Lyss Grish’s AchillesBlog

June 14, 2013 - Just shy of 5 weeks post op

Cast off and into the Aircast walking boot (weight bearing as tolerated) and starting PT

My skin was VERY irritated and ITCHY when the cast came off - red bumps all over my leg.  Doctor said it was normal, the skin reacting to the air that it has been deprived of for so long.  I went to CVS and got some Hydrocortizone, it helped sooth the itching and I left my foot out of the boot whenever I was at rest to air it out.  After about 3 days the red bumps started to go down and the itch wasn’t so bad, so I shaved my leg… ahhhhh, that’s better! About 7 days with the cast off, my skin has cleared up almost to normal!

With the walking boot, my surgeon told me I could bear weight as pain allows.  The first day, putting weight down on my right light send a good amount of pain through my heel (bottom of my foot, not achilles)… Like a magnified pins and needles feeling.  But each day, I would “walk” with two crutches and put as much weight as possible without too much pain.  Each day I could put just a little more weight down.  I also started PT on Tuesday 6/18 and had a second appointment Thursday 6/20.  Very conservative ROM exercises with the foot, gentle tissue massage, and straight leg raises..  It all feels pretty good.  I can bring my foot up to neutral.

7 days with the aircast and I’m walking around work with only ONE crutch!

Day 8  I took a few steps crutchless!!

Today, (10 days after the cast off, exactly 6 weeks post op, and 2 PT appointments under the belt) I used no crutches all day!

May 23, 2013 - 10 days post-op

Splint off and into a hard cast for 3 weeks - No Weight Bearing, no driving, still out of work… Kind of depressing knowing I can’t really do much but wait it out…

May 13, 2013

It had only been a week and being out of work/not being able to drive was driving me crazy.  The 2 days before surgery my foot was really starting to to feel the pain.  It seemed like the Oxycodone I had been subscribed was doing nothing - I couldn’t wait to be put under Anastasia to take the pain away.

The surgery took about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Doctor says all went well.  In Splint for 10 days- Rest and Elevate the let as much as possible.  I was very COLD and just wanted to go home after the surgery.  I had no pain in my leg, as I had a nerve block done before surgery - no feeling from the knee down.  The nurse said it could be a few hours to 12 hours before I have any feeling back.  Also, start taking your pain killers as soon as you have feeling, she says.

I couldn’t feel a thing and was pretty much pain free the entire night… Just drowsy.  The next day, at about 9 am… quite possibly the worst physical pain I’ve ever had before.  I was taking 10mg of Oxycodone and still was in an incredible amount of pain.  Nerve block, gone =(  But, the next few days were much better, pain wise.  Lots of rest and elevation and playing scrabble bedside.

May 5, 2013

Playing pick-up basketball with a few friends; I was running for my own rebound, grabbed the ball and pivoted to the right.  I heard a loud pop and honestly thought someone had thrown a bench at me.  I fell to the ground, looked around and (hmm weird) nothing behind me.  “ahhh, ow, ow, ow… Guys, I think I did something bad…”

Friends: “oh you probably just rolled your ankle, get up and try to walk it of.”

Me: “Okay…” (hobbling quite slowly to the bench).

Friends: “It’s not even swollen, you’ll feel better in a little while.”

As we sit and chat for about 10 minutes, I zombie walk to the car, drive them home, drive myself home, and immediately start googling my symptoms and decide to go to the doctor rather than going to work at the part-time gig I just picked up.  Luckily, my doctor’s office was open until 5pm so I could go their instead of the ER. I get in at 4pm- pretty much right away the doctor tells me I snapped my Achilles and has me schedule an appointment with an Orthopedic Specialist the next day.  After that visit, an MRI, and another visit with a surgeon it’s finally confirmed…

The result: A complete rupture of the Achilles tendon - If surgery is the route I would like to take it must be performed within 10 days of the injury.

We went over both non-surgical and surgical costs/benefits and decided on surgery.  I am a pretty active 25 year old and I NEED to return to pre-ATR athletic levels, so I thought surgery would give me the best shot at that.

Surgery scheduled for Monday May 13, 2013 - 8 days after the injury.