Mike’s Achilles Rupture and Recovery

Hi Everyone,

It’s almost past the 14th week of my injury. The fall scare three weeks ago moved my recovery back one week, but I seem to be on track now. I’ve moved into two shoes and is now using one crutch, although I can kind of limp around without the crutch. Physio wants me to use the one crutch to practice walking properly though. The tendon is still very tight and I’m doing a lot of stretches. The muscle atrophy is still significant, but I can almost do a heel raise while sitting down! School starts in 10 days, so I’m hoping to walk without a cane by then, since the campus is quite big and requires significant walking each day. Nevertheless, I’m very happy to be back on two feet!

Best of luck with your recoveries and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Michael

Had my first physio session on Monday of this week. Everything was good, massage + the electrical thingy + ultrasound, and I was to work on my ROM for the rest of the week. Things were going smoothly so far, and I thought I was nearing the end of this phase of my life.

Unfortunately yesterday, after a long journey to work (massive snowing in Toronto), the first thing I did when I walked out the elevator was slip on the super shiny marble flooring. (If you’re ever at the Manulife Centre in Toronto, they’ve gotta have the shiniest flooring you’ll ever see.) My left crutch slipped because of snow and water residue left on the floor and on the crutches. My injured left foot hit the floor toes first, followed by some intense pain (I had slipped before, but the pain wasn’t this intense) for a couple of minutes. (I was in the boot, but I didn’t fasten it as tight as I could have.) The first thing that I thought of was to take off the boot and hope that it didn’t rerupture. Anyhow, that ended my day, and I ended up going right back home. Performed the Thompson test at home, and the tendon seems intact, but there’s a huge purple/black bruise right above the heel just below the incision area.

I went to see the doctor today, and she similar did the Thompson test and concluded that it was still attached, but couldn’t tell if any damage was done. She says the bruising could be because alot of the scar tissue was stretched.. She said to wait and proceed as before (to WB as tolerated) and see if anything was hindering the healing process, if not, then there shouldn’t have been much damage.

One crazy week. Going to see the physio again on Monday, wondering if she’ll have some insights.. What do you think? Do you have any ideas as to the bruising or whether this slip will slow down the recovery?

Thanks,

Mike

I went to the doctor last Friday for the third post-op check up. Up till now I had been 9 weeks NWB. I thought the doctor would allow me to be PWB by now, but surprisingly she told me to go another 3 weeks in the boot NWB. That’ll put me in a total of 12 weeks of NWB.

I’m starting to remove the wedges in the boot this week, so in 3 weeks my foot should be flat. I’ve been trying to put some weight on the foot myself, since from what I’ve read on the blog, many of you have gone PWB way before this time. My left leg has shrunk to the size of my arms. I’ve booked a physio assessment next week and physio should begin in 3 weeks time. It seems like I’m getting close to the end of the journey, and will begin the recovery soon.

As of now, I’m justing waiting, being patient and hoping to walk again soon.

Hi Everyone,

I just went to my 6 week post-surgery check up. The hard cast was removed and replaced by an Aircast. The tendon felt tight getting into the Aircast, since the angle is around 60 degrees, rather than the 30 degrees of the hard cast. The doctor said to be NWB in the aircast for another 3 weeks followed by another check-up. In the meantime, I was to wear this like a normal cast and take it off only to wash the leg.

Just a few curious questions, would I still need to keep the foot elevated with this Aircast? Is the cast supposed to feel very tight like the hard cast, or could it be pretty loose like a shoe? Being a little paranoid, but is there a way to check if the tendon is intact? (The doctor said that if it was torn, you can feel a gap?) Should I be attempting to do some exercise, or just leave it alone? And since I’m going back to work on Monday, where do you keep the crutches in a car so that you can reach them easily when you’re getting out? (Passenger seat?) I would love to hear your experiences.

Thanks,

Mike

Just out of curiousity, has anyone ever wonder why this happened? My mind’s been wandering, and I’m trying to figure out why it happened to me. (Out of all the people that were playing badminton that day.) Is it due to the lack of warm up, or is it a genetic thing, or is it a lifestyle issue, or is it just random? How do we prevent a rupture in the future?

Injury update: It’s now one month post surgery and I’ve been watching way too much TV, and having too much free time to ponder about life. Foot’s still somewhat swollen, and I need to keep it elevated. Two more weeks until the cast comes off, and the Aircast starts. Work also starts in two weeks, and I’m actually somewhat looking forward to that.

Mike

It’s been 3 weeks post-op and I’m in a hard cast. Yesterday, I was reaching for my crutches, when I slipped and fell on my injured foot. It was quite painful, but the pain went away after I got up.

I’m wondering, how much impact would that have on the recovery? Would something like that cause a rerupture?

It should be unlikely right? since the cast is there to prevent something bad from happening..?

Today, the foot’s more swollen than yesterday and there is less range of movement in my toes especially the big toe. I called the doctor, but she won’t be in the office till tomorrow.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks,

Mike

I went to the clinic on Friday and the doctor took off the old plaster cast. It’s been switched to a hard blue fiberglass cast. The new cast is considerably lighter which is quite nice. I though the doctor would put the foot into a 90 degree position, but she only adjusted it a few degrees. She says I’ll be in this hard cast for another 4 weeks with NWB. So in total 6 weeks in a cast. Then she’ll switch me into a boot for another 6 weeks. I think she mentioned that she doesn’t want me bearing weight on the foot for 12 weeks in total. Is it me or does that seem a little long?

On another note, it seems my foot is still swelling. (After 2 weeks!) It had gotten better, but as of yesterday, the swelling’s coming back again. It seems okay during the day, but right before I go to sleep and when I wake up, my leg feels quite swollen. Which is strange since I have my foot elevated.. Am I not sleeping the right way?

As of now, I’m keeping it elevated and wiggling my toes, hopefully it’ll get better again..

Michael

Hi Everyone,

This is a continuation of the last post.

It’s been 12 days since my operation. The first two days were quite painful and I had to take some Tylenol-3 with Codine that the nurse gave me post surgery. I stopped taking the pills on the third day as the pain got better.

Up to now, I’ve been spending the last two weeks on my bed with the TV, Internet (AchillesBlog), and Books and Magazines. After spending so much time on the bed though, my back is starting to ache. The calf on the injured leg has also shrunk considerably. My next appointment is this Friday, where I think I will be switched into a fiberglass cast.

Help! I’ve been elevating my leg as much as possible, but while the calf does not seem to hurt, my entire foot seems to be swelling considerably. The foot feels very tight, especially after I try to wiggle my toes. The back of the foot and the heel seems to be swelling causing quite a bit of discomfort. Is this normal? Did anyone else experience something like this?

I appreciate any feedback or comments and I would definitely like to hear from you about your ATR experience!

Thanks,

Michael

Hi Everyone,

I’m Michael and I’ve wandered upon AchillesBlog after rupturing my Achilles’ Tendon. It’s such a great resource and it’s somewhat comforting to know that you’re not the only one out there with this injury.

This is my first time writing a blog so please bear with my writing abilities.

A little about me:

I’m 19 and an university student (from what I’ve been reading  this injury mostly occurs to people around their 30s to 40s). I was quite surprised afterwards about this injury. I’ve never heard of this injury before, and I have never been seriouly injured or gone to the hospital before. I am currently doing an internship at a bank. Although this injury would take quite a chunk out of my internship, the company gave me around 6 weeks of short term disability leave, and I am very grateful for this and the amount of support from my manager and co-workers.

How did it happen?

 I went to a friends church where there are badminton games (quite intense, not your backyard badminton) on Tuesday evenings. Maybe it’s the lack of warm-up stretching or too much exercise the previous few days (hockey + 2 consecutive days of gym), but around half an hour into the game, I was lunging forward to receive a drop shot, and I heard that infamous “pop” and I thought someone had thrown a basketball at my foot. Luckily, another person there had an ATR before and he was able to explain to me what had happened.

To the Hospital:

The ambulance came and I went to ER. I was transferred to the clinic when they realized my injury wasn’t life threatening. The doctor on duty gave me a half-cast and sent me home recommending surgery. The next day I booked an appointment at the fracture clinic. Two days after the injury, I went to the hospital and the doctor at the fracture clinic recommended surgery and I managed to have the surgery that afternoon, after they made sure I didn’t have any food for the anasthesia. The doctor stitched up the tendon and I woke up with a plaster cast.

It’s been 12 days post surgery. I’ve been very grateful for having such loving parents who has taken excellent care of me. I’m also thankful for all my loving family and friends. This injury really made me take a pause from the hectic pace of life and see and be grateful for all the things that you normally take granted for. I definitely will view simple actions such as walking or showering with more appreciation.

Also, I would like to thank this creator of AchillesBlog and all the community members that have contributed their experiences. It really helped to see that you are not alone! Your advices have also helped greatly in taking care of the leg and being more comfortable while recovering.

Thanks,

Michael