Returning to the scene of the crime!
Uncategorized November 14th, 2012It has been two weeks since I ruptured my left Achilles and one week post op. I decided to finally get out of the house as I was getting sick of sitting around and not having much contact with others during these long days (at least until my two boys and wife come home from school/work).
My wife offered to drive me to watch my volleyball team play as we have a big national tournament coming up in a few weeks and I wanted to catch up with them all in person.
After playing volleyball for close to 25 years I never thought it would be so hard sitting on the sideline being totally hopeless and not being able to help out when things got tough. So many times I wanted to jump up and run on the court. The crutches quickly squashed that idea.
After using a knee walker for most of the past two weeks (which in my eyes is the best invention for Achilles injury sufferers) jumping on the crutches for a night was a completely different experience. Even in the way the injured foot reacted. It felt like it was going to explode from all the blood rush. But now a few days after this little adventure, everything feels like it is moving in the right direction (except for those morning injections which I still can’t get my head around enjoying).
I have my first post-op appt with my specialist tomorrow where (fingers crossed) the stitches will come out and the cast off, and boot on. Then another few weeks of NWB which with my knee walker will hopefully not be hard.
What will be hard is the big volleyball tournament that I will travel with the team to watch. The rest of the team will have to get used of me screaming from the benches rather than on the court.
November 14th, 2012 at 10:46 am
I agree about the knee walker (great invention) and the change when using crutches (the blood rush is not fun).
I also know the experience of having watch instead of participate. It is nearly 2 years since I have been able to do any serious running, but have kept involved by volunteering at local races.
November 14th, 2012 at 11:47 am
The blood rush will go away soon ( about 2.5 weeks) for me.
The feeling of not being as mobile is a whole different story ( this is a major issue, since I’ve been NWB for 5 weeks). This is the hardest part, so the fact that you are making out to support your team is awesome in itself. Happy healing.
November 14th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
Mine injury happened on the first night of winter rec league but towards the end of my coaching season. I missed two games for surgery but went and saw them play a tournament. It was the best remedy for a bored week post op. I hope your team does well. I hope to be able to play volleyball again.
November 15th, 2012 at 7:14 am
There have been ads for the lightweight knee scooters/walkers on eBay in the past few days. I had one of these and much easier to pop in the car than some of the bigger types. Not great on rough ground but mine was excellent around home and in the office, shopping too I guess.
November 16th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Many love knee walkers. I’m nervous that they may slightly delay or impair recovery — though kneeling and wheeling are both key to surviving NWB, I quickly concede. (1) The PWB transition needs crutches, and should start early accd to the evidence. (2) One of the biggest challenges for AT healing (& maintenance!) is the paucity of blood flow. As unpleasant as it is to engorge the leg with fluids then drain it (by hanging it down then elevating it), it probably has a big effect on the total circulation, flushing out waste products and replacing them with fresh “building materials”, etc. No evidence here, just logic applied by a scientifically literate amateur…
About returning to volleyball: I’ve gone through TWO imperfect ATR recoveries now, details on my blog. (1 surgically too short, #2 non-op maybe long definitely too weak for a good 1-leg heel raise.) My biggest volleyball problem today is that my wife may not bring the car home early enough for me to get to the indoor beach place on time to play competitive 2-on-2 with a bunch of keeners 20-40 years my junior!
(If you HAVE to have problems — and I think we DO — …)
November 16th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
Hi I completely tore my Achilles October 24, had surgery Nov 2nd. For the week Oct 24 the knee walker was the best thing, EVER. It enabled me to get around NWB, put a cup of coffee in the basket, so I wasn’t stuck asking for help. Following surgery i was in a cast for two weeks, just a front slab with toe set pointing diwn to the groud. On day 13 post op, I was fitted for a vaocast pro which as too narrow at heal, the vaocast was more comfortable. I then went to use the knee walker, which absolutely killed. The weight of the boot while kneeling horizontal felt like the wound was splitting and it was excruciatingly painful. So whilst I found the knee walker really easy when I first injured myself, today, 2days in boot it still kills. Crutches are now my friend. I’m only very PWB and haven’t made it outside again due to apartment living and three flights of stairs. This blog has been my saviour helping me to understand what is ahead. Thank everyone for sharing.