merschel’s AchillesBlog

Glad you’re doing well and ahead of schedule!

You might check with the doc if you can ride the stationary bike without the boot. If you have access to a recumbent bike he’s more likely to be OK with it since it is harder to dorsiflex too much on a recumbent. That’s what my doc had me do before I was 2 shoes - I could ride the recumbent bike with a shoe rather than the boot.

Thanks for the tips and info!

Doctor got back to me today, and said I can sleep sans boot. Pretty excited.

You should get Evenup for your uninjured leg. It is a platform you put on the shoe of the uninjured leg and it, as the name states, evens you up and gives you balanced gate as you walk.

I had to continue using a night splint until week 10. Not sure why - but since my recovery has gone very well so far I’m not going to second guess the reasons. Hard to say when you’ll get the OK for night time freedom since it varies by doctor.

Shell - My doc won’t allow bare feet until month 4. I’m a barefoot person too! The closest I can get now are my high heel clogs - LOL! At least I can wear those with bare feet and they have enough lift with the heel angle. Of course who knows when your doc will allow bare feet.

It sounds like you’re doing really well. It does feel great to be productive. I’ve been using only one crutch a lot of the time, and even got down to no crutches today for a short time. It’s amazing how much more you can get done when you have hands!!
I’m anxious to get out of the boot as well. I’ve been able to sleep without it for almost 3 weeks now (surprisingly, that took some getting used to). My right hip (S.I. Joint) can take about 12 seconds of uneven leg length before it starts to protest, so I’ve been wearing a running shoe on my good foot constantly to even things up. I’ve never had to have any heel wedges in my boot, so the shoe does the trick. BUT…I hate shoes! I’m a bare foot person! I’m more anxious to be allowed to walk in 2 bare feet than in 2 shoes!
I hope your next week is as good as this one was!

If a recumbent bike is available you might try that instead. My doc OK’d using that (but not a stationary bike) with a shoe when I was NWB. I did NOT push with my bad foot since I was NWB, just rested it on the peddle which helped a lot in being able to work the other leg. I also used it with my boot on but the boot kept slipping off which was very annoying. If you have rowers in your gym you can use that as well. I kept my bad leg in the boot and on the floor but could still get a good upper body, left leg workout. As I was getting closer to my 6 week mark I tried putting the booted foot on the rower. Initially it would start bugging me after my first 500 yards so I would move it back to the floor. As I got closer to PWB time I was able to keep it on the rower. Definitely don’t try the rower with your foot in the shoe until you are boot free and get an OK from your doc. I did it for the first time yesterday and had to back off a bit on rowing since it really causes your ankle/foot to flex. As my foot/ankle get more flexible I’ll row harder but I did not want to set things back at this point since my doc warned me that th

Great news, I’m on the same boat as you. My surgery was on April 6, 3 weeks out and now I’m in a boot. I can start PWB and PT next week. Just like you it feel great for these for the small accomplishments.

What kind of surgery did you have?
I had the PARS minimum invasive surgery with fiber wires anchored to my heel. Suppose to be a stronger and faster healing….

Thanks for your update… Happy healing….

I wore my boot on the recumbent bike initially. The doc emphasized to use the recumbent bike to me. Since I’m walking now the doc said I could use my shoe on the recumbent bike but I don’t strap in my right foot and don’t push hard with it unless I’m down at the 4 resistance level or lower. Anything higher gets achey. I’m not supposed to be doing anything strength related exercises except walking right now. I tried using the shoe on the rower but that just makes it ache too much so I keep it in the boot on the rower right now. I actually get a better workout on the rower as well since it’s arms and legs

Thanks! I’ve been hitting the gym a few times per week and working upper body. I’ll add a post about it to blog, but I saw the doctor again yesterday, at surgery + 17 days and he said I could do the stationary bike as well, as long as I didn’t flex the foot past neutral.

Ughh, sounds similar to what happened to me except that I had warmed up really well. My tendon was already stretched and preloaded when I came down to that “pop” followed by “who in the Hell landed on the back of my leg?”. Like you I had minimal to no pain. Try to stay positive and go and do upper body workouts to keep a semblance of sanity. You are going to come up on a time where you have no energy at all from lugging around the cast/boot, so the gym is a helpful distraction.

Sorry to hear your renewed weight loss/better health regime was derailed like this. Best of luck with your recovery.