mbow4502’s AchillesBlog

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I’m trying to work out how to post a blog too! Can anyone help?

How do I post a blog. I’m new at this…Says i need to go to the dashboard and use the orange pen…I can’t find the orange pen????

I would try to get a waiver. Can you lift much anyhow? The waiver would stipulate that you can’t live anyting heavy. OSHA requires one to evaluate the exposure in order to have to wear “safety toe” shoes. I don’t think modifiing anything would make your boot meet the ASTM safety toe shoe tests. Wearing safety toe shoes in normal manner would be the only way they were tested and only way the manufacture of the shoe says they are proven to protect your toes. See if the safety person would write up a waiver outlining your lifting restrictons etc. in order to get you back to work

If you really understand the forces on the boot and on your ankle, calf, and AT, you may well be able to kludge something together that will satisfy your Doctor AND your leg! But if you use typical engineering-style “simplifying assumptions” that are too simple for your leg, you may wish you’d just taken another few weeks off work.

Steel toe safety shoes are a requirement to work out on the flightline. I am a systems guy and most of my job entails running cables and hooking up a laptop. During normal day to day activities I am not working with heavy objects, but they are in the area, hence the requirement. My brace is the Bledsoe Flatform, a foot bed with two bars that go either side of he calf, my steel toe shoes are low quarters that look like a hiking shoe. What I am interested in doing is cutting the liner out where the foot is and leave the section that wraps around the calf. I would put on the shoe and strap it on to the brace. Functionally the brace will be doing its job and the only difference might be my foot is a little bit higher off the platform due to the sole of my shoe. As I play this out, I will probably have to get a note from the doctor saying this is acceptable to satisfy an HR requirement.

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Re: Is there a product out there that does this already? Maybe. Search online, you may get lucky. I’d be a little worried about the hazards that necessitate the steel toes, and what they might do to your injured leg. Maybe a size 14 S-T boot would fit over your ortho boot? If your ortho boot is fixed (not hinged), then it’s not very different from a stiff high construction boot. Probably the biggest difference is the sole, which is usually rounded like a rocker on an ortho boot, so you can roll from heel to toe without any flex. There are products for sale that have similar soles, including Vaco’s EvenUp and their removable boot soles…
Of course none of this is as safe as staying home until you’re in 2 shoes, then using your own ST boots (my first choice). And I’m guessing you’re not looking for your OS’s blessings on your plans?

Sounds like you are doing well- yes as soon as you get a boot the first shower and getting to wash the leg is the best.
Crutches really can be frustrating, they so often seem to get in the way and definitely leave some sore spots on the upper body. The downside of not using them is that it is very tough not to limp!
I ruptured for the first time over 15 years ago and hobbled around in a cast. By the time I was out of the casts I had a limp that was far worse than it needed to be. Learning to walk without a limp is not that easy.
This time around I am in a boot, FWB and could easily ditch the crutches. I am happily hanging on to them (often just 1) and walking slowly and as smoothly as I can in the hope I will skip a lot of extra PT work after the boot is off.
You are so right there is a learning curve, not just with aids like the Iwalk, but with the whole recovery marathon. All the best!

Thanks David. Yep, five days in a Korean hospital, good and bad to things to say about it. First the good. I had an IV for most of the time so staying hydrated was a non issue. This also made drugs easier to administer, anticoagulant, antibiotics, and my favorite, Fentanyl (only two days post op) for the pain. I have to say if anything else bad was lurking around inside my body, it was dealt with. Didn’t have to worry about meals, three squares a day, but it was all Korean food, kimchi, rice, veg with soup. Had 24 hour nurse care if needed. I didn’t really require much attention and they were always popping in to take blood, check blood pressure anyways. In retrospect, since I live by myself, hanging out in the hospital for a stay wasn’t so bad of a situation.
On to the bad, one of the side effects of the pain killer is that it stops up the digestive track. To put it mildly, I was full of it, enough said. After five days, six if you count admission and pre-op, of Korean food, I never wanted a pizza so bad. Six days in any hospital is enough to tax anybody, I was beyond ready to checkout.
A few other comments. Korean

Wow!–5 DAYS in the hospital for ATR surgery? In the U.S., you’re in and out same day–I was in and out in 5 HOURS! Nonetheless, it sounds as if you’re on a fast, modern recovery protocol, so that’s good. Also, FYI, they do make re-usable shower bags to cover leg casts–they have a flexible, but secure rubber ring at the top of the bag–and they work quite well (about $20 USD). -David