So…I’m finding this blog site a little late… and I hope that others will benefit or laugh at my story as much as I have benefited from others. Some may question or laugh at my reactions to certain things…but it’s really how I am and I how I respond…just letting ya know!
Back story/Little Bit O’ Info about Me…
I’m Krystle I’m a 20 something female. In HS I was in just about every sport there was… I’m talking Soccer, Basketball, Softball, Lacrosse, Swimming, Track, Field, Football, Powerlifting, and Wrestling. I had all sorts of injuries to my knees, shoulders, head/face, ankles, fingers…but never anything super bug…No ACL injuries, no broken bones (besides fingers or nose) and I was in REALLY good shape. I got into a car accident and screwed up my back…kinda let go of dreams of being a star athlete after that. I stayed in shape though…I could run up a couple flights of stairs without the need to keel over. I was always the athlete who pushed themselves to the limit.
This was a whole new injury to me…still is!
I completely ruptured my Achilles tendon on June 16th at approximately 10PM…I was playing dogeball at my staff party. I originally had NO idea what I did… I heard a “POP” and then pain shot up through my left leg. I had jumped off the sidelines to catch a ball that ended up winning us the game. I held on to the ball for dear life and someone came up to me (I’m pretty sure it was my boss) and congratulated me on the win and told me we were playing another round. When I didn’t get up people knew something was wrong. I ended up sitting up and looking around. The only thing I could think I did was that when I lept I must have hit the bottom of the curtain wall that divides the gym. I got up and tried to walk it off which I did only mildly successfully. I spent the rest of my staff party hobbling around to the various other activities. At the end of the night I was in MASSIVE amount of pain. Me and my bosses talked and I told them what I was feeling. I also said it had to be something other then hitting the curtain. My one boss had said the “POP” I heard probably wasn’t me hitting the curtain but my ACH (sort for Achilles) coming off the bone. Ouchy! So, I wobbled to my motorcycle and drove quickly back to my apartment (riding a motorcycle with a torn anything hurts) and hobbling inside. I had a friend waiting for me there because we were supposed to go out…I looked at her and was like “So, I hurt myself at the staff party…we’ll go to the bar then I need you to take me to the ER.” I took 5 steps further into my apartment and then tried to balance on my bad foot and that’s when I couldn’t see straight after the pain hit…I ended up going to the ER right then.
I waited for three hours…not being able to get comfortable in any position because of the pain. Finally the triage nurse came up to me and was like “Is the pain that bad?” In which my sarcastic “Nope, I just cry for the fun of it..” warranted him grabbing my calf and me hitting him in the face/shoulder. I did not do it on purpose. He then gave me a shot of pain killers in the waiting room and about 15 minutes later I was getting wheeled back to an exam room.
They did some X-rays and also did the Thompson Test (to which I hit the doctor, again on accident) then she had me lie on my tummy and had me grab TIGHTLY to the bed while she poked and prodded my leg to the point of me screaming and cussing and tell her she was so NOT getting a Christmas card from me. They put me in a splint/cast and then gave me the number for an orthopedic doctor (the same who saw me when I completely dislocated my knee!) and I made an appointment. I got in a few days later and they set up my surgery for June 30th.
People kept asking me what happened and I would tell them I ruptured my Achilles tendon…then I would get some variation on “Ouch! How’d that happen” The first time I was asked this (by one of my best friends) I told them the flat truth…”Playing dodgeball” and he said “Oh…Cage fighting would sound much cooler..and possibly more believable of you” so to now…it’s an joke…I always respond “Dodgeball…UHM…I mean Cage Fighting!” I always end up telling the whole story though..
ANYWAYS>
I had a pretty standard surgery…I did have some problems with the anesthesia (they had to wake me up because I wouldn’t breathe and they had to keep telling me to breathe) and then I had lots and lots and lots of painkillers. The nurse didn’t believe I was in that much pain until I told her I could count how many stiches the doctor put in and I told her and was only off by two. I’m not normally one who needs a lot of painkillers…normally a Tylenol 3 will knock me out….but I guess I have very pain-sensitive legs. Anywho….got home, went back to sleep…slept for like 15 hours. Kept my leg elevated…sort of. Kept LOTS of ice on it for the first couple of days. Didn’t move around a lot. Stayed bed bound for about three days then started moving around a bit.
First Follow Up was ten days after my surgery on June 1oth… My doctor took out the stiches put me in a boot and set my next appointment for June 23rd. He says I’ll be able to stop walking with crutches and he’ll set up my PT then. I’m guessing he’s being a bit aggressive with my recovery process because he knows me…
So that’s where I’m at right now…I’ll keep ya updated though!