Jul 15 2008
4 Months plus
Well its been 4 months since rupturing my AT. And….doing great. No pain, no limp, literally no stamina and no strength. As in my past posts in the beginning you attain goals quickly……boot, cast, boot, NWB to PWB, showering, crutching, steps, no boot, two shoes, FWB, limp, no limp and now…..screeching halt.
My major goal now is to do a one legged calf raise. Obvioulsy I compare to my good AT and boy do I have a way to go. You would think that after a month of lifting this 210# body you could see some major strength gains but to no avail, just a chicken leg. Started running, 10 minute miles or should I say mile, cause after one mile I’m exhausted.
My routine at this point is 3X per week—run ( until I can’t), bike for 30 minutes, stretch, calf raises standing, sitting and then core workouts. Twice a week I golf. walk 18 but afer 14 holes really feel the fatigue. Tournaments I’ll ride to save energy and feel pretty good at the end of 18. Still doing the nutrition, and watching my ATR weight gain steadily diminish.
Wear my orthotics every day except one day and noticed calf and knee soreness. So for those of you in two shoes make sure you get them. Seriously your gait, and biomechanics have permanently changed. Talk with the surgeon, go to your chiropractor, or podiatrist and get casted.
Actually went on the racquetball court by myself to see how my lateral movement was and pleasantly surprised. But……will not play until January 1, 2009. Total torture for a highly ranked tournament player. Plan on putting in my application for a tournament the second weekend in January.
That’s pretty much what’s going on now…not too exciting, slow progress, nice scar, great conversation starter ( way to go Matts) (DOG), and as you can see us veterans blog monthly rather than daily or weekly as we used to.
Keep up the great work, PT hard………we are one day closer to the end.
Doc Ross
Thanks for the update Ross. I’m just a few days ahead of you as far as surgery date, actually on July 14th I was 19 weeks post op. I think we are at about the same place. Until the beginning of last week though, I was having a lot of pain in the scar tissue along the incision. That has improved a bunch, but for about 6 weeks, it really slowed me down, and stopped me from pushing it too hard. Well, a week ago something in my mind clicked and it remembered how it felt to walk correctly. Like you said, our biomechanics are permanently altered, and that was proof. Since my gait improved, the calf seems to be waking up more. I still can’t do a single leg raise, I figure that will seem orgasmic when it happens. I read my name mentioned a while ago as an old timer on the blog.. That was when there were so few of us we just used our first names. Seems like yesterday I was sitting on the couch after surgery. Well, just got back from my first shift since my injury. I’m doing “short” 8 hour shifts for the fist few weeks to get back up to speed physically. Then I will be working 12 hour shifts, on my feet almost all the time. I am exhausted, but must complete this last set of 12 oz curls prior to sleeping. Maybe I will get some orthotics on my days off.
Wishing you all the best.
Jim
Hey Doc, looks like you are doing great. I will be at ten weeks on Thursday and have been walking in two shoes for a couple of weeks now..Doing the same routine as you minus the running, I am walking backwards on the treadmill, alot of upper body stuff. I am very out of proportion looking right now. 21 Days until I am back on the job. PT 3x’s a week(I never miss a day now…haha) I am battling this limp and trying to correct it, I will be so happy to see next summer so I can be 100% again..This limp seems to come and go, as soon as I open up my mouth on this website and say it is gone, BAM, its back..This is going to take alot of time. Thanks for the updates..
A single calf raise seems so far away…I just started to “show wrinkles in my sneaker” when doing seated calf raises…the dog days are here.
Thnx for the update
Ross - Thanks for your post. After reading your update, I went ahead and finally made a couple of appointments with podiatrists in nyc. (I’ll go see the first doctor, and if am not happy with the guy, I’ll try the second doctor.) There is really no way to find a good doctor, other than word of mouth or sheer luck. I’ve tried a couple of those physician review sites, and they are usually not too helpful.
I’ll definitely get orthotics as my recovering leg doesn’t feel right. My knee hurts when I bend and bear-weight, and I am hoping that the orthotics will alleviate or fix the problem.
I am glad to hear that you’ve been very active in your exercises and rehab. I am also glad to read that you haven’t let yourself into playing squash again. Great patience!
I’ve been tempted by my basketball buddies to come and play a few pickup games and just play “carefully”. Yeah right! I respectfully declined.
One day closer to full recovery!
Should one see a podiatrist or chiropractor for orthotics? I love my Superfeet, but I’m in the big leagues now!
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