Apr 27 2008
Surf Another Day: Day 9
Day 9
I’m bored. Out of my skull. Bored and bored of being bored. So completely off my chops that I’m sure i couldn’t be more bored. Except I know I will be. And more. Much more so, and very soon.
So i’m staring at the TV. Brothers and Sisters is on. I’m so thoroughly flattened and annoyed with myself that i can’t follow it. Still, i know the beach this scene was shot on. And it’s killing me. It’s freaking malibu, it has to be, third point for sure, no other point break looks like that, does it? But noone else is there. How did they do that?
Grrr. I hate them. I’d give anything just to paddle out and sit in the line-up.
It’s nine days since i had surgery to repair my right AT. I’ve been very dedicated to running for the past six months (45+ miles a week) and i wonder if that’s what brought me to this particular spot on the sofa. I don’t know what or why it happened and that sorta kills me. I’m too young, too fit for this. Or so i thought.
My actual injury event is pretty embarrassing. I wasn’t doing anything remotely heroic or strenuous. What I was doing was procrastinating, avoiding the 10 mile run that is my weekend tradition. It was cold, grey, and really windy so surfing was out, too. Hence i decided to take my longboard skateboard for a cruise up the boardwalk to get my blood pumping and improve my somewhat sour mood.
I’d gone a couple miles and was just starting to really have fun when I planted my right foot to push off hard, and… SNAP. I felt like someone had driven a fully loaded shopping cart right into the back of my heel. I was confused, trying to pick my foot up post-push, but it just wouldn’t come. I heard a slap, like the sound of a flip-flop smacking, felt like someone had stepped on the back of mine. Maybe that’s why my leg was glued down, but no, i’m not wearing flip-flops. Maybe my pant leg was caught in the trucks, though that seemed mechanically impossible as i was still half on the board. I finally dug deep and heaved my lead leg up onto my board and turned around to face my attackers. Naturally, there were none. Just a couple walking 10 feet behind me. The guy looked up at me and simply said “Whoa.” To which my only response was, “Ouch.”
Fast forward three miles of shameful hobbling back home, 1 week of ice and prayers to the almighty for a simple sprain, a misdiagnosis from my GP that it was a simple sprain, and almost a week to get in to see the ortho and…the rest is history.
I had surgery on 04/18/08 exactly two weeks post-snap. The pain and swelling subsided 24-36 hours following, thank god. It was pretty mind-numbing until it did. Post-op i was in a splint (hard plaster on the front of my foot and shin, toes exposed, three inches below the knee, with the whole thing mummified in ridiculous-looking bandages and tape) and on crutches, though i didn’t even try to use them for a few days. Thank god i had gone shopping and fully cleaned the house the day before surgery or i would have been in deep. My surgeon really didn’t prepare me for how incapacitated i would be.
Day 7 was my first follow-up. I saw the surgeon for a hot minute and he removed my splint to reveal a 3-4″ scar and told me i was on track. I got a new splint, this time of fiberglass instead of plaster, and a bit shorter. It’s significantly lighter. I’m pretty confident my surgeon overall, but i’m not sure he could pick me out of a line-up which is sorta bizarre considering how intimately involved we’ve been, in a sense.
I return on Day 14 to get the stitches out and trade my splint in for the glorious walker boot with air pump. Color me excited. I wore the boot for one day before surgery and i found it made walking much much easier because of the way the heel rocks forward on to the toe (something i obviously couldn’t do on my own).
Now, If i could just ditch these stupid crutches!
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Mona,
Where do you live? I am in Cardiff, CA, and have been surfing for 40 years.
I had my injury on March 19th, and surgery on the 26th. My Dr., who is fairly aggressive, said I will be surfing by July. That is my main goal.
I still coach basketball on my crutches, and last week’s coach also had AT surgery last August. He was surfing by December.
So, 4 months is not THAT bad to be surfing again.
Keep your chin up, and do some reading!
Mike R
Thanks for your note, mike. It cheered me up somehow and i definitely needed that.
I live in venice (AKA land of crappy beachbreaks) and i haven’t been surfing long, but i do (or rather did) surf pretty much every day since i learned a year or so ago on a trip to Peru. I’m not a terrific surfer (yet) but since i started it quickly became everything to me. And i miss the water desperately. You’re my hero…surfing for 40 years. That’s awesome. You must be amazing.
So, yeah, i GUESS four months isn’t bad…my surgeon said six months to double overhead. I’d rather he said six weeks to ankle high, yanno? Maybe this is the universe’s way of keeping us dry while the sharks roam the so. cal coast. Did you hear about that poor guy in Solano? Awful!
Anyway, I’m stoked that you’ll at least see some sunny day surf this summer, and thanks again for your words of encouragement!
Mona-
Just got back from your area I live in MI. Went to I think Zuma beach? in Malibu…Rock climbers made me jealous…But I wonder if they could carry three beach chairs on crutches uphill in the sand like me!
I will be wk 4 post op on friday. Just want you to know I made big progress from wk2 to wk4. Get around real well and getting in a workout routine. Figuring out how to do stuff. No more law and order reruns for me.
Stay after it.
mona -
Glad that you found us here. I think you are through the worst of it and the crutches are annoying indeed. It’ll get easier as you get used to them and as you build your upper body strength. Just be patient with it, and you are well on your way to recovery.
By the way, I love your blog title! Very funny
I’m wrapping up my 25th day since my AT surgery (full rupture). My right tendon snapped after an hour of 3-on-3 basketball. I was only playing to socialize with some co-workers I didn’t know well. I don’t plan on ever playing again (along with any other high-impact activity), just in case. I can’t chance further impact on my family and work, for activities I’m not passionate about.
Now, surfing…that’s a different story. I’ve been a surfer for about 24 years. Surfing represents freedom to me; when I enter the water, I leave my problems on the beach, and the horizon offers endless possibilities. I feel a Buddhist bliss of interconnectedness with nature. Should I give up surfing to reduce my risk of re-rupture?
I know with surgery my re-rupture risk is 5% or less. But, even with adequate warmup and stretching, I worry about the tendon trauma I might incur from surfing: walking over sandy beaches and uneven ocean bottoms, hopping to my feet on the takeoff, applying/releasing tail pressure (I’m regular foot) on turns, and severe calf cramping I often get after about 1-2 hours of surfing due to tightening my leg muscles as I scratch hard to paddle out past an incoming set.
How are you guys going to surf and minimize your chances for re-rupture? Would switching to a longboard reduce the tendon strain of surfing?
hi kevin
i know everybody is very worried about re-rupture…
i am on my second tear …other foot
after my first i resumed full activities after a year and never looked back
i played basketball again(swearing that i would never play (agian!)
and i would think that basketball has more sharp movements than surfing ?
now i am on my second tear (42 days postop) and those fears come back but you get through it and they say the repaired tendon is even stronger than before bacause we probably had an inherent weakness that is now re-inforced by the surgery especially with the strong cord they use and the scar tissue!
so you have to take it easy for awhile and be careful while you are recovering …but you will get back to surfing (anyways you don’t have a choice its your BLISS -(however i think that is it for basketball for me
Im sticking to golf!!!!!
good luck
James
Kevin,
I am 54, and have been surfing for 40 years! My first question to the Ortho was how long before I could surf. I had my surgery on March 26th.
He said I should be surfing by late July.
I coach basketball and have coached on the crutches the past four games. (4 -5 year olds, so we have to be on the court).
The other coach saw my cast, and asked if it was an ATR? I said, why, how did you know, and he showed my his scar. He had his surgery on August 1st, and was surfing first week in December. He said he was a little more cautious at first, but now no problems at all. He also said he worked VERY hard on his PT and every day in between, which I am also.
I am regular foot, and my ATR is on my left, so I think it won’t be so bad. I only short board when it gets big and relaly good, so I will stick to the long board for at least the summer.
Jumping up on your board is really not that all violent like basketball can be. My only worry is getting hit by my board or fin on teh injury. I thnk I am going to wear a light brace over it for a while when in the water. Dr. Ross has a picture of a good one on his blog.
We sure had a nice swell here in SoCal this week-end. I watched my sons rip it up.
Mike
Its been great reading all the comments and all the ATR experiences. I am 54 and ruptured mine playing basketball and also wondering about ever surfing again. Started surfing about 2 years ago here in Santa Cruz and try to surf about 2-3 times a week. Just reading all the comments give me hope that I may be able to get back to it. I was originally thinking maybe after one + years under the best scenario. I am at 5 weeks post op so still a ways to go.
Thanks everyone for sharing!
Since I’m a regular foot, what about the impact of a leash pulling on the ATR ankle area after a wipeout? I guess if the leash harmed the tendon, we’d read more about surfing-related ATR.
I’ve yet to find anyone mention ATR from surfing (other than a shark biting a surfer on the ankle and severing the AT). All my surfing injuries have been to the hands, knees, nose and chest, from my board/skags hitting me or hitting underwater rocks.
I’ll probably play it safe: wait until the six month or so when I’m walking/biking/swimming, and then rent one of the those soft longboards. As I build up my calves, cores, arms, endurance, etc at the gym, I’ll move back to my shortboard.
I’m with you all on the ATR-recovery-get-back-to-surfing bandwagon. I ruptured mine playing 7v7 soccer in Manhattan Beach on Feb 1, 2008. Nothing spectacular, just planted my left foot to turn for a play, and that was it. After realizing it wasn’t a broken cleat, I knew what it was, and how ucked I was.
The first couple of months were really tough. I totally feel for everyone who is still in weeks 1-8. I found myself being really bitter and extremely depressed. (Probably had alot to do with my time out of the water.) I was mad with my body, and jealous of fat, lazy people who have no need for a functioning, non-ruptured Achilles. I also tortured myself by getting a bunch of surf videos.
I had a friend who really helped me out, and kept checking in on me. He did his Achilles about 1 1/2 years ago in a pickup basketball game (a la Kevin). His best advice was, “think about what you were doing a year ago, and how it doesn’t seem that long ago.” At the time, I really dreaded the thought of a full year of rehab. Now, a few months into it, I realize that I would gladly give a year of dedicated rehab to prevent this from happening in either of my Achilles again.
I live in Santa Monica, and Dr. Giza at Santa Monica Orthopedic performed my repair. Absolutely wonderful guy, not to mention world-class ortho. From visit number one, he put my mind at ease about the whole process and recovery. My PT is great too. (Although the scar tissue massage is more painful than the injury ever was.)
I’ll let you know when I get back in the water. Probably won’t go out until late July at the earliest. Four months post-op sounds a bit early to be risking it. I’m 31 and have surfed for a fifteen (primarily shortboards). For the way I surf, I probably would err on the side of caution. In the meantime, core strentghening and other flexibilty exercises are my course of action.
Kevin - I hear what you are saying loud and clear. I would get brutal calf cramps after a couple of hours into a good session. (Not to mention hamstring/quad cramps.) For me it was always a consequence of dehydration. I am also concerned about rerupture when I start surfing again. I found myself watching surf videos to inspect the rear foot of pros and how it articulated during various manouvers. (I am a goofy foot with left ATR.) For the most part, it seemed like there was never a servere amount of dorsiflexion because the rear foot would roll inward toward the arch of the foot during most normal surfing. (Creating kind of a knocked-knee position, limiting dorsiflexion.) The leash issue raises concerns for me too. I’m likely to go leashless for a while. (A ding repair is a non-issue after my ATR.) I am thinking a wider leash is the way to go. No more thin ankle strap comp leashes.
Best wishes for a fast and full recovery to all!