Rebekah’s Achilles Lengthening (ATL) Story…

Shalom all,

I need your help and advise here. As I have been saying in my last few posts, I have continued to gain muscle in my lower left leg (the one I had surgery on). However, I feel like it has come to a point where I am no longer gaining muscle but just maintaining it. I am not happy with this idea because I can still see that my left calf is smaller then my right (half the size). I just don’t know how to work the calf to make it work harder so to gain muscle. What are you ideas? I really need some tips. I can do lifts with the left leg, but can’t get on my tip toes without help from my right leg.

I just need some advise. I guess the fear is that I will always be building the right leg while the left leg stays behind all the time. Or, is it simply that muscle growth is so  slow - I just can’t see it until it really grows to a noticeable difference?

Would biking or running be better, or are the same in terms of the calf?

Thanks for your help

G-d Bless!

Shalom Ya’ll,

Again from Israel. Sorry it has been awhile - other blog and being overseas makes you forget to update these things like one should. I guess this may be my last post for awhile. I feel like I have recovered for the surgery and can pretty much do everything - even run a bit. I know officially I won’t be completely done with recovery till the end of December. I am still gaining muscle on my leg, just very slowly. On second thought, I may do a “official” last post when it comes to the one year mark… sound good. I don’t want to leave this blog as if unfinished. Thank you all for your support and prayers as well. The L-rd has been so good to me through this. Now I am overseas, not having any problems…at least leg wise.

So, I guess all this to say I will do a final update and closing to this blog concerning my surgery and recovery journey on Dec. 29th, 2011 - because that was the date of my surgery last Dec.  So, everything is going fine…still gaining mustle and the leg is not tight in the mornings any more and for the most part never hurts, even after hiking, horseback riding in the Golan, and running around Israel. Praise the L-rd!

G-d Bless you all! Pray for Israel!

Shalom from Israel!

I am here for a year. But, I thought I would update anyway. My leg is doing well. I can walk completely normally. The only "pain" I have is more of discomfort in the morning when I first walk because the tendon is tight from the night of sleep. I can kind of skip a few steps, because its not really jogging  yet. I still have to concentrate so that I walk how I am suppose to. I guess my leg doesn’t really want to because of the fact that when I do for even a few steps, the muscle hurts. The way I would describe it would be it feels like a combination of burning and tightness, and it is the worst when going up hills or stairs. I even have to stop for a couple of seconds to recover. Other then that, i am very happy with where I am in the recovery process. I don’t remember if I wrote about this, but I have gone riding once and OH MAN, it felt good to have both legs in the right position! But then, the bad news, it wasn’t long before that leg had all it could on a horse. So, I am not to the point where I can run or even jog, though I have tryed at times. Its not that my leg doesn’t know what to do, its just the "push off" is not all the way there yet. Before I leave Israel though, it should be. I still have the scar, but its fading….slooooooooooooowllllllllllyyyyyyyyy. However, that is no worry to me…I am just glad I can walk correctly. If I am standing on my left leg by itself, I can lift it maybe an inch and a half up, but not hold it any  longer then a few seconds, if any.

So, that’s where I am at the moment! Sorry I didn’t write sooner!

Hello all,

I am sorry that I have not been writing much. However, hence I am writing now. My ingrown toenail is all healed, or what was an ingrown toenail. Anyway, I am no longer in a boot or nigh splint, which is SO NICE! I can sleep all through the night now. As for the leg, the primary healing is done, i.e the surgical site. The secondary healing is still going on however. I can walk really well…I just have to think about how to walk because my foot tends to want to revert back to how it walked before, but it cannot do that because of the surgery, so I end up limping on it instead…until I remember to think about walking.

The muscle is slow to coming back but it is getting there. I cannot run yet, and the doctor says that I won’t be able to until a few months from now…I have to get the walking thing down first. Anyway, so other then building up my leg again, everything is fine and the leg is working how it is meant too. One problem I do have now is finding shoes because I have an insert  in my left shoe to fix the height  difference in my legs. As a result, I have a very difficult time finding shoes that I can wear. Anyone have any help that they can offer in this area?

Thank you

G-d Bless

So, I went to the doctor Monday of this week and the toe (and the swelling that was with it) looks a lot better and is now healing very well. I have been able to be in shoes now…though I do need to get a new pair because one is so wore out so I hope to get a pair this weekend. The L-rd has been so good and has given me the strength to be able to work through the slow process of recovery.

I am now out of the boot completely, and just in time for the hot weather so I am grateful that I don’t have to wear it. My leg muscle has grown more and more each week, though because it is slow…it is hard to notice sometimes. For the next three weeks I will be working on the bike, doing my own physical therapy you could. I have do it now for two days and I think in the long run it will help rebuild that muscle. So, I am biking (at the gym) and walking "full-time" now without the boot. I am not sure how long it will be before I really can use that leg as I used to.

My goal right now, over these next three weeks is to rebuild so my leg is strong enough to handle the strain of a horseback ride, which is a workout in itself. So, I hope at the end of these three weeks…I will be able to get "back up" on the horse. I have a friend of mine who will be letting use hers. I can’t wait to feel how the leg will respond and having a new balance that I have not had before.

I go back to see the doctor on May 16th, that morning. I am still wearing the night split because I am waiting for the leg and all to show signs of healing completely before I risk a night without it. I don’t want it to go back to the way it was…I don’t think it would but why risk it. I am also treating the leg (the scar area) with vitamin E Oil so to help the scar fade and heal up quicker. I think it is helping because my leg does feel less tight in that area. I treat it twice a day, once in the morning and then at night before I go to bed, sometimes putting something over it so the oil will soak in during the night.

Let me know if you all have other "treatment" ideas for my leg, or what you have done.

Thanks

G-d Bless

Hello all,

So…I told you that I had that surgery on my big toe for the ingrown toenail. Well, the front of my foot, along with all the toes, are swollen. I guess its not not bad and its not the ankle which is a good thing so nothing there is going wrong. However, because of this toe issue…I have still yet to spend any time in the shoe. I did try the shoe, but only could try it for about 15mins before it got too much for my toe. Good thing is…its not as bad as it was yesterday night. Please pray that this swelling would go down so I can start working on the shoes and all…which I really want to start doing. I am just praying that this toe and its healing doesn’t keep me "a step back" for too long.

The surprising thing is, is that the toe doesn’t really hurt. Yet from how it looks…I should be. Its not infected…and I am soaking the foot in salts twice a day. Yet…I can see a lot of raw flesh where the bad nail was growing (only on right side of the big nail on the big toe)…so I can see why it was bothering me because it was digging into that raw flesh. I would think though that it would still hurt because the flesh is exposed. Anyway, so this is a little set back….but its better than having that nail back

Anyone else have this "anomaly", that is, not having pain after a removal of an ingrown toenail?

Thank you all and for your prayers…

G-d Bless

Hello all,

I know that it has been awhile since I have written here. Anyway went to the doctor this morning (I had been wearing the boot the last three weeks…again.) So, I went in today to see what he said. Turns out that my big toe had an ingrown toenail so I had that removed -  but he said it shouldn’t return and cause any issues with my recovery in terms of my "large" surgery. He was very happy with my leg. He told me I can SLOWLY start using my shoes again. The firs three days I can only wear them for an hour and then the next three days for two hours a day, and go up an hour every three days. I still have to sleep with the splint at night so the leg with completely heal in the way he wants (and how I want too).

I would have started today in the shoe, however because of the toe thing and how he wrapped it…I didn’t want to mess with it til tonight when I soak the foot (which I have to do for two weeks until I see him again). I go back in two weeks, like I said, and he will look at the toe and leg. I should be walking in shoes completely by the end of this month I hope. The L-rd is teaching me a great deal  on how to wait.

I hope to get on a horse at the beginning of next month and ride and jump, and see how all this makes in easier to do so. Once I do that…it will be worth it. No…its worth it now to walk around (in my dorm and at home) like normal. My leg has some muscle to work up….but everything is going well.

G-d Bless!

Hello all,

I am here to update you on how things are going with the recovery and all. I went to the doctor on Monday (Feb 28th), and the good news is that everything is still healing well and smoothly. He doesn’t foresee any problems coming up as long as I keep obeying his orders concerning recovery. Now the not so fun news. He told me because it is still healing, and also to be on the safe side - I will have to stay in the boot and night splint for another month…so I go back and see him in three weeks.

However, in terms of walking I am getting better. I see the doctor this coming Monday the 21st. So, I hope that he will say that I am done with this boot and splint and into normal shoes and such. The thing I am looking forward to is sleeping with nothing on my leg! So, that is the update…and I will let you know how it goes this Monday

G-d Bless

Hello All,

Just a side note: when leaving comments (which I really like when you do) please let me know what kind of surgery you had so I can know how it relates to what the docs tell you all and such.

Anyway, Just wanted to all to know that today was my first FWB and it was kinda hard…because my left leg (one that had surgery) is so SLOW! Its like my legs are arguing with each other while I am walking. My right leg wants to go go go, while my left leg is trying to keep up…so I end up having to walk pretty slow which I guess is good for me. The boot is pretty heavy so that, I am sure, has something to do with it. Everything is still healing, but not as sore - though the muscle is because I am working it now. I also wanted to clarify something as well that deals with my length of limp/legs. It may be a good thing in my case. Anyway, here is the deal. My right leg is already longer then my left, so the boot doesn’t give me the high left leg…on the contrary, my right leg is longer, so I had to put padding into the boot so I would be even. When I go back to the doctor, if I have to continue wearing the boot that is, I will ask him for something more suitable to put in the boot as a lift. I know that when I walk in normal shoes again, I will have an insert for my left shoe…which will take care of the length issue.

So yeah…I guess I will update in a week or so when I get better at walking and in progress there. Let me know if you have any tips or suggestions for me, etc.

Thanks

G-d Bless

Hello all,

Its been a week with my boot and my leg is getting stronger everyday. For the first couple of days of having the boot, I treated it like a cast…not putting any wright on it. Then, after that, using the crutches still, I started putting some weight down, very little, and then each day putting a little more. This really helps…and by Wednesday, I should be completely FREE of the crutches! These past couple of days…I finally I have been able to take a couple of steps without the aid of the crutches…yet I do this VERY little and only in my room and around the dorm floor. It is a great feeling after not walking for almost seven weeks. So, for the most part…I am still putting most weight on the crutches…and my leg gets very tired when really walking without crutches and it takes awhile for it to "get rested" again. Sleeping with the splint is much easier now…now that I am used to it.

The incision area is closed all the way…and the bruising (kind of dark red, but not bright or anything - and not painful. I think the marks are from the stitches, which are fading a little more every day.) So, overall everything is going well…and I will let you all know how Wednesday goes without the crutches….

Please keep up the prayer as well.

G-d Bless