Hello again, Achilles Blog friends. I’m 22 weeks post-op now, but it feels like I’ve aged 10 years in terms of the wisdom and patience gained, and the adversity I’ve overcome.
It’s been 4 weeks since I last posted, and I don’t think I’ve checked the site once since. I’d rather be outdoors experiencing life and reconnecting with friends / family than returning back to the “scene of the crime” where I spent countless nights obsessing over my injury. This site is a great resource to get educated on ATR recovery and rehabilitation, and it certainly helped me to connect and communicate with other ATR sufferers. But it should be everyone’s goal to graduate from this site, leave it behind, and let it become a distant memory.
One thing that I’ve been less excited to give up was my handicap parking placard. I live in crowded Southern California, so it was a godsend while I had it! Towards the end, it started to feel more like a sense of entitlement than a necessity, and I didn’t realize that it expired on 9/7/15 (as opposed to 9/30/15), so I accidentally used it illegally for 3 weeks. Sshhhh! Don’t tell anyone!
Physically, I’m pain-free, but healing short. I work daily to stretch my left tendon and build calf strength. Most nights, I’ll wear my Elasto-Gel ice pack to mitigate swelling, out of habit and in the hopes that it aids recovery.
I did a short, steep hike up the hill behind my house today for the first time. This is a milestone I didn’t expect to hit in my excessively conservative protocol until December, so I’m pretty happy about that!
I’ve also been doing yoga twice a week, and stand-up paddle boarded today, both of which are great workouts for the stabilizers in your foot and ankle. I still protect my injured side in yoga, being careful not to overstretch or overload it, but over the course of an hour it does seem to loosen up a bit. I feel like these are a healthy injury prevention activities for my “good side,” too.
One of the neighborhood families left a children’s basketball hoop and beach ball in the deep end of our community pool, so I’ve actually been “shooting hoops” with some regularity, jumping and dunking and all. This has been a fun way to rehab with my 2 year old daughter, I’ll lift her in her floaty and let her dunk sometimes, too. Time will tell if I ever have the courage to shoot hoops on solid ground again.
Did anybody else on here gain weight from your injury? As if the sedentery lifestyle and atrophy wasn’t enough, I took to eating Cinnabons for two weeks after my surgery. As a result, I am 10 lbs heavier than I was pre-injury, and probably about 30 lbs above where I’d really like to be. For the most part I try to eat low-carb and not overindulge, but end up having a “cheat meal” or three per day. If anyone knows of an easy way to lose 30 lbs without going hungry, please let me know in the comments below!
6 responses so far ↓
gutzer // Oct 10th 2015 at 11:00 am
I’ve followed your blog, glad to hear you are doing excellent! I am only 8 weeks and moving very slow and yes I have gained weight , but now all I can think about is cinnabons!! and no way to get them. haha
Buddy // Oct 11th 2015 at 1:40 pm
Oscillot,
We have been right on pace throughout this entire journey, we had surgery the same day and as I read this post, I realize we are still exactly in the same exact spot . I concur with everything you have said in your post, almost word for word, except for the handicap parking , I never took advantage of that, looking back, I probably should have. I feel like I’m healing a little short, which is much better than long, the tendon is still tight in the morning and bare foot. I really need to try yoga, my crossfit gym offers it and the owner is constantly telling me I should go, maybe I will give it a shot this week. Glad to hear your doing so good, take care.
kiwibug // Oct 11th 2015 at 8:29 pm
Oscillot, it is good to hear that your recovery is going well.
Yoga seems like a good idea to improve flexibility.
Hopefully, now that you are more active again you will start to lose the weight if you eat carefully.
ejbvmi // Oct 17th 2015 at 7:04 am
Great post, Oscillot. I had an AchillesBlog obsession in the early days, but like you have been gratefully living life lately and glad to no longer depend upon the information and advice here as much as I did then.
I ate little during the first couple weeks post injury, but could not sustain it. As a result, I am about 7 lbs heavier than before, which was not my ideal weight to being with. With a shift in body composition from muscle to softer material… I need to get more active again. I hope to find an indoor pool, because lap swimming has been my best exercise to date for burning calories without wearing out my joints.
Cheers!
beanie // Nov 15th 2015 at 3:15 am
I just read this post now and it made me smile. I am definitely obsessively reading this site and thinking about the injury. Your timeline tells me that over the next few weeks this will start to dissipate. The injury has become so much of a focus that it’s hard to imagine not thinking about it 24/7, but I can’t wait for that to happen. Many thanks for your posts!
oscillot // Nov 15th 2015 at 7:39 am
Beanie, I relate 100%, but like you said the obsession and pain will fade with time. Try to stay positive and do whatever you can to keep your mind and body strong while you’re laid up. It’ll make the rehab and journey back to normal that much easier.
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