Posts worth reading

Following is a compilation of posts that I’ve come across from various places that I found interesting.
I’ve now sectioned it out according to a certain “theme” of the post.

25 Responses to “Posts worth reading”

  1. matts, on May 16th, 2008 at 11:49 am Said:

    Almost Re-rupture! Well I was in my 7th day of Post-Op and starting to get a little stir crazy from being in bed. I was an avid lifter before my injury and was doing well on crutches and getting a little cocky with them. Well after only 5 days after my surgery, I met with my surgeon and too my surprise no swelling hardly and no infection. No pain at all in my achilles too after about the 2nd day after surgery, just here and there soreness. Back to the story, I was crutching out to the mailbox and too fast up the steps and BAM! Lost control putting my weight on my bad foot. I felt like a stapping pain in my foot, I thought I reruptured but heard no pop this time, my surgeon got me in right away and too my relief , the achilles was still there. Moral of this story, take your time on your crutches, and go slow and learn from my mistake. The thought of another surgery and more time watching TV has made me slow down. Lucky for me I havent had any pain since my mis-step.

  2. mps5, on December 31st, 2008 at 6:13 pm Said:

    I completely sympathize! and need to pay close attention to stairs/steps. I am not too swift with coordinating which foot to lift before or after the crutches! I somehow think because I am soooo right dominant ..and my left foot is injured, I really need to concentrate on what I am doing.

    I also put weight down on my foot accidentally about 4 days after surgery and have the same fear of tearing the repaired tendon…..just as I did when I had the ACL repair. With the achilles….the cast hides what is going on even more!

    My Dr. checked the integrity of the tendon yesterday at my post op appt. b/c I voiced my concern as well. All was AOK.

    I don’t know where u live but I am in Central NY —–snow country. We received 10 inches today….scary terrain!

    Keep safe!
    MPS

  3. mrbrown, on August 21st, 2009 at 9:46 pm Said:

    Had a similiar experience 8 days after my surgery. I was going out to dinner to a place four blocks from my apartment when I took a major flop on my crutches. The fall was a result of trying to go too fast combined with a very poor choice of shoes. My good foot slipped out from underneath me and a lot of weight went down on my gimpy foot; right before my ass hit the sidewalk. Tons of pain. Bent the crutches. Luckily, the splint had done its job. LESSON LEARNED : GO SLOW!!! ONLY WEAR SNEAKERS!!!.

  4. judydeb, on August 25th, 2010 at 10:46 pm Said:

    I am really learning to go slow…a hard but valuable lesson. I removed a wedge from my boot today and was relieved that it was not to painful to partial weight bear.
    Of course I wanted to head out on my crutches and try it out…I stopped myself and did a little bit of a walk. this is new terrain for me. Slow and Steady.

  5. Mary, on September 5th, 2010 at 7:44 pm Said:

    This is my first day post op and I am already stir crazy.but will follow advice and go slow…slow and steady wins the race as they say.

  6. petec, on September 12th, 2011 at 2:59 pm Said:

    one week post op i ‘kicked’ my left crutch with my bare good left foot, badly bruising my middle toes. luckily i had my bed to fall back on. did the same thing then a day later (hurt like crazy) this time without the bed and put my whole weight on my ATR foot before falling. moral of the tale always wear something on your foot and concentrate with each step

  7. b4beth, on October 5th, 2011 at 8:51 am Said:

    Hi guys, new to this site, hello…on 13 August 2011 I sustained a partial tear to my right Achilles tendon. 11 years ago I completely ruptured the left one and had surgery. This time I have had a ‘boot’ - I saw the specialist yesterday and he told me another two weeks in the boot and 5 more weeks before I can drive. He also said some people have an abnormality in their tendons and this makes them susceptible to injury…he said the risk of rerupture is quite high…my question is: if the tendon that was operated on goes again, what then? Am I a cripple for good??? :-(

  8. trainlady1, on January 14th, 2012 at 11:53 pm Said:

    9 weeks ago I awoke with a pain in my right Achilles. I’ve been in the boot since then and basically pain free. Today, 3 days from returning to Dr. I have pain again. In 2 weeks I’m having ultrasound (can’t do mri w/pacemaker)….I truly don’t want the surgery, but I also don’t want to live in the boot. What to do?

  9. chester c ball, on March 30th, 2012 at 8:46 am Said:

    Hey … well i believe this to be week 14 in my boot having a complete rupture of my R/H Achilles 2 days before christmas 2011 due to work comittments surgery was not an option ….. thing seemed to be going well ,with little pain though the boot is a pain in the butt it beats the hell out of the cast i was in for 3 weeks. Over the last 2 weeks pain and swelling has increased and i am less confident about my progress …… oh and have also been informed i will most likely never run again due to the amount of damage done over the last 13 years that i have experienced Achilles problems ………… guess you just smile and get on with things ….. see what the doc says next week

  10. JFree, on April 16th, 2012 at 3:10 pm Said:

    Hello, I had a ATR on April 1, 2012. I saw the MD on 4/3/2012. Had surgery on 4/6/2012. I am now going into my 2nd week of cast and crutchs hoping the Friday the MD will keep his word and remove the cast and return me to the space boot. It is taking me bit of time to get used to this. I felt great this week and got out in the backyard and had a water gun fight with wife and son. I decided to leave my crutchs in the corner and walk on my cast. I was careful not to put to much weight on ATR repair. I felt great. No major pain thru this ordeal. Let’s all take our time and heal. I hope all of you a speedy and healthy recovery.

  11. buddy, on June 30th, 2012 at 1:27 pm Said:

    I had surgery on my tendon 10 days ago. As I read the blogs it seems most knew when the rupture happened. I didn’t it was from a deformed foot at birth that put pressure
    on my achilles. I had lots of sprains over my life. I just turned 68 and the past two years when hiking steep slopes would have trouble with my left leg not holding me. I would lead with left leg and get by. The past six months starting limping and a big lump on achilles tendon. Went to doc
    sent me to surgeon. 11 days ago had surgery lasted 4 hours. Achilles was replaced with 6 inches from upper right leg and sewn into what was left 1 inch near heal and 1 inch calf tendon. My doc says long recovery 4 months before any weight on foot. Then slowly put pressure on tendon and stretch it. No pain to speak of off pain meds in 6 days. But seems like a long recovery in hand. Anyone have a replacement tendon put in from their upper leg.

  12. normofthenorth, on June 30th, 2012 at 3:30 pm Said:

    Buddy, this crowd has had quite a few tendon grafts, but I can’t recall a situation like yours, with most of the AT “missing”! I’m a huge fan of faster rehab protocols, but there’s zero evidence to guide your rehab. But healing is magic — it’s what fixes us all, with some tweaks from the Docs and the patients. Good Luck and Good Healing!

  13. riptorn, on July 13th, 2012 at 12:10 pm Said:

    Good luck Buddy. It sounds like you will be better than ever once healing takes place.

    Ruptured my left Achilles in June, had surgery and all is moving well too.

    Keep listening to the docs and be aggressive and faithful with the PT and you’ll be hiking again.

  14. Susan M, on October 27th, 2012 at 1:48 pm Said:

    I was a 66 yr old woman who completely ruptured my left Achilles tendon playing tennis in Mexico at 10 a.m. I called the ambulance on my cell and was operated on at 5 p.m. by a Mexican surgeon after he did the Thompson test and an Xray. He applied a tiptoe toe-to-thigh cast which he said was for 8 weeks (which I subsequently discovered was very old-fashioned) and I made him cut it down below knee after 3 weeks so I could fly back to Canada.
    My local surgeon removed the cast and put me in a Vacoboot for 6-8 weeks. He was happy with the flexion of the ankle. I exercised in the pool and as soon as I could walk (limp) I exercised every day.
    However, 19 months later (avoiding tennis) I am still limping badly, my calf muscle is atrophied despite daily heel-lifts, and the limp has caused right trochenteric bursitis for the past year (which cortisone did not help). I discovered that because of the resultant fachiitis in my instep, my leg was walking on the left shin muscle with claw toes to avoid the calf muscle. I now have my toes over a hammer-toe silicone pad to prevent that, and consciously walk on the inside of my foot.
    The phsyio gave me some exercises and said it took up to 5 years to recover from an Achilles surgery. (My scar was 12″ long, so I guess the surgeon had to go search for the two ends).
    What else can I do to speed recovery?
    I want to get back to tennis and hiking. This outcome doesn’t sound normal.

  15. normofthenorth, on October 29th, 2012 at 3:15 am Said:

    Susan, I wish I had a good answer, but no. Where in Canada are you? Toronto and London and Calgary have some serious ATR researchers who may be able to give you a better answer than the http://WWW. I’ve recently acquired felt pads under my insteps (? balls of my feet, anyway), to ease a claw-toe problem that I recently developed. (It came to a head last March in Whistler, when the top of one toe got into a serious fight with a ski boot — and lost.)

    There can be a long “tail” to an ATR recovery, but suffering at 19 months post-op is way far from normal. I’d be a squeaky wheel about it.

  16. flybye, on April 11th, 2013 at 5:13 pm Said:

    Hello Everyone, Ruptured my tendon 3/27/13 had ATR surgically 4/5/13. I am 6 days post op and feel good, not happy with immobility ,will see Dr. Tomorrow to have stitches removed and see what he has to say. This sight has given me plenty to read while laying around.Good luck to everyone on their recoveries.

  17. jackinva, on April 12th, 2013 at 10:12 am Said:

    Hi Fly! Welcome to the club. You will find a tremendous amount of information AND support from these pages. It’s kinda like taking a drink of water out of a fire-hose. It can be easy to become overwhelmed, but just focus on YOU and what you need to do today. Check on the front web page about starting a personal blog - it’s a great way to both ask questions about any concerns, and also let us know about your progress.
    Right now your focus is likely on keeping weight off the foot and not going crazy from reduced activity. STAY SAFE !
    Hang in there!
    Jack

  18. kingb, on April 25th, 2013 at 9:38 pm Said:

    Hello All,

    Completely ruptured my right achilles on April 7, 2013 while playing indoor soccer. I had surgery on April 12th, The only issues I have been experiencing is discomfort from the cast and difficulty to get comfortable sleeping. I’m sure it’s par for the course. It’s definitely helpful to see that many others have had the same injury and fully recovered. I’m definitely learning the virtues of patients and positive thinking!

  19. ekiaer, on April 25th, 2013 at 10:06 pm Said:

    Kingb - you injured yourself the same day I did, doing the same thing I was doing and then had surgery the same day I did. Twilight zone.

    I can’t wait to get the cast off. In the meanwhile, I’m reading up everything I can find and will be well armed on Tuesday when the cast comes off - tons of useful information here!

    Hang in there!

  20. kingb, on April 26th, 2013 at 4:56 pm Said:

    ekiaer… My injury happened around 4:10 pm. at the sports Academy just outside St. Louis. My team consists of late 30 and 40 year olds. One of my team mates is a foot Doc and made a quick diagnosis. He said that it will probably happen to someone else by seasons end. I went from a splint (2 weeks) to a cast. In 2 weeks I’ll get a boot. I’ve heard things seem to go by quick after you get the boot and start rehab.

    This will be water under the bridge before we know. Good luck!

  21. coachjohn, on December 20th, 2015 at 8:00 pm Said:

    Have a question. I had atr repair Wednesday for a full rupture. Day one and day two no pain. (Block took a long time to wear off). Day three was in bathroom on crotches. I am in splint. Slipped. Tried to gain balance on good leg but reactions took over. Weight went on splint on ball of foot pushing it up. Got ripping feeling in back of calf as I scrambled to get weight off of it. No real pain. A lil nagging soreness in calf. Called doctors office. Got another doctor on call (it was weekend). He said “hopefully” there was no damage and since I didn’t crack the splint I probably was ok. To come in at scheduled appointment in 7 more days. Later that night I got annoying discomfort in calf and tendon. Continued today. Day 4 post op. Sunday. Gonna call the operating dr tomorrow. Can’t tell if discomfort was from block finally wearing off. (I had absolutely no discomfort first three days). Or from my fall. Anybody do this that early and have positive results. Worried.

  22. cpo, on December 21st, 2015 at 1:06 pm Said:

    @coachjohn, I had a scare early on where I actually sprained my ankle while in the boot, stepped on a 2×4 in my workroom, not my proudest moment. I had an exam right away with a negative Thompson test (the good result) followed by an MRI that revealed a slight tear but in a different place than the graft and one that healed on its own in about four weeks. It didn’t impact my recovery at all, at least not as far as I can tell.

    I would recommend that you get seen by your OS to give yourself peace of mind. He/she is probably right that you are ok, but an exam would likely answer the question for you straight away. Good luck and I hope you get good news.

  23. sonothottotrot, on November 13th, 2018 at 4:03 pm Said:

    Seems a lot of information for ATR recovery post op but not a lot of people talking about conservative recovery.

    45yo male with R rupture during a game of hockey. Getting vacated boot this Friday (13 days post injury) following the equines backslab.

    Grateful for any guidance or good news stories.

    Andrew

  24. bruiser, on November 13th, 2018 at 9:08 pm Said:

    Hi sonothototrot,

    I’m going the non-op rout. 33yo male ruptured playing basketball. I’m about 10 weeks from injury and 9 weeks from getting in the boot. My advice, as long as your doc is ok with it, is to do anything you can to maintain quad, hip, and hamstring strength while you’re NWB. Also, as soon as you’re able to weight bear in the boot, do it. My biggest hurdle has been building back the leg muscles (not just the soleus and gastroc). Ten weeks out my tendon feels pretty good and strong, I’ve got good ROM, and decent strength when plantar flexing, but my quad is still weak when I stand without the boot on. I’m supposed to start getting out of the boot in a few weeks and I’m a bit worried the rest of my leg won’t be ready to go.

  25. sonothottotrot, on December 8th, 2018 at 6:21 pm Said:

    Hi @Bruiser

    I’ve been in the boot for 3 weeks now. At the 2 wk point I was permitted to move to move the restrictions to allow ROM 15 - 30 degrees. I can feel the tissue has grown where there was a palpable gap and the tension in the tendon has returned all be it there is a lot of thickening proximal to the malleolus.

    Was out and about this last week and have been maintaining leg strength on my non-affected side but also doing mobility exercises in affected side. Glute bridges and leg raises with hip swings (stood on a couple of hefty books to allow for the swing with the boot on). Covered 5km over two days in London this week (week 5 post injury) and no twinges probably putting 80% through the boot and was carrying a bag with about 20lbs in it - desperate to get to 0 degrees which will be permitted on my protocol next week. Have been rigged with the boot and not attempted to do anything without it. Feel I could stand and balance on affected leg but had a pretty good physical strength before the injury and hoping that my ‘global’ strength will come in to effect as soon as I need to start mobilising without the boot.

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