michelle153’s AchillesBlog

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December 17th, 2012 by michelle153

I suffered a ruptured ATR on the 28th of June while playing netball on the hard courts. I didn’t stretch or warm up prior to my game, unaware of what the consequences were. Unfortunately, the facilities on a remote island (though very beautiful) are insufficient so the Doctor and physio as well as myself just had to make do with what we have. I did not have moon boots or any other kind of boot for that matter. We don’t have massage therapy (equipment or personnel), or any mobility aids other than crutches. No fancy stuff. After my surgery on the 3rd of July i was put in a back-slab which is plaster that is only applied from the bottom of my foot near the toes and just over my ATR; and no plaster over the top of my foot or leg. That caused a lot of issues for me - the plaster would move around a lot and it didn’t hold my foot in a downward position like it’s supposed to. But the Dr. recommended we do this rather than a full cast (me being naive, i listened). My appointment was postponed from the 6th to the 11th of July. When i finally went up for the checkup we found that the skin around the wound was decaying, the flesh was white and didn’t hold very well. Therefore, almost all the stitches came out due to an infection and the wound was opened due to the unstable cast moving around on the stitches. That was the last time we were consulting that Dr. my mum would say so we visited another and made an appointment. He gave me the option of stitching it again or just using steristrips to hold the two ends of skin together. He highly recommended the steristrips because he didn’t want me to go through the pain again, and neither did I. the wound itself healed a couple of months later. In the meantime we had to drain the fluids in my leg manually (OUCH!) whilst applying antibiotics to help and mum would squeeze the 2 pieces of skin together while my partner quickly put the strips on. I used the sea a couple of times to practice walking when I was around 16 weeks post-op (roughly). Other than that i learned to walk on my own, i started off standing on it with minimal weight and slippers with heels (as i said - no fancy stuff). It took me about another month to walk with confidence without the crutches and another month after that to walk without a limp. My key method was to listen to my body; if it got sore or swollen i would sit for a few minutes and try again. If it got too sore i would call it a day and put my leg up to reduce the swelling.

Nowadays, there’s no swelling at all and i walk with no limp and tippee toe on my ATR just a week ago. Though that does NOT go to say that I don’t need more work on it. My muscles are still weak. I visited a physio on a work trip in Fiji where she told me my ATR Achilles was slightly lengthened because i didn’t have the full cast for 6 weeks immediately after surgery. The wound is still vulnerable to tearing even now (6 months later). I haven’t started running yet because running shoes could re-open the wound (and the physio specifically told me not wear running shoes yet). At the moment my family and I are grateful that i can walk, in time for Christmas.

Tips: it is a very long hard road to recovery, my family and partner were the best support anyone could ever have asked for. They helped me get through. Keep yourself motivated however possible and listen to your body. I kept telling myself: "One day, you’ll look back at this day and say - you made it". And that’s exactly what i tell myself now.

I wish you all a safe recovery.

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Walking

December 4th, 2012 by michelle153

I know i haven’t updated my blog in a long time now, so here i am.

I have been walking since Mid September 2012; but it was very challenging to get to where I am now. It took me at least a month and a half to walk with confidence for a number of reasons - weak Achilles, lack of confidence and trust in myself, weak/underdeveloped muscles. The swelling in my ankle was crazy, after standing only a few minutes my leg would swell like a balloon. So i stood up in 5 minute intervals and sitting in between with my leg raised so help the swelling.

I have been to see a physio in Fiji and she was fantastic! My ATR tendon is slightly more stretched than the other. She says i will get back into sport eventually but it just won’t be 100% but that is fine by me. My scar is still very tender and isn’t completely healed - the scar could easily open again and i don’t want that. I’m so glad i can walk again! Now i am waiting and slowly training to get back into sport again in another 6 months or so. That is my goal.

Words of advice: keep your loved ones close because they pull you through when times get rough. Keep reminding yourself that you will eventually reach the end of the tunnel.

The achilles blog is amazing! It definitely helped me get through such a rough time both emotionally and physically.

Happy healing!

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Michelle 153