About me: I am a 45 year old active female living in New England. I have been struggling with chronic AT tendonosis for years and have gone through all the traditional non-surgical treatments that are out there. Over the past year my left achilles has broken down to the point where I was in pain every day and had to stop any impact exercise/activity and also could not x-country ski. I finally broke down and went to see a specialist and we decided the best course of action for me to be able to do the things I want to do was to resort to surgery. He recommended an achilles debridement with tendon transfer. After much research and soul searching I agreed and scheduled the surgery. following is an account of my first few weeks- hope it helps others know what to expect!
Surgery Day: After 2 months of preparing and waiting surgery day finally arrived. I was all set. House set up for me to be disabled, work schedule cleared, and family prepped. I rented a knee walker and also purchased a used tempurpedic adjustable bed (in hindsight this was the best decision I have made in a long time!) to put in our livingroom close to our bathroom for my recovery. Nothing to eat after midnight and only clear liquids after that up to 4 hours before surgery. Got registered at the hospital and things moved fairly quickly after that. They had me put on this johnny and slippers and pack my stuff in a plastic bag. The johnny had a hook up that fed heat in to it which was great since the pre-op area was quite chilly. They took my vitals and hooked me up to an IV. The Doc came and talked to us and marked my leg for surgery. Then came the block. This was actually the most painful thing about the day (and it wasn’t really that bad.) They put a needle in the back of my leg and then in my inner thigh that bathed the nerves with novicane to numb my leg and foot almost completely. They gave me some valium through my IV to relax me and then wheeled me in to the operating room. I was down in no time with meds administered through the IV and don’t remember a thing until I woke up in recovery. I was in a bit of pain at that point so the nurse gave me an oxycodone and put something in my IV that helped immediately. There was a HUGE splint on my lower leg which consisted of an open splint with a hard bottom and packed with some kind of casting material (soft) on the top to allow for swelling. After a bit they put me in to the second recovery area where my husband could join me. They fed me and let me use the bathroom. I had felt pretty good up until the use the bathroom part - once I started moving around I got really nauseous. They had given me meds for nausea before the operation but they did not work 100%. I felt awful. I had to endure this feeling for the entire 2 hour ride home which was not fun!
I felt better once home and in bed. My leg stayed completely numb and pain free for 24 hours. I did start taking pain pills to make sure that the pain did not surface during the night. In the late afternoon of day two the block started to wear off. The pain was very manageable. The pain meds were making me very sick though. Had a challenging couple of days but then things started to improve. The most uncomfortable part thus far are the random muscle spasms that happen just as I am going to sleep. They happen all over my body and often in my operative leg. It is painful and annoying at the same time. I am told that it is normal an should subside in a few weeks.
Week 1 and 2
I don’t think I have ever spent this much consecutive time in bed in my entire life! The two weeks after my surgery are almost over. I have started to work 1/2 days sitting in my bed with my computer in my lap. I find that whenever my leg is not elevated it quickly becomes painful. I have read, attempted to learn to knit, and have played more stupid games on the computer than I wish to admit. I hate being reliant on others to wait on me to get what I need and have to keep reminding myself that I chose to do this surgery and that my positive attitude is key in my recovery.
The pain I have is very manageable. I don’t take pain meds except at night to knock me out so I can sleep. Have been doing leg lifts and other seated exercises daily and am feeling strong on my crutches and knee walker. The swelling in my leg is nill. I can move my toes (except for my big toe which was involved in the tendon transfer). I can feel what I think must be my stitches rubbing against the splint and can move my foot around quite a bit inside the splint. I have had one accident while on crutches and had to put some partial weight on my operative leg - it was very painful and reminded me to be extra careful as I move around. I am looking forward to my next appointment which is in a few days where they will remove my splint to check my incision and remove the stitches and put on a hard cast. I am told that it will be 8 weeks before I am allowed to put weight on my foot - if that is true I am only 25% through this first part of recovery. So far, so good but 8 weeks is a LONG time!
