took-walking-for-granted
I was playing basketball 22 nights ago. We had a fast break going, the ball was passed to me on the right wing. I pulled up and took the shot. Landed and exploded for the rebound. I felt someone fall on the back of my legs just as I watched the shot go through. Nothing but net. I took another step and felt the guy fall on my legs from behind again. I thought, that guy is a clutz and needs to get off me. I looked back and no one was back there. My heel felt like it was stepping on a brick but when I looked down at my foot, it was flat on the floor. I thought that odd but tried to take another step. That’s when I realized the feeling of someone falling on my legs was just my Achilles crawling up into my calf every time I pushed off with that foot. No real pain though. I stumbled to the sideline. Iced it until I could see a doctor the next day. I actually worked the day after the injury, which is a fair amount of up and down and walking around for me. I hobbled around making sure not to put any pressure on that foot except on the heel. Still no pain and very little swelling. I thought there may be a small remnant of the tendon left as there felt like a string that was still tight on the medial side of where the Achilles was but otherwise just a spongy gap where the tough tendon used to be. The doctor took about 10 seconds to say I was correct in assuming I had ruptured my Achilles. He dispensed a knee scooter and ordered an MRI which confirmed a complete rupture. Surgery was scheduled (non-surgical was offered as an option as well) for four days later. Surgery apparently went well. The surgeon said it wasn’t a mop when he got in there and he could anchor the sutures better than he could with some other cases. Some pretty serious pressure and pain the night of surgery. It felt like the bandage was too tight - which the surgeon told me to expect so I was able to deal with it. Watching the Mavs vs. Spurs game 6 help me keep my mind off of it too. Other than the night of surgery I have had very little pain other than the one in my butt from not being able to get around like I’m used to.
I’ve asked a lot of questions about recovery time and ways of speeding up the recovery and/or maximizing the strength of my repaired Achilles. I don’t seem to get many solid answers other than the very general, "It’s gonna take a long time". My surgeon said he would know more after surgery. Of course I was in no useful frame of mind to ask intelligent questions or remember them if I did at that point. He scheduled me to see him again two weeks after surgery so I’m hoping for a more solid plan when I go back in three days.
I have read some other posts that are really bashing crutches. I have used crutches in very tight spaces but otherwise much prefer the knee scooter. My knee do get sore from the pressure on it but it’s much easier to get around on the scooter than on the crutches. I’m ready to get rid of both though.
May 12th, 2014 at 7:10 pm
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May 13th, 2014 at 3:15 am
welcome to the infamous club madeit!
You are going to have plenty of time to read up over the next couple weeks, but I’d advise you to go through some other blogs and get a feeling for what the next couple weeks are going to be like. Lots of great tips on things to do, including exercises that are safe while you are non weight bearing.
The widget here is a for a full year to recover, which is a good expectation to set in terms of recovery time. That being said, most people get to resume playing sports after around six months, although few are at close to 100% until the year is up.
The good news is that although the first four weeks are frustrating because you are immobile, I found they actually went pretty fast. As long as you don’t suffer with pain and make sure you don’t slip and fall, you’ll do fine. I also used a knee scooter instead of crutches almost the entire time and loved it!
May 13th, 2014 at 11:03 am
Madeit, welcome and sorry at the same time! I agree with smick that this site can be a wealth of information for you and your recovery. The first few weeks (the NWB stage) are the toughest, but it does get better. Once you get your head around the long recovery (and that may take some time in and of itself–it did for me), I’d recommend focusing on interim goals and milestones along the way. Last comment: it appears you have an incorrect date input into your ATR Timeline, because it says you had your surgery over 44 years ago (2314 weeks)! -David
May 13th, 2014 at 11:31 am
Not so sure about people bashing crutches in general, but perhaps using them all the time instead of perhaps the knee scooter at home, to use my personal experience as an example. Crutches are tough on the shoulders and neck when used in excess, in addition to holding up the leg. As smick states, reading other blogs really helps with tips and a better understanding of what recovery protocol might work for you. You’ll find vast differences in how different ATR’s are being treated by the various OS’s of the people on this blog. From casts for months while non-weight bearing to boot right out of surgery and weight bearing as tolerated - it runs the gambit. However, many people on here are armed with tremendous knowledge and research that statistically show the best results are following more recently updated protocols such as this one that I like:
uwhealth.org/files/uwhealth/docs/sportsmed/SM-27399_AchillesTendonProtocol.pdf
So if you get anything out of the blogs, is that if you find yourself being advised by a more “conservative” OS and protocol, you have great ammunition to go back to them and discuss, or in many cases I’ve seen already, switch doctors, to someone more up to speed on the latest recovery protocols for ATR’s. You don’t want to waste any time being uncomfortable when not necessary and at the same time be careful not to push anything.
May 13th, 2014 at 1:27 pm
Elbow crutches, commonplace these days in the UK, don’t seem to be considered in north America, although they are available.
They are more comfortable, are properly supportive, and are easier to ‘park’ because they are shorter. After a few weeks of an atr recovery even using a single elbow crutch can provide that comfort factor when on more uneven ground or in a busy place.
I tried a knee scooter too - it was very good and virtually hands-free, but because I was on a top protocol and FWB in under 4 weeks it proved an expensive purchase as I used it for under 10 days walking then as a mobile support when resting my leg. Will appear on eBay soon!