Laurie’s achilles tendon rupture recovery diary

Got my cast off yesterday.  Actually, my wound doesn’t look nearly as gruesome as I expected.  All quite compact and bijou.  I am into my ‘Air-cast’ boot with 3 wedges.  I also have to wear a ‘night-splint’ which is like a little slipper.  I wore it for the first time last night and I didn’t sleep well at all as I could feel the wound rubbing against it every time I moved.  I suspect I will get more used to it over the next few weeks.  Walking in the boot wasn’t immediately a nice experience - it is really the psychology of putting weight down after 3 weeks of keeping it raised.  However, it is certainly a welcome relief to be able to now put some weight on my right leg.  I haven’t mastered going up stairs yet though - i do get a lot of pain in my heel and what seems to be the sole of my foot if I put all my weight on that foot - instinctively, this suggests to me that I just need to be really patient and use the crutches as much as possible.  Process here on in is:

next surgeon appointment in 4 weeks

3 wedges this week, 2 week after and then 1 and 1

First PT appointment next week - gentle gentle

Review continued use of boot after 4 weeks

Had a couple of cheeky glasses of red wine yesterday to celebrate what is essentially an important step forward in the recovery process!

Went to see my consultant last night.  He took off my original cast and put on a nice neat new one.  He is keeping me that for just 1 more week and then I am into the ‘assisted weight bearing’ stage in an Aircast boot for at least another 5 weeks, maybe longer I suppose.  The stitches coming out weren’t sore at all (a very slight nip perhaps) and he reckoned the wound was healing up nicely.  I actually resisted the temptation to look at it!  I am treating this as a small progress stage - this new cast is actually a little lighter and the angle of my toes is more comfortable.  Will definitely be celebrating getting my cast off though!

Before reading this post, please be aware that this is a tragic story of a women killing her husband that was printed in one of the leading UK tabloid newspapers recently.  As achilles tendon injuries are at the forefront of my mind, I read this and thought ‘OH MY GOD’, how cruel can someone be.  Anyway, for those who are not to squeamish, here is the link to the story:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1508333.ece

I have been ultra careful since the operation, which was about 9 days ago now - keeping my foot elevated pretty much 24 hours a day, not risking the stairs too much, eating well, no alcohol etc.  Today, my daughter managed to lock my wife out of the house whilst I was upstairs.  I hauled myself downstairs to let her in, put the crutches on the floor and didn’t see a stray toy car that one of the kids had left on the floor.  I hit it with the crutch and it may be lose balance, forcing me to put my bad leg down on the floor.  Whilst not being too sore, it feels all tingly up the back of my achilles and I have taken a couple of tablets to see if I can get it to settle down.

Presumably I am not the first person to have done this??  It just shows how easy it could be to go back to square one and I have read other posts about momentary mistakes or ‘over confidence’ that have really set people back.

Dear all

I am interested in your advice/viewpoint on 2 topics:

1) What have people (men in particular) worn to work when wearing an air-cast boot?  Do you just roll up your trouser leg or have you cut off your trouser leg? 

2) Has anyone tried out these shoes before - MTB, the ‘anti-shoe’.  The manufacturer claims it helps with several problems including tendon damage - http://www.swissmasaius.com/Products.aspx - I would be very interested to hear your views.

Thanks

Laurie

p.s. can you tell I am dreaming of weight-bearing