Therapy is going well- making progress every session. Was very excited to start adding leg presses and heel raises into the mix. I’ve made the jump into no brace at work and am trying to keep myself from doing anything to set myself back- which would be really easy. Also loving the addition of the Graston Technique massage- it seems to be breaking up the scar tissue really well- I feel like when I look down I have an ankle again!
Anyone have any pointers on getting this to work better? I have to write posts 3-4 times before they actually publish!
Anyway today was the long awaited first day of rehab- seeming to have a hard time getting appointments that work with my schedule 
It was interesting seeing the difference in ROM and measurements between my two ankles- Ultrasound to help with swelling and break up scar tissue, walked in two shoes to therapy room, recumbent stepper machine for 10 min, baps board, then e-stim/ice.
Makes me feel good that my therapist was a Track athlete as well, and her husband is a Physical Education teacher as well- so she understands how demanding my job is- and that my job has more physical demands than some others. She said what I already knew- that my road to recovery will be long, and blatantly stated that ATR rehab sucks!
Doctor said everything looks good, and next visit in 3 weeks. I also got my prescription for 9 PT visits. Went there hoping they would have something available today…… nothing that works with my work schedule till next Thursday!!!! Doctor also gave me the ok to try trying to go 2 shoes. I did some PWB with my crutches when I got home. I think that will help me get more comfortable. Till I find something (brace, etc) that helps protect my Achilles I think I’ll stay in the boot at work.
I swear my computer hates this site!!!
So anyway- I have progressed to walking in the boot without crutches, started pulling out my self made wedges one by one (btw a plantar fasciitis insole works great in a fixed 90 boot)
Dr visit next Friday and we get to talk about physical therapy. I’m finding I’m having to fight the workman’s comp company about “unnecessary” charges- like the bill for the anesthesiologist!
I’m sure they are going to love the bill for PT as well!!!
lol
Anyone have advice on something like an ankle brace that I could wear once I graduate from the boot? With my job I’m not all that confident I should be without anything right away- a gym full of hyper 5 & 6 year olds could lead to trouble!
So it seems everytime I try to post it disappears! So a quick recap of the last 3 weeks-
9/20 Cast changed OK’d to go back to work
9/23 first day back at work
9/25- Grrrr…… I woke up at 2 AM with cramping and blood. I knew it was a miscarriage- nothing anyone could do at that point and since going to the hospital would mean a)waking my son and taking him with us to the ER or b) finding someone to come over to stay with him. I called my OB at 8 am and we went in right away. Embryo was already gone- lots of blood work and shots (I’m RH-, Hubby is RH+)
9/30 start back to work
Today- 2nd post-op appointment cast came off and Doctor seemed pleased with how it is healing. I brought up Physical Therapy and he said we’d talk more about it in 3 weeks…. :(
So for right now I’m PWB “as tolerated”
On a side note chiropractic is amazing- I’m so glad I can afford to go again!!!
maybe 4th times the charm with this post…..
So yesterday I had my first post-op appointment. The nurse took off the cast and looked at the incision and said hmmm. I guess I don’t have to remove any sutures. I guess while my Doc is ultra conservative with getting my in a boot/PWB, didn’t use any sutures on my incision- only steri-strips. He said it makes for a better scar and less chance of infections from stitches or staples. I was recasted after he checked that is was holding together and made me push gently with my foot. Cast for 3 more weeks then the boot and physical therapy.
So as I head into the first weekend post-op, I’m reminded of how hilarious my situation is. I ate lunch and go to take my Tylenol 3 (down to 1 tab at a time) and figure I should take my prenatal vitamin while I have a full stomach. Yes I’m almost 7 weeks pregnant and I’m in a cast, non-weight bearing, recovering from AT repair surgery. Some people might figure it’s a dream gig- on paid leave from work, laying around all day long…… the truth is I’m going crazy! After the injury I figured I would use this time NWB to work on my abdominals and upper body. Now a little 1/4″ little developing person has changed all of that. I have to be worried about everything and anything that goes in my body.
Good news is that the pain has gone down quite a bit- although I’ve been trying to ice it very consistently. I highly recommend the Icy cold clay packs- the xl fits most of the way around my cast. I have 2 that I am rotating and it works pretty well.
So surgery finally did take place on Monday September 9th. I got to the hospital at 11am, filled out paperwork and was taken up to the 3rd floor. Why I had to be there so early is beyond me! My surgery was scheduled for 12:45, but I didn’t even see my Dr. till almost 2:00, as the surgery before mine had taken longer than expected. I had lovely conversations with the anesthesiologist about how even though the spinal is considered safe for pregnant women, there still were risks. I was also informed that the only pain killer I would be getting after surgery was Tylenol 3 with codeine. Ok, this should be interesting.
So a little after 2 I was wheeled off to surgery, of course they put some lovely stuff in my IV on the way to relax me. They gave me the spinal on the regular bed, then had me help roll myself to the operating table, They then started washing my leg- which felt really weird as the spinal started taking effect. I almost asked if there was a camera so I could watch, but the inside of my eyelids were kind of nice too. I didn’t fall asleep, just kind of rested my eyes a few times. The surgery itself didn’t take very long, I would say that they spinal and casting took longer.
So now it was off to recovery #1 to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait….. Apparently there are only two types of spinals- short and long, and for this the short would have been too short. So we were stuck with the long. My BP, O2 and HR were all great so it left my nurse very bored. Usually the stay in recovery #1 isn’t that long, and is usually people coming out of general. So my nurse broke the rules and gave me food! OMG it was after 4pm and I hadn’t had anything since 11:30pm Sunday night. I wolfed those graham crackers and peanut butter down like it was nobodies business. She asked if I wanted something else- Yes! Orange sherbet was delightful.. Finally around 5:15 they felt like I had enough feeling back in my legs to be moved to recovery #2. Now the fun part was that I had to be able to use my good leg if I wanted to leave. Poor Hubby had been waiting for a long time and as soon as I had seen him for a minute he had to leave to go get our son from daycare.
Around 7:15 I finally had enough control that I could get off the bed and into a wheel chair to go….. yes to the bathroom. Now the good thing about the spinal wearing off is that I could go home…. the bad was that I started having really bad pain! Whoo hoo, 2 Tylenol 3 was all the nurse could give me. This is going to suck I thought to myself, and of course the pharmacy at the hospital closed at 7, as do most pharmacies in our city… Quick search of the phone showed Walgreens was still open. Quick stop there to drop of the RX and then home.
The next day and a half is a blur of pain, sleep and waiting for the clock to show the magical 4 hrs had passed so I could take more pain pills. I did take an Unisom on Tuesday night to help me sleep- probably the best decision ever. I did wake up around 2, went pee and took my meds- then blissfully slept till 6 when my husbands alarm went off. I surprisingly felt way better this morning.
The cast doesn’t feel like it is quite as tight as it was yesterday in some spots and pain is manageable if I take the 2 Tylenol 3′s every 4 hrs. Hopefully the next few days are going to bring more improvement! Next steps are getting off the pain meds so I can drive and then back to work. Next Dr. Appointment is Friday Sept 20, since two weeks is a Monday and a surgery day. I believe I get my cast changed, and possibly stitches out.
So right now I should be recovering from a successful AT reconstruction….. should be. I go to the surgery center yesterday, after not eating since midnight, start the process of being prepped for surgery. As I’m getting ready to change into the lovely gowns and socks they provide, the nurse hands me a paper cup- since my urine test was more than 3 days ago I have to do another one. I pee in the cup, hand it to her and proceed to change. I came out of the bathroom and my nurse and another are looking at me with big smiles. I asked what was going on- you know the look someone gives you when they want to tell you something…. Well it seems that my pregnancy test was POSITIVE!!! What!!!! Honestly I think I probably turned as white as a ghost. So what does this mean for my surgery? After consulting with the anesthesiologist and my surgeon, they decide they need to consult with my OBGYN and get a blood test. Meanwhile, they call my husband back and I give him the shocking news. I get dressed, we leave with orders to go get a blood test at the hospital. I need food before that!!!!! We get fast food- not my normal, but when you haven’t eaten since 10:30pm and it’s now 11:30am, anything sounds good! I got the blood test and go upstairs to my OBGYN’s office. They assure me that they should be able to do the spinal and it will be safe.
So here I am waiting for the call for my time on Monday…… hoping morning sickness doesn’t kick in anytime soon, and wondering what this will mean for rehab….. I had wanted to hit it hard when given the ok. Guess that’s out for a good long while.
So the whole reason for creating this blog happened on the 4th day of school- 8/29/13, at around 9:45am.. I was demonstrating what I would call an extended skip- meaning skipping as high as you can, a move I’ve done thousands of times before, to a class of 6tth graders. Did I mention I am a new teacher in this school? Oh yeah, and their previous Physical Education teacher- oh wait I’ll call him what he was- a gym teacher, had let them play dodgeball and kickball almost everyday for the last 10 years.
When I landed I heard a loud POP!- at first I thought I had popped my new Air Max shoes, because my heel kept going toward the floor. I tried to take a step and my foot wouldn’t respond…. I crumpled to the floor and yelled for one of the kids to go get help from the office. I felt the back of my ankle and realized there was a divot where my Achilles tendon used to be. I immediately applied pressure to my calf muscle, had someone get me ice and waited.
I was escorted to the hospital on an ambulance (great exit from school, right?) where they concurred with my assessment- took x-rays to make sure the bone hadn’t been damaged, gave me a splint/crutches and prescriptions and sent me on my happy way. Of course I needed to call my Ortho, who of course was out of town. So I made an appointment with another OS in the same office, who could see me the next day.
It took all of 30 seconds for him to confirm the ER evaluation and bluntly tell me we would be making a date for surgery. I was fitted with a walking boot and told to stay off of it as much as possible.
So now we will see what happens on Wednesday when I have surgery to repair my Achilles
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