northrancher’s AchillesBlog

Hi everyone! Thought I’d give a progress report now that I’m almost halfway along the recovery path and mostly back to normal. I’m still in PT–just once a week–and I still have to build calf strength, but I’m getting there! My physical therapist seems to be going along with the non-surgical route and has followed the UWO protocol I gave him (thanks to Norm) and is pleased with how I’m progressing. He can’t tell which leg had the injury by the way I walk and thinks my ATR leg feels exactly like a surgical repair, except that he cannot feel the spot where I had the tear.  Most days I forget about my leg and the only lingering issue is that when I do calf raises–I do just 3 sets of 10 each–my heel hurts and I’m limping for a day…I wonder if this is breaking down the scar tissue? A good thing? During the holidays (when the site was down) I wound up back in the boot for a week because of walking backwards on a treadmill and calf raises the same day. So, maybe that was the same thing…

I am itching to ski and I have to thank Gerry for posting his ski video–I thoroughly enjoyed it and it motivated me to think about Spring skiing. Tennis is not something I’m ready for and it was hard telling my team that (who called to ask if they should put me on the roster). My PT thinks I can get back on the court in June just serving/returning serves–no moving sideways, running, etc. Getting closer, tho.

I checked a few blogs  and it looks like everyone is doing great and back to their busy lives. Norm, happy to see you still "on call" doing what you do so well & with such heart. Glad that you are feeling good and back to your active life post-surgery.

For the newly injured, please know that it does get better sooner than you think and the support you’ll find here doesn’t get any better. It will make your recovery smoother and calm your worries (I had many…still do) Happy Healing!