lesliekay's AchillesBlog

Ethan’s progress

lesliekay — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:39:01 +0000

This post is of my opinion and not confirmed by the Doctor (we see him in May). If we could cut Ethan in half, the left achilles tendon goes well past neutral and I fear that it has too much flexibility (or maybe that is the normal ROM), it grosses me out to flex it..lol. Even though I do have my fear, I will not concern myself too much about it right now. I have stopped stretching the left tendon so if it is loose, I will not make it worse.

The right tendon is still as tight as it was before the surgery. We do the stretches, he wears his inserts to keep his ankles in the neutral position, and he works it playing baseball. His arch has constant redness and blisters and the PA said that was due to the pressure to the arch trying to collapse…geesh. The right foot continues to turns out when he walks and he may always have that walk..who knows. The PT tech measured that one leg was just slightly longer than the other and that could be the cause. What is the next step if the surgery didn’t work for his right tendon? We will find out in May.

Final word from the PA…not hardly :(

lesliekay — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 15:02:57 +0000

Well, we went to the doctor to get the final verdict on whether the therapy worked. If one leg could be released, the left one would be. That stubborn right tendon is still tight. The PA ordered 6 months of at home stretching at night and for Ethan to wear the shoe inserts for 6 more months also. Bummer because those things for him are uncomfortable. Just as I said in the previous post, the bone above the right arch is being irritated from the splints (it’s rubbing a red spot there). The PA said that because his tendon was still tight, his arch was trying to collapse again. Hence, the pressure on that bone. We will reevaluate in May and either be released, or see what our next option will be. The grand news is that he is released to exert both legs just as hard as he can exert them and he does NOT need to wear his inserts/splints when he is wearing his cleats. Baseball, here we come!!

End of Therapy - mixed feelings

lesliekay — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:51:09 +0000

We have completed the 8 weeks of therapy and the results are in. Please forgive my termology as I am not familiar with these “big” words. His dorsiflexion went from +4 to +10 on his left and from a -6 to a +10 on his right. His plantar flexion oh both feet are about 70 degrees. The foot inversion on the right was at 18 in the beginning and now is 35 and on the left in the beginning was 28 and now it’s 30.

They put Ethan on the treadmill to watch him walk and run. His walking is better with a slight outward turn of his right foot. Running is not so good. He seems to be turning his left knee inward and leaning into his foot (putting extra pressure on his arch area) while the right foot is turning outward, whipping his right leg around, almost colliding with his left leg. They gave us a lot of strength exercises for his butt, hip, and thigh area. Hopefully as that area gets stronger, it will shift his foot back around.

We go to the doctor on 11/28 for our official results…in the meantime, I think I’m going to jump on board with these exercises too and get some upper leg action..hehe

Therapy Session #2 - the good, bad, and ugly

lesliekay — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:39:39 +0000

Good news is that Ethan’s left ankle has passed neutral and is finally flexing toward the goal :) Great news that I can actually see the surgery paying off. We are now teaching him how to use his new found flexibility.

Bad news is that Ethan’s right ankle is still tight but is at neutral. It needs more help than the left and it is still turning out.

Ugly news is that upon looking at Ethan’s right leg compaired to his left leg. The right leg is just about 2cm longer than his left. It appears that he does have the same calf muscle mass in both, but the right calf muscle is bowing outward (creats a curve) and the left muscle is growing straight. What concerns the PT more is that he can’t straighten his leg out. If he is sitting on the floor, he can’t touch the floor with the back of him knee. This could be the cause of his foot turning outward and the PT said that we could see a “whipping” around motion when he runs. I will have the doctor take a look at our next appointment.

Discouraged and fearful

lesliekay — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:26:19 +0000

Ethan had his 1st PT session. They took measurements and could only get him to 6 degrees below neutral on his right foot and 4 degrees below neutral on his left. This is where we were before the surgery. I do have to differ with them (but I’m not an expert). When we are doing at home therapy, he is able to do some of the exercises that he was unable to do before his surgery. He can now actually walk on his heels and the bottom of his foot is off the ground. That didn’t happen before, he could only pickup his toes. I am hoping that since he has been “frozen” for the better part of 10 weeks that maybe he just needs to be stretched out. She said that a normal person would be able to flex 10 degrees above neutral. Well, we have stretching exercises to do at home and we are to go to PT twice a week.

The first week, they could only see him once, so I scheduled the next week for 2 sessions and they called me days later and cancelled one of his appointments because they are understaffed and could only do 1 session next week. I am fed up! I am thinking about taking him to get a second opinion. There is an orthopedic clinic in Colombus, GA called The Hughston Clinic. I also noticed for the first time last week is that the right leg he turns out is underdeveloped compaired to his left leg this is from the knee down. He is still having trouble with his stamina and weakness.

To be or not to be released — NOT!!! No improvements :(

lesliekay — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:48:24 +0000

Ethan had another Doctor’s appointment to see if his gait and tightness has improved so he could be released for normal activity. Nothing improved. His gait is showing no improvement as he is still walking with his feet turned outward and he is still tight so no improvement on flexibility. The PA said that he does not normally order PT for kids like Ethan, but in his case, we are going to gait PT twice a week for 8 weeks to see if they can help Ethan work out his issues. The PA noticed like we have that Ethan is still “protecting” and “guarding” his lower legs and not allowing them to loosen up. Maybe the PT can help him with that. He still has wears his braces during the day, and now night splints, and then maybe he will be released. I am now getting nervous that after all Ethan has gone through with this lengthening, we will be no better than we were before the surgery.

Setback :( - Going to see the Doctor

lesliekay — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:46:47 +0000

I knew our good fortune with this process was too good to be true. I am calling this morning to get Ethan another Doctor’s appointment. Ever since he started walking last Wednesday, he has been dragging his right foot. He turns it completely out where his toes are pointing straight out to the side and he says that when he walks with his foot pointing forward, it hurts a lot. He is walking stiff legged. Also, it seems that he is still tight on his left and loose on his right. I am just concerned and hopefully we can get into a little therapy to help him out.

Ethan is walking - no boots, no casts

lesliekay — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:27:46 +0000

The doctor released him to walk in shoes with his braces for 4 more weeks. The doctor said that Ethan is about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. That he had really taken the time to allow his tendons to heal properly. Ethan is on restricted activity for the 4 weeks but if all goes well, he will be released for full activity on October 10th. The doctor said that he does feel some thickening on both tendons with areas of softness which meant that the area hasn’t quite healed, but no concern. After the 4 weeks, he may put Ethan in night splints but unlikely (still an option). So, after the doctor visit, we went to buy Ethan some shoes (Under Armour) and when Ethan put them on, the first thing he said was, “I can’t stand because my ankles are bending.” He said it so matter-of-factly. He has flexibility now and has NOT put those boots back on. Over the next 4 weeks, we are going to work on walking and endurance while walking. He is walking with still knees (but I think it’s more of him protecting his legs). After the 4 weeks, that’s when we will see if this whole ordeal paid off. We will put him into some kind of therapy (doctor doesn’t think he needs it), so we will do it on our own. So far, very pleased.

Ethan’s breakthrough

lesliekay — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:18:11 +0000

He is finally walking most anywhere. My mom brought him some crutches and he uses them to help him not to put so much weight on his feet and he is going everywhere. He is so excited finally to be able to go to the kitchem, bath, and outside. YEPEE!!!

Week 5 and walking

lesliekay — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:46:24 +0000

We have made it to week #5. Ethan had his 5 week appointment on Friday. He was able to get his braces before the Doctor appt. He is progressing very nicely. They are still stressing that he does not flex his feet upward to risk the tendons being lengthened too much. He can walk now with the braces fitted inside the Robo Cop boots. Our first thoughts were YEPEE, he can walk!!! Yes, we knew he would be weak and would need to take it slow, but what we didn’t anticipate was the pain that he has been in. Both feet in the arch area hurt very badly when he tries to walk. This will take time for subside because his feet has gone through a tremendous change. He does not want any help and he is grabbing onto everything he can find for support. I am going to see how he does today and if the pain is getting better, if not, I will get him some crutches for support. He told me, “See mama, my feet hurt but I’m not complaining.” He is tough and determined through the pain. But I think he’s getting better and he’s happier to have some freedom. He is only has stamina to walk from the living room to the bathroom and back. At this point, if someone were to ask me if I would do it over again, my answer would be most definately.

Ethan will be in the Robo Cop boots for another 6 weeks and 4 weeks to his next Doctor’s appt.