s40love’s AchillesBlog

Keep it up, you know what you’re doing. Great progress.

Winners instinct, I like that;). Well done, wish you all the best!

Well done. Another good example that life can take a turn but still go somewhere. I doubt many people can get back to the same competitve level at 6 months so I think your plan will work out just fine. You may also learn how to play smarter instead of harder.

mdefran23 - at the top right corner of the main page is a search the site box. Type in Arthrex and you may find more of what your are seeking from individual blogs. Many of these are gone now and will not read your message but may reply to a question on their blog if their email is still active.

Hello,
I have a question. I am 6 months post op from AT FHL Transfer surgery. I have a arthrex screw and a arthrex suture bridge implanted in my ankle. My only complicaiton from the surgery is pain with these two implants. I was told this would go away in time, and these two implants will dissolve in time. Has anyone had any issues similar to this? Any advice? thank you

Thanks for all your posts. I am really inspired. I am seeing my Dr at the 6 week post op this Tuesday and waiting for the weight bearing and physio go ahead. I have been NWB in a boot for the last 3 weeks. Hoping he tells me what I want to hear. Can’t wait to start working out and moving forward.
Keeping my fingers crossed for positive news!

Thanks for posting, and congratulations on doing so well, S40love. Tomorrow is my 5th month day, so I guess I’ll have to make a similar write up… Jeez, the pressure! LOL

Hi china… Ha ha… If you are a workout freak like me that will definitely speed up your progress. Whenever you have an ok from your doctor, start doing some leg presses, extension, and curls. Also calf presses on the leg press machine is great too. I usually do 4 sets of 12. Then later you can move on to squats, lunges and deadlifts. I played some games just to see where I was at. I was even able to rush to the net, and volley!!! By the hour end, I was tired and limping though. I am going to try to play some games again on week 22 again. Cheers!!!

Wow, 4 months and you playing tennis and running! It’s so fun to read that you acctually will be doing that again;) I’m 6 week post and still a long way to go but I’m also a training freak and looking for different ways moving forward.
Thx for sharing

Very nice work on your progress. Keep it up. And thanks for sharing. It seems a lot of people on this blog have had ruptures in the first couple months of 2016. Being able to look ahead to other people’s stories is nice.

Thanks guys for the comments.
I don’t mean for anyone to get jealous, inspired would be a better
goal (Thanks @mickeyc!).
@Loulou, I put a note on your page about fear.
We can do it, we will all get there eventually!!!
Btw, yesterday I conquered another fear and ran 6 miles on the TM. My achilles feels a lot stronger now, and I started to train for my 5k in June!

Hi…reading your posts are a great motivator of what can be…I’m only slightly jealous that you’re so far ahead. Even tho we had surgery within a couple of days of each other…I was advised not to start physio till 12 wks so now playing catch up. Good luck with the next steps

Happy 4 months, S40love! You are dangerous, going for a ten min jog and stretching it to 5 miles in 39 min! (I think those are six minute miles).
You are definitely way ahead of me… I’m envious in a good way! LOL
Happy healing!…… Manny

Very rewarding anniversary present s40love I am sure you are really chuffed with the progress keep it up you are becoming an inspiration to us all, best regards, Mickeyc

S40love yes I am still doing the eccentric exercises. From what I’ve read these actually make the achilles stronger and healthier so I’ve added them to my general set of exercises to always do. At 12 weeks my PT had me start them with no extra weight just from tiptoes to floor. Then at 16 weeks I started them on stairs so that I stretched down lower than floor level. And from there I’ve added 2kg to a back pack as soon as I can do all the sets in a row with good form. I do them with 10kg now. Again maybe check with your PT first, but if you’re walking on tiptoes and doing single heel raises already then you should be able to start these and they will be very good for both legs. Good luck and enjoy!

@beanie: Thanks for your comments, I will try the bosu ball. I also want to try the eccentric exercises with the backpack that you posted a while ago. Are you still doing them? I think I am going to hold off on squats for a while, talked to my trainer, she said it’s better to ask for the doctor’s recommendation, but when I start I will follow your advice.

@mikeyc: Thanks for the compliment. Williams sisters, wait until I get back ha ha… Have a happy and safe healing!

Awesome S40love, it sounds like you’re really on top of this rehab and doing great! Your post just makes me want to get out and exercise more! Addicts! Stuart also says that a mini-tramp is excellent rehab and he also used it to do 3 jog steps then balance for a few secs on one leg, then 3 more jog steps then balance, etc. I’m sure you’ll find a number of things to do on it. A bosu ball is also great - both sides. Check with your trainer or PT but I think it sounds like you’re ready for starting body weight squats and lunges and both will help you regain strength in hammys and glutes which is very important. Make sure to keep knees behind toes and push through heels to engage the glutes instead of quads. Good luck and keep us posted!

S40Love, you are an inspiration I get tired looking at your workout schedule its something to aim at and be envious….

You are well on your way to challenging the William’s Sisters, cheers and best wishes… Mickey

Ha ha ha Manny… One hour… You know it!!! You should try the trampoline, it’s really fun!!!

S40Love, you are quite amazing! Hopping? Jeez…
Playing tennis already (”only one hour” - I think I’ve heard that before, LOL)
“Not running for long shots” is another one I’ll have to take on trust… your blogs indicate you do things, not the contrary!

And: hopping and boppin to the Crocodile Rock, (as Elton John would say) Jeez, I got tired just reading your routines! LOL
You ladies in this blog are really good!
thanks for sharing!………
Happy Healing and keep on having fun!…….. Manny

S40Love, you are doing great! I’m still doing Phys Therapy twice a week, working on balance (I realize it is more a case of my becoming confident of using my tendon than of it handling the task).
You athletes are awesome!
Good healing!…… Manny

I love it s40love.
That reminds me of Thomas Muster after his knees were crushed in a car accident, back in the 80’s. There was a great picture of him in a wheelchair on the court, with both his legs in casts, and he was hitting balls. It’s called determination.
Hope all is well and Heal Strong…!!

s40love, welcome and thanks for sharing your great story. Good luck with your goal!

s40love belated welcome. Your quick recovery scares me, but in a good way too. Fast scares me for increased chances of re-injury but I’ve come to realize we are each different even when we are the same.

Age, state of health, type of injury, type of surgery or non-surgery, doctors, country, post-op doctor orders and PT exercises.

But the biggest help I think it just being able to find a place to post ones fears and have someone understand what you are feeling and going through.

manny: thanks for your kind words. I wish you a great speedy recovery. All the best!

beanie: congratulations on your quick progress, and able to return to be your crossfit in 6 months! i will keep following your progress… I guess I didn’t have flexibility issues because my ROM was not as bad. I think that’s why they only gave me 2 heel lifts instead of 4. My ROM is pretty much the same as my right foot right now, but still feels stiff.

bryanb: good to hear from a fellow tennis player… I am such a junkie, that even when I was in a cast, I was taking the balls to the racketball court and practicing serves sitting on a chair. People gave me weird looks, but I didn’t care, some people said that I was inspiring to them…

Thanks for your kind words. I have been reading this site for a while, and the witness from people has inspired me so much, that it made believe that I could achieve good progress too.

I have been documenting my progress on an excel spreadsheet, so now I just now decided to paste it here, so people can see it and believe that anything is possible if they really put their mind to it.

Thanks for all the inspiration you guys have given us. I am a firm believer that you can achieve anything if you really believe that you can.

S40Love,
Wow…. what an amazing path of recovery so far. You are a true testament to willpower and determination. I too love the game of tennis and actually, that’s where my injury occurred. Like you, I can’t wait to get back on the court. Also, I can’t wait to read about your continued progress. I’m sure it will give everyone inspiration to return to what they love to do.
Keep up the fantastic recovery.
Can’t wait to how great you feel when you run…!!

S40love I have no doubt that your are going to reach your goal. It sounds like your recovery has gone smoothly and that you are pushing yourself in all the right ways. I am 6 months in and when I read through your progress I can see that you are following a similar path to me and able to do similar things slightly earlier than I did. I’ve struggled quite a lot with flexibility in the ankle, so it took a long time for me to get back enough flexion so that I could do sports, but once I did things just took off. If you don’t have any flexibility issues and you work hard then you could be jogging again by 16 weeks and smashing your 5km goal in 5-6 months. Once I could squat properly again I returned to crossfit (20 weeks) and now 6 weeks later I’ve entered the worldwide crossfit games open that starts this week - I never thought I’d be able to enter this year, but I can do everything again at 6 months. Good luck and all the best … you can do it!

S40Love, you are amazing!
Welcome to the group and tribe no one wanted to be an official member of. You certainly are taking the right steps for recovery, and I suggest you check out Bryan, Bobbie and Bonnie’s blogs, since they, and others are also “true grit” athletes. I’m sorry for everyone I forgot to mention, but we have a number of athletes that make me feel tired just by reading their routines (as you just did) LOL
Good luck, and thanks for posting. You are going much quicker in the recovery timeline than I am, so I can only applaud your efforts! :-D………………. Manny

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