phil c’s AchillesBlog

Hi all , a lot of new names since I last posted and some old ones too.
Not much to report since my last visit really. I’m back in work since Feb, despite the Job occupational therapist saying that the normal return date would be March, but i wanted to go back and that was that. I was phased back into it , 2 weeks at 1/3 of the job then 2 weeks of 2/3 of it but by week 3 I decided to go back to doing the full 3/3 myself and i was allowed.
I Haven’t looked back since and despite getting the odd pain in my leg not always the Achilles mind, things are ok. Go to the gym 3 times a week and do static bike, row machine and treadmill as my cardio. I have also stated running on the treadmill (approx 6 weeks go). Again no problems there so far!!!!
Not sure if I mentioned but I knocked going to the physio of the head before Christmas and haven’t gone back. It Was costing me 55euro a go and I didn’t feel it was worth it, as I think I learned more on here. After most of the sessions with him I would think, “what did he do there to get 55 of me?!?!? ” and the answer was most of the time….. NOT A LOT.
To anybody who is going through this injury and is in the early stages, the only piece of advice I’d dare to give is, have patience. Looking back now I think had i know the course of my injury and its treatment, I would have enjoyed the “down time” a bit more than I actually did. Once you’ve got the treatment for the injury surgical or non surgical and are following the protocol best for you then try relax and let your body heal itself. Try no worry too much about it (as that’s what I did and I let it get to me sometimes)and keep the brain active .
Take care all and good luck
PHIL

Hi All ,

Havent been back to see my PT since my last post , added to being stuck indoors a lot due to the snow, so theres not much to report .
Still struggling on the calf raises , as i said the last time the next time i see the PT he expects me too be able to do 3 x 15 of them , i have over a week to go before that appointment and I can manage a few at a time , but there is probably still a fear there to push it too hard that is holding me back .
To be honest I think in my head i thought I was futher down the road to recovery than I really am .
Haven’t got back to work yet , so i havent been on my feet too much , so I think this lead me to believe I was ok . So the other evening I went to a shopping mall with my kids and we where only there for 1hour (1.5 at the most) and by the end out it I had a stinging pain in my AT and wanted to get out of there ASAP……. no swelling but that was probably down to it not being “too much” on it .
Plus getting a lot of pain in the top part of my foot ,all on the side of my little toe. The tendons that run down to my toes are not getting enough movement maybe ?
Plus , dont know if this is connected but the area around my scar is SO itchy its unbelievable .
Plus I stepped over one of my kids toys and as i was bringing my AT leg over my leg obviously turned sideways as the corner of the sofa connected with the AT directly and HURT .
Apart form that , I think things are coming along slowly now , but coming along nun the less.

Take care all
Keep the faith
Phil

These where the words of my surgeon when he looked at my AT .
Great words and it brought a smile to my face .
Its been a long road to get to this point in my recovery
(knowing full well it will take a long time to get back to”normal”) ,
The first 6weeks in my case where the worst in the cast !!!!
The last 6 weeks have flown in , especially the last 3 ,since I started to be able to move without crutches . Still not back to work yet but have a lot of ROM in my ankle now and the AT itself doent hurt most times of the day . Buts its always there . Still havent got to the point where I dont think about it for longer than a few mins .
Just as a side note, the surgeon said that I should we swimming everyday if possible .

So now i have my next visit to my PT on Friday ,when he said he will step uo my rehab and push me a bit more ……..sonds scary but i have to trust him and when Im doing it, my body . Dont want to go too far too fast .
Off to get on my trampette now and do some bouncing !!!

Take care all .
Will fill in what extra exercises I get at Fridays visit .

PHIL

Hi all,
Back working (office work at the moment so the company can get me to do something) and back being a dad , so not much time to sit down and write a post for my the blog…..the difference between now and a couple of weeks ago !!!!
Driving is a big difference and if you haven’t got back but are near it , try sitting in the car in your drive and using the clutch , you might be surprised and theres no chance of an emergency stop which is the main reason the docs dotn want you doing it .
BUT,As I write this I fell as certain guilt , as when i was in the suitation at home , I depended on this site to help me through and now I feel as if I have used the site and not been a good contributor to help those who are going through what I have .
Apoligies to the site(posters) and what it represents.
Anyway , went to physio yesterday and he has me doing running and bouncing exercise on a small tranpoline . My knee too wall measurement was twently something , then 18cm and is now 11cm .
So im making “some” progress .
Have ditched the crutches alltogether (bring them in the car with me but only as moral support !!!)
Am back training in the gym , did 4 sessions this week , 90% upper body stuff but am doing some stretches and on the static bike while there . Goin to try the rowing machine on Monday !
Have 1 wedge insdie my shoe (just under 1cm ) but still have a limp or walk slow .
My ankle nor my sole dont hurt as much and things feel like they are getting better .
Progress has slowed down but that is to be expected .

Physio is waiting for me to see the surgeon next wed (24th Nov) before stepping up my rehab.

Bearing in my firdt 2 paragraphs ,
Can anybody advise me on questions I should ask the surgeon .
Bearing in mind my last meeting with him I dont want to leave the room feeling the same way.

All things being equal , i hope to never see this man again ,
SO,
What do I need to know about my AT ?

Hi all ,

day 71.

Since yesterday,
Down to 1cm inside my shoe , FWB , plodding around the house in slippers or barefooted

and driving .

Walking with a major limp, and pain (not the achillies but now and then I do feel something but not much) mainly in the heel of my foot and my ankle.This is while outside the house as while I’m in the house I walk slower and the pain isn’t there . Trying not to walk with my bad foot point outwards but its hard unless you think about every step . While Im walking barefooted I can feel the strecth in he achillies , obviously as there are not wedges but it doesnt hurt and just feels like a stiff calf (i know its not mind) .

I’ve just read some other blogs on here by people that weren’t in a cast for 5 weeks and have realised how much this is now holding me back .(which due to lack of time [ its Saturday and now Im driving its back to being a taxi cab for my children to get to their various sports] I haven’t commented on yet,but I will)

My ankle is still not right and this is obviously due to being set in position for 5weeks.
Knew I should have been more forceful is not letting the surgeon do that .

At this stage how much work should my PT be doing on my ankle /achillies /calf ?
Still concerned that he isn’t doing enough and I should be doing more
or
maybe he’s has me on the path to suit someone who was in a cast for 5 weeks and who’s ankle is still gaining ROM .

I was told to get physio by my surgeon from 1st Nov , so this is 13th and I haven’t had ANY work on my achillies /calf area by the physio yet , he is still working on the ankle .
He has me standing at a table on my tip toes and moving the weight to the bad side while taking some of the pressure off my achillies by bearing some of the weight with my hands on the table .

as always grateful for any advice or comment

Phil

Firstly let me say tat the reason I haven’t posted on here for a week or so WAS because I got a scare Last Friday and panicked . Friday was my 1st day PWB and approximately 1-2 hrs after getting up I put some weight on my AT leg and felt , what I can only describe as a “pop” (it was I thought above the calf close to the knee) and It frightened the life out of me . It didn’t hurt but I definitely felt something , so being a worrier I presumed it was bad. All day I kept feeling the AT to see if there was a gap …….and waiting for the leg ankle to swell or “something” .

Anyway it was something but obviously also NOTHING .

:o)

Back to today ,
went for my first physio session today and mostly good news.

Bad news first , he said I might not be able to drive a manual car for a while .
So I could be visiting a car dealer near you soon.
As I walk for approx 3hours a day as PART of my job , he said he couldn’t see me being able to do that this side of Christmas . This is something I not something I can fix by getting a new car but is something I hope MIGHT change over the next month of physio and exercise.

Good news,

He had a look and said the tendon was strong and the healed well.
He also said that despite being in the cast for 5 weeks there was a lot of movement in the ankle .

75% of my time with him he worked on the ankle and did NO work on the Achilles itself . he said that he had to get the ankle movements rang up before stated to work on the Achilles.

He got me to put my good foot 10cm from the wall and bend my knee into the wall , no problem .
My AT leg was a different matter , foot 10cm away from wall again, but my knee when bent in, to its fullest(had to stop due to tightness) was 25cm away from the wall ……..yes 25cm away .

This was disheartening but having gone through what it has , expectable.

He gave me 2 exercises to do .

First one is , bare feet , 1 crutch (on good side) and basically to walk !!!!
Slowly with the crutch moving with the AT leg . He said the crutch should take 1/3 of the weight , so that 2/3s on my “bad” leg while I bring my good leg forward !!!!
I have to do this EVERY HOUR ……. (no more sitting down for me )

Second one is, 2 crutches , AT leg between the crutches , good one, a step behind and basically to push my knee forward and stretch the Achilles, hold this for 15 seconds and REPEAT , this is to be done ever 2 hrs.

I also asked him the shoe/boot question.

In his opinion , the boot did its job with I was NWB to give me peace of mind but he’d get into a shoe now that I was PWB , (also alluded to getting back into the boot if needs be , as Norm here had suggested) .
Where he differed from the surgeons advice was , instead of 1 cm inside and 1cm outside , he said he’s put the 2sm inside the shoe and I‘ve to go back to him next Monday 8th we’d work from there .

An the end of the day it now feels like the more I put into it ,(not going O.T.T. of course ) in the next 7days the more I will progress

(experienced AT recovery posters please comment on this )

and this is the 1st time it has felt like that in the 59days since my op.

Opinions always gratefully accepted .

Phil

Shoe or Boot.

Come Friday (29th) I am officially PWB .

In PWB , do I only use 1 crutch ?

Currently I have the boot on with 2cm inside , mostly for protection/peace of mind I think.

But come Friday would it be better for me to go to a shoe (1cm inside 1cm outside )?

Better in getting back walking quicker , I presume not safer as my leg has to be safer in the boot but am I over protecting it at this stage ?

A lot of daft questions I know but looking for the good people of this site to give me the benefit of their wealth of experience .

If I decide on shoes , then I have to answer the next question.

When I went to get my shoes done , I had picked a comfortable pair , but didn’t realise /given any thought to the fact the sole was completely flat and the shoe maker wasn’t 100% sure what to do .

Currently I have 4 wedges inside my boot making up the 2cm , so if I change into the shoe I put 2 of them inside it , job done .

BUT do I have the outside 1cm raise the same shape as the inside ones tapering out towards my instep?

Obviously normally when the shoe maker does heel lifts they are a block the shape of the heel all the same thickness

and thats where his confusion came in .

Thanks in advance , I know I ask more questions than answer .

Phil

:>)

Since my disastrous appointment with the surgeon , it has taken me 1 week (7 full days ) to get a reply from him regarding the questions I forgot to ask at the appointment .

I am NWB for the next week ,
then PWB with 1cm inside 1 cm outside the shoe for 2 weeks

starting physio on Nov 1st

then 2 weeks of ½ inside and ½ outside ……

then back to him on the 26th for heal wedges and the all clear ………

I have worn the aircast boot in bed and some how got use to it .
I wear it most of the time during the day too and take it off while watching tv or relaxing .

Since the dead skin has all come off now too added to the swelling and discoloration of my foot has mostly gone , it looks ok .

the calf hasn’t lost Too much mass and things I hope are on a good course .

I have picked my shoes and they are ready to be altered.

Question,
when I get the 1 cm inside and 1 cm outside on the AT leg shoe ,
do I get 1cm put all over (sole and heel ) of the good leg shoe ?

went to visit the Doctor yesterday and got the cast off .

Thank you !!!!! Thought Id never get rid of it .

Anyway before he took it off he looked at his file on me and told me what was going to happen over the next 8 weeks , this was without looking at the leg and see how it was progressing .

Is this “the norm” ?

Basically he took the cast off and told me put no weight on it for 2 weeks , then 1cm inside my shoe 1 cm outside the shoe for 2 weeks , then ½ cm inside and ½ outside for two weeks …….
After these six weeks I have returned to see him and also get a heel lift ……..

I had also to start with a PT in 2 weeks .

Despite never wanting to loose something more in my life ,
I couldn’t believe it , after the most serious injury I had ever had and probably the worse 6 weeks of my life he was sending me home with NO protection (booT)on it and I panicked.

I mentioned various protocols and things I had read here and he said it was because I hadn’t had the op for a month after the ATR that mine was going to be longer .

As I had a cast off for the first time in 6 weeks even while I was in his office I was very nervous about damaging my AT so the thought of having to be so carefully with it for 2 full weeks scared me .
I told him this and he said if I want I could get an aircast boot with the 2cm inside it but I still couldn’t put weight on it for the 2 weeks mentioned …….and follow the above 6 weeks in the boot .

As I was in there hearing the weeks next 8 weeks made me panic and I lost all train of thought and never asked questions I had prepared , I never asked him when I could start driving again , when my return to work date was , what pains might I feel are acceptable when I do start to put weight on it in 2 weeks . How do I balance the other leg out when I do start walking on it .Never asked how much PT should I do for the 4 weeks before I see him next .
I even forgot to make the appointment for my next visit in 6 weeks .

I asked him could I even start to put weight on it after 11 days as myself and the family where going away for a few days and he said basically its at your own risk , I don’t want you to have to start again.

Basically down to my own lack of composure during the appointment , added to the fact he was so adamant in his refusal to budge on the time scale and despite the fact I now have NO cast on ,
I left the hospital feeling empty !!!!
Not sure how I feel now , as is too early in the morning .

Hi all ,

Having read Tereasa1’s post and napatom2005 .

They both seem to be at the same stage in th st they are PWB ,

despite being 4 weeks apart since their original op’s.

With no disrepect meant to napatom , I want to be at the stage teresa is it come Friday .

I’m having no pains in the AT area or ankle and things feel good .

Only thing I’m getting is the odd stinging pain in the area that I think the scar is.

This only happens if I’m moving and it feels like (at a guess) like something(scab??) is getting caught in the dressing inside the cast and being pulled . Like I say , it only last a second or two.

I’m going back to see my doc this Friday(15^th) and from what he said last visit , the plan is to put another cast on , this time my foot being at a different angle . This is the last thing I need at the moment I’ve had this cast on for 5 weeks and enough is enough . Is there any questions I can ask him to point him in the direction of a boot instead?

Any advice ,

tips,

questions I should ask ……..????

Is it possible to go from an angled cast (foot point towards the ground) to a PWB ?

Any help with be really appreciated

PHIL