend from work drove me up there.  The doctor basically said “we won the battle and the tendon is strong and intact”. He said the tendon about 2 cm wide and felt very strong.  He wants to pick up my strength/endurance training and continue to ween off the boot (maybe 7-10 more days).  He still wants me to wait awhile before any explosive exercise (jumping and sprinting) until my next doctor’s appointment, but he was very satisfied with my progress thus far. He said he expects a full single calf raise by the end of the 6 months, we will see.

I’m personally trying to spend more time out of the boot except at work, hope I can complete this process in another week or so. As far as physical therapy I begin my endurance and weight training, which means more work on the Treadmill, bike, and weights. My biggest issues have been stiffness and weakness in my ankle (obviously), and I think I might of done too many two-feet cal raises last night before bed. Any way here are a few picture from today to show some of my progress visually.

The back of my AT

My incision Week 13

Here you can see the AT together again between my two fingers!

Here is a comparison of the ATs of both legs

So :cheers to building up some AT and calf strength. Happy Healing bloggers

Question: Did any of you have to slowly transition to 2-Shoes. I do limp, but my ankle gets too sore for my daily routine and I need the assistance of boot at work and sometime when I shopping, or doing yard work? Any suggestions to improve this transition?

UPDATE: Today was my first day to try on my old cross trainers. Its a great feeling although after shopping I’m a bit sore and decided to put my boot back on for the remainder of the night. My shoe feels a little tight and walking correctly causes some slight pain in my heel. Its hard to not walk with a limp when my right ankle is much weaker than the other, but its still a great feeling being this much closer to total independence again.

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year.

The holidays are over and there were quite a few changes today. I finally driving again to and from work, my daughter to the Doctor, the store, physical therapy, and a number of other places around town. Its another great feeling to become more independent (Took my first drive and walk inside CVS to the Pharmacy without my boot today). The biggest issue while trying to walk is my ankle in noticeably weaker, so much that my stride is very short, kind of like shuffling around the floor.The only downside was so many of my errands involved taking care of my daughter who came home from vacation sick.  There were also many change with my physical therapy this week.

I started doing exercises at Physical Therapy this week without my boot on (another milestone in my book).  I did some recumbent cycle (4.5 miles in 10 minutes), step-ups, balancing on one foot, and half-squats. All of these exercises were new and I’m sure  Tiffany and Mandy will add a few more on Friday. I should also get my new home program on Friday also. I’m still working with the purple therabands, the Quad/Hamstring weight machines (75lbs / 90 lbs. 2 reps of 15), and the ankle board, but now my PT includes  30 minutes of Hydrotherapy. Most of my exercises were the same I did with my land workout, minus some Hip flexor stuff, but the big deal was getting on the under water treadmill! Although, I only walked 10 minutes at 1 mph, it felt great to walk “normal” and forget about my weak ankle/leg.   I have a feeling that I’m close to getting back to some normalcy, although I will be taking my first few step slowly and carefully until the doc gives me the all is safe go ahead. Hopefully, next week the surgeon will clear me for some strength training on my chicken leg.  I’m sure with all these new changes I will need some RICE tonight.

Happy healing bloggers.