Posted on July 19th, 2016 by rick2016
I just thought i’d share that the surgery went very well today. When i met with anesthesia i informed them of the pain issues that i had the first time around. They recommended that i get the nerve block this time. Once the block was in place behind the knee, all sensation and ability to move the leg was gone and still is. If any of you ever have the option of getting this done i highly recommend it. I had no pain in recovery and still have none here at home. I will have to take some pain medicine before i go to bed in case it wears off overnight. The surgery itself only took about 45 minutes. The 2nd rupture occurred in the same place as before and in the same fashion. Once it was over the surgeon informed us that the tissue integrity looked really good and that he was able to do another standard reattachment without anything special. This was like music to my ears. Overall i have to say that i am really pleased with how everything turned out today. The only down side is i’m currently in a full leg splint instead of just a lower leg splint like last time. That pretty much means that i won’t be able to shower, use my iwalk 2.0 or do much of anything until i get my hard cast next tuesday. Thank you to everyone who sent positive thoughts and prayers my way.
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Posted on July 18th, 2016 by rick2016
Had my MRI appointment with ortho today. Its a rupture, we already knew that, but surgery is scheduled for tomorrow so nothing to eat or drink tonight after midnight. Surgery was the good news. The bad news is I guess they’re going to keep me in a cast a bit longer this time around instead of going to the boot so soon. I really wasn’t planning on hearing that one but i’ll do what ever i have to do i guess. I’m not really looking forward to the pain i know i’ll wake up with in recovery tomorrow but i’ll be happy to start putting this all behind me again.
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Posted on July 15th, 2016 by rick2016
Re rupture occurred on 7/11/16 here at my house. Very briefly, i was walking into our kitchen, turned the corner to step down into the kitchen and our cat raced around the corner and cut me off. I stepped on the cat, lunged forward down into the room and my full body weight landed on the big toe of the healing foot. Then there was the dreaded snap! 9 weeks of progress down the tubes. Finally starting to feel good about myself again and now i’m even more depressed than before. More than anything i’m worried about keeping my job. The re rupture was confirmed by an MRI that i had on 7/13. Since i didn’t have an MRI the first time around they couldn’t say for sure whether the rupture was in the same exact spot but they said that they think it is. The calls were made into work today to let them know i was going to need surgery again so were back to square one. My only beacon of hope so far is that my bosses are excellent guys and are really doing a great job putting my mind at ease about this whole ordeal. The only other positive thing i can think of coming out of this whole thing is that i now know what to expect from here on out. I’m already tweaking things that i previously found difficult here at the house to make life easier. I’m getting a cast cover for showering and we’re going to ditch the crutches this time around to give the iwalk 2.0 a try. Trying to stay positive here but as many of you know its really hard to do. Today’s friday so this is going to be an extremely long weekend for me. I have an appointment with ortho on monday and if all goes well i’ll have surgery on tuesday. I’m looking forward to putting this all behind me once more.
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Posted on July 15th, 2016 by rick2016
The initial rupture occurred on 4/28/16 while playing some afternoon basketball with a few friends. I’m pretty sure i was sprinting for a rebound when i heard a pop and it felt like someone stepped on the back of my foot and knocked my shoe off. When I realized there was no one behind me and my shoe was still on my foot i immediately thought something bad had happened. When i tried to stand up i noticed my foot was acting funny. Then i felt the area of the tendon and it felt like there was nothing there so i knew something wasn’t right. I got up and walked to my truck and drove myself to the hospital where my friends met me and helped me into the hospital. Fortunately i had no pain during any of this. After a few xrays and a splint, i was sent over to ortho the same day. They pretty much confirmed what i already knew, its a ruptured achilles. Surgery was set for a week later and i was on my road to recovery. I woke up in quite a bit of pain after the surgery and it stayed that way for about 3 days until i was able to find relief. The pain meds were making me sick to my stomach so i was taking as little as possible. After the surgery i was in a splint for a week and then a cast for 2 weeks. I was given the boot at the very beginning of week 4 when the cast came off.
PT was pretty slow going at first. Basic leg lifts, some hip stretches, and active range of motion out of the boot was pretty much it for the first two weeks. They also did ultra sound massage twice a week during this time as well for scar treatment. Things progressed at the end of week 5 with toe curls and ankle turns with the towel on the floor. Week 6 they added some seated no weight toe raises and by week 8 i was adding real weight to the toe raises and starting to riding the bike. The bike started off with weight on the heel only and we progressively got it to where i was putting weight on the toe. Two shoes with a heel lift started around the middle of the 8th week for around the house only. I still wore the brace for a week while out in public and even longer than that if i had something to do outside. Things were going great though. I was feeling strong again. By week 10 i was doing standing toe raises, riding my bike in public, a lot of balance exercises, step up and down maneuvers, no weight squats, and even leg presses. The calf muscle was coming back nicely. The only thing i noticed is i was having a hard time keeping my foot straight when i walked. The tendon and the outside of my calf felt tight so my foot was being pulled to the outside. It would take me a little while to get it loosened up in the morning but i was starting to get things straightened and loosened up by working the inside of my calf more. I was set to return to work in 2 weeks when the re rupture occurred. More on that in another post.
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Posted on July 15th, 2016 by rick2016
Hello everyone. My name is Rick and I’m 36 years old from Pennsylvania. Like pretty much everyone else here, i found this site while looking for answers to help me with my ruptured achilles tendon. My initial tear occurred on 4/28/16 while i was playing basketball with some work friends. My subsequent tear occurred on 7/11/16 after i tripped over a household pet while going down a set of stairs here at home. As most of you know, this can be a very depressing affliction. I realize its not anywhere near the worst that can happen but its depressing none the less, especially for someone who is as active as i am. Before the rupture I’ve never had anything that slowed me down for more than a day or two. You come to know who you can count on and who you can’t during this time. One person who really stepped up in all of this was my wife. Even though we were at each others throats at times she really helped me get to where i needed to be the first time around so i know she’ll be a champ this time. I also think you learn a little about yourself that wasn’t previously apparent as well. The purpose of this bog is not only to seek comfort and information for myself, but its to share my story with others who may also be going through a similar circumstance so that each of us may possibly help one another get through this.
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Posted on July 13th, 2016 by rick2016
Hello everyone. Looking forward to starting the blog a little later.
the Marathon Tracker.
using Achilles Timeline Widget
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