lonestar’s AchillesBlog

Yesterday was my first post visit to the doc.  13 days after surgery I went back in to get the surgical splint removed and have staples taken out.  According to all the signs I’m healing up nicely.  I’ve added pics of the incision site with and without staples so any newcomers can get a look at what’s in store.  Getting the staples out was easy and just felt like a few pinches so don’t be scared.  It looks far worse than it really is.  I’m actually glad that the surgeon cut further to the inside of my leg rather than straight down the back like I’ve seen in many other blogs around here.

So I’m now in a plaster cast which will be removed next week.  The doc said that I’m recovering quickly enough to possibly get me into a walking boot with partial weight bearing at that time.  Hopefully we don’t move too fast to get me PWB after just 3 weeks.

I also returned to work yesterday and as I’ve been sitting with my foot down on the floor more often I’ve noticed some purple toes telling me the circulation still isn’t great.  Spending a few minutes wiggling my toes and flexing my foot and calf while rubbing the areas of my leg I can get to all seem to help.  It seems that once the blood get flowing again everything is ok for a while.

2 week post op (staples in)

2 week post op (staples out)

I’m one week post op today.  The last time I took pain medication was day 3 and even then it was just a single vicodin because I was having trouble sleeping.  This injury and surgery have been far less painful than I thought they would be however, at times, it’s very uncomfortable.  This morning I awoke at 4am, after only 3hrs of sleep, with a huge cramp in my calf followed by a feeling like my leg was on fire.  At first I was worried that something was wrong but then realized that it was probably just nerves reconnecting and causing the runners cramp in my leg.

It’s been a rough week just sitting around the house.  Luckily the Euros are on and I can catch all the games live.  I beat all my video games, I watched nearly all the good netflix movies, HBO on-demand, redbox, comcast free movies, pay-per-view, etc etc.  I haven’t watched this much TV in years.

Yesterday I thought I would try to go back to work since I could sit in my office with my leg up all day.  I did not foresee the stress that driving would put on my leg.  I was able to drive comfortably for about 10 minutes before I could no longer find a comfortable position so I turned around and went back home.  I think I’ll wait until next Monday after my follow up with the doc to try that again.

I’m a 33 year old single guy who lives alone so it’s not easy to do some daily activities but I’ve found a few things that help.  I’m planning on writing another post to list some of these to maybe give some ideas to others in my situation.

Surgery was performed yesterday Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at the Seattle Orthopedic Center in Wallingford by Dr. Michael Watt.  It was full open surgery with a general anesthetic.  I walked myself into the operating room at roughly 1125PST and was texting my buddy Hank to pick me up by 1215PST and I was at home on my couch by 1330PST.  Apparently everything went well in the surgery and I spent most of the afternoon just watching tv and taking Vicodin in an attempt to get some sleep.  Sleep never actually came.

Yesterday there was no real pain in my leg.  Today however, there’s some pains in my leg that I’ve certainly never felt before.  I’ve had the leg elevated all day apart from quick trips to the kitchen and the bathroom.  There has been some burning sensations which I can only assume is my leg swelling inside my splint.  There’s also been some sharp shooting pains which I assume are some of the nerves reconnecting.  When the nurse called earlier today to ask how I was holding up I told her about these symptoms and she didn’t seem the worried about it at all so I’m going to try to just muscle through it.

Next visit to the doc is Monday, June 25, 2012 to get this splint off and get my stitches out.  Then I’ll be put into a hard cast to wear for a few more weeks.  FUN!

Thursday, June 7, 2012 I was playing indoor soccer at Arena Sports in the SoDo neighborhood of South Seattle.  My team, Real Mandarin, was taking on the Seattle Swindlers.  It was a close game going into halftime and I was personally playing well and felt good.  Roughly 4 minutes into the 2nd half I made a pass to the middle of the field and planted my left foot to make a run down the side for the return pass.  When I pushed off my left foot I heard a loud pop and felt like someone had just kicked the back of my leg.  I turned to see who fouled me but there was nobody there.  This was when I realized what had just happened.

After limping out to my car I sat there with the car running for roughly 15 minutes trying not to pass out from the shock of the pain and the realization that my life just took a dramatic turn for the worse for at least the next year. After pulling myself together I was able to drive to the Swedish Hospital emergency room which is located in my own neighborhood of Ballard in North Seattle.

As I walked into the ER waiting room I was luckily the only patient there. I told the receptionist that I had just torn my Achilles and everyone in the room seemed amazed that I was able to drive myself to the ER without passing out. They sat me down in a wheel chair and rolled me back to see a doctor. It took the ER doctor roughly 20 seconds to diagnose me with a complete Achilles rupture and suggested that I make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon the next day.

Those of you that have suffered this injury know exactly what I mean when I say that the sound and feel of a complete Achilles rupture is the stuff of nightmares and I’ve relived it in my head every few hours since it happened.