richarduk

As it says 3 years on Saturday since it all went tits up achilles wise. No more Rugby for me but I can do most other things now. I still have a stiff ankle joint first thing in he morning and a bit of tendonitis in my ‘good’ ankle which eases fairly quickly once I get moving. Apart from that life’s good - big hello to all my Achilles contempories I still have a read from time to time and it would be nice to hear how the class of 08 are getting on.

Good luck everyone.

Richard

Hello everyone,

It’s my 2 year anniversary (give or take a few days) Achilles feels strong but I still have some stiffness (snigger) across the front of my foot.Quack thinks it some kind of bony spur which may need ‘trimming’ I’ll see whether I go for it at some point in the future.

Apart from that things are fine (school holidays -Hurrah !) Still checking in to the blog periodically and watching peoples progress. Incidentally just to join in the recent rather heated debate I had two surgeries, the conservative approach failed miserably whereas the surgical option worked perfectly. Only my experience I know but as far as I’m concerned the facts speak clearly for themselves.

Anyway, good luck everybody  - it does end !

Richard xx

Hello everyone,

Well that’s my year done - although as many veterans will remember it’s a bit longer than that after a false start which wasted about four months !

However I am pleased to report everything is going well, Achilles feels strong although I do still suffer with some stiffness in the morning (stop giggling at the back !!) This soon wears off though then it’s business as usual. I can jog around ,ride my bike go for nice walks etc etc.

The dark days are a distant memory and in a funny sort of way the rupture taught me lots of things about how to cope with a setback and all the complications that come with it.

Thank-you to all the people I’ve kept in touch with on and off the blog - I plan to keep checking in periodically but this will probably be my last post. Dennis you must be so proud of how it’s grown and how you have helped hundreds of people to come through this nightmare injury - bloody marvellous effort well done.

So thats it, good luck everyone, collective chins up you will recover !

Richard xx

Hello everyone,

I’m 6 months on now and beginning to feel I’ve beaten the ATR curse. Life isn’t totally back to normal but its not far off. As far as the tendon goes I can do a slight heel raise on one foot but not all the way, I can walk (slowly no limp -quickly still a bit of a limp) and I can jog and ride my bike.

I’ve been checking in from time to time and is great to hear about everyone’s progress - however as lots of veterans say there comes a point when there’s not a lot of news to report (a good thing I suppose).

For those of you wh0 have asked Bremner the Westie is doing fine (in fact he’s asleep next to me as I write - we’re going out for walks again together which is great (Steve -no real progress on the dog tricks I’m afraid)

Jimbo -I noticed you didn’t reply to my offer of counselling regarding the super Saints (you know where I am when the Mawhinney reaper strikes !!)

I’ll keep checking in and post again soon but to all who I have been in contact with (Maestro - I’ve got Baseball questions for you) and everyone else who has offered help and support thank-you and good luck with everything.

Richard xx

Hello everyone,

Well I had a land-mark visit to the hospital today in that the surgeon has ’signed me off’. In other words he doesn’t want to see me anymore (barring any set-backs).

He had a good look and feel of my tendon ,did a few tests and declared himself pleased with the results. I am now walking without crutches or a boot albeit slowly. I am still suffering with some pain and stiff-ness around my ankle particularly in the morning but I’m getting there.

I haven’t posted for a while as there was nothing new to report but I’m planning on keeping in touch and following the progress of others on the site.

Thank-you once again Dennis -you have enabled me to access so much support particularly during the early dark days and also the site has been a treasure trove of help and advice. May I thank everyone who has contacted me on various matters (not all ATR related !!) but special thanks to UKnodger, Annie. Jimbo (we should meet up for a beer!) and Maestro (Yes I stayed awake for the whole of the Superbowl).

So I’ll keep chipping in when appropriate and I look forward to reading about everyones steady journey toward recovery - my Doc said today I have 6 more months of recovery - a rather startling revelation but he’s been right about timings up to now so I have plenty of time.

                                           Cheers everyone

                                                                       Richard xx

To all my ATR colleagues - Thank-you for all your support and comradeship these last few months - its 23.45 here in England on Christmas Eve and I’ve just washed down a couple of anti inflammatories with a gin and tonic !!

A festive Xmas and a happy New Year to you all

                                                  Richard 

Hello everyone (particularly US citizens)

My recovery has spanned the end of the baseball season and the pre playoffs season of the NFL. I managed to work out the rules of Baseball but I have a football question  -

(1) After a punt if the receiver drops (fumbles) the ball can anyone dive on it?

(2) If the punt receiver decides to let the ball bounce and leaves it alone can the chasing pack dive on it?

(3) What is a touch back?

Thank-you in advance. Achilles going slowly at this end - still struggling with painful top of foot but able to get around ok with boot on and support from crutches

                                                                    Richard

Hello everyone,

Well I’ve been out of my cast  for a week now and I have seen the physio. Progress with the tendon is great, it is healing well and I can, after some manipulation, get it to almost 90 degrees.

However I am being hampered by a lot of pain across the top of my foot - This isn’t a very scientific description but the pain is across the area from ankle bone to ankle bone where the bottom of your leg joins the top of your foot.

Its stopping me putting much weight on my foot and hampering me when I try to pull my foot towards me. Ice helps but only temporarily as the stiffness returns once the ice has gone

Any suggestions would be gratefully received, I do think i’m struggling because my foot has been held in an equinas position (pointing down) for such a long time

                                                          Thank-you and take care everybody

                                                                               Richard xx

Hello everyone,

Firstly apologies to all you non UK ATR’s for the rather cryptic post title - for the UK types, I knew it I just bloody knew it was going to happen!!

Anyway no more bad news from me despite the week-ends debacle at Histon, I’ve been to the hospital today and its all good. Healing well, out of my cast and into an air-cast boot with physio starting as soon as I go to see them and book in.

My ankle feels quite tight but I have some ROM exercises to do at home when the boots off(I can take it off when resting / sleeping) so I am really chuffed.

Jimbo- the soreness I was feeling was due to a slight ripple which had formed in the big elastoplast thing(scientific!!) over the wound which was irritating the skin - it was a bit red but nothing to worry about.

So all in all I can get around much easier now in fact I’ve just been for a walk!! albeit only 200 yards to the end of the lane where I can see the woods and the river. I haven’t seen that view since July!

The Doc has virtually handed me over to the Physios now,he says they will make decisions about how my progress is going and how long I’ll be booted (he estimated 4 weeks with a gradual removal of the heel lifts at one a week). He doesn’t want to see me again until the end of Jan when he expects ROM to be normal.

I know I’ve still got a stretch (haha) in front of me but you know there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Thank-you everyone for all your support since July it really has been a blessing.

                                                   Richard xx