sagehen0347’s AchillesBlog

Hi everyone!

Another Friday, another doctor’s appointment.

Week 5 Updates: Nothing major!

Got into the swing of things for my NWB PT appointments. Each appointment starts with manual therapy and stretching by my PT for about 20-30 minutes (I think our chatting makes it go a little slower but it’s super comfortable so I’m in no rush). Been working on the towel slides and assisted inversion/eversion and we added 4-way weighted leg lifts (back, prone, L-side, R-side), weighted clamshells, towel scrunching, and marble pick-ups. The towel and marble exercises are where I discovered that my toes aren’t working properly! I’m unable to properly extend and contract them so I make sure to really focus on that ROM when I’m doing each. It sounds so silly but sometimes when I’m not wearing my boot and I have my foot flat on the ground, I realize how my toes don’t really engage or work to balance me anymore. PT was good to work on my flexibility but we were mainly just waiting for my 3rd post-op (6 weeks out) for the go-ahead to start active therapy and walking.

On more personal/mundane notes, I’m no longer elevating my leg when I sleep but I’m still wearing my boot to bed. I hadn’t really had a problem with swelling after the surgery and my PT confirmed that it looked great so I’m lounging about my house as usual. I don’t wear my boot when I take short naps which has been a little scary since I’m a big twitcher when I fall asleep but I’ve made it this far so I think I’m doing alright. Also, I am finally driving myself around!!!! This is a big one for me. I love driving and I love having my independence so relying on people for everything during this time period has been tough for me. I’ve been physically fine to drive according to my doctor and my PT for the last 1 or 2 weeks but my parents weren’t comfortable with the idea yet (for no logical reason to my dismay). However, I’ve finally gotten my DMV temporary handicap placard (I heavily recommend getting one) and I got to drive myself to Taco Bell, PT, and my friend’s house! It’s nice to have some semblance of independence/normality even if I still have to take my crutches or knee scooter everywhere.

Also I measured my calves just to see where I’m at before I start walking again! It seems like my left calf is about 92% of my right calf. I’m not really sure what that means but that doesn’t seem too bad? I naturally have small calves though so maybe just the size isn’t a good indicator for the strength for me.

Healthy Right Calf: 34.6cm

ATR Calf: 31.9cm

Week 6 is what we’ve all been waiting for! Another doctor’s appointment and my clearance to start moving to FWB!!!!! Although I’ve been counting down the days until this point, I’m honestly a little scared of the idea of walking. My doctor said I should be transitioning out of the boot in about 2 weeks but I’ve gotten so used to having it (even when I take it off) that the idea of not needing it seems so sudden (6 weeks is absolutely not sudden, nor are the additional 2 weeks but tell that to my anxiety). His Phase-Out plan to FWB has 5 Phases: 2 Crutches, 1 Crutch, Boot, Ankle Brace, No Support. My doctor is planning for about 5 days in each of the first 3 phases and then the timeline for ankle brace to no support is based on personal strength and preference. My incision is pretty much healed, no more scabbing left and only a slightly raised scar.  I definitely need to get consistent with my band and strength exercises at home to help my return to walking.

I have my underlying fears about not being strong enough, having a limp, whatever else I can make up in my head but I’m also excited for what is a major step to having my life back. In two weeks, I’ll be able to get back into the volleyball gym where I had my injury–coaching of course–and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most in the short term. It’s so crazy to think that I might be walking barefoot so soon. One small step for me!

Thanks,

Vicky

P.S. Exercises:

• 3×10 4-Way Leg Lifts
• 3×10 Clamshells
• 3×10 Assisted Inversion/Eversion
• 3×10 Towel toe Crunches
• 3×10 Towel slides
• 1 Jar of Marbles moved

*Adding to regimen on the weekend*

• 3×10 Seated tiny heel lifts (focusing on engaging toes and ball of feet)
• 3×10 Active Inversion/Eversion

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Hi Everyone!

I don’t have that much to update from Week 2. My constant googling has contributed to my ever growing list of pro athlete ATRs (and their comebacks, if any) and I recently added John Wall (Go Wizards!) and Misty May-Treanor, who went on to win gold at the 2012 London Olympics after her 2008 injury! My 2nd week post-op was me getting back into the swing of things around the house and getting used to sleeping in my boot again. It’s not that bad but sometimes it feels too tight or too loose, especially since I naturally have tiny ankles and calves:/ The tingling along the outside of my foot is still present, along with the numbness, but I saw that nerve damage from surgery can take anywhere up to 6-12 months after surgery to heal so I’m not too concerned. My days consist of me meandering around my house and stretching my Achilles to try to get to that 90º (or 0º if you’re in a hinged boot) flexion. I stretched 2-4 times a day with hopes of having my foot flat in my boot by my 2nd post-op.

At Week 3 second post-op was even quicker than the first. My foot was able to get to that 90º stretch which my doctor was happy about. The tape over the incision hadn’t fallen off so my doctor said I could go ahead and take it off after my next shower. He told me he wants to be proactive with my recovery so he cleared me to start physical therapy next week! I am to be NWB for the full 6 weeks so my physical therapy will initially be focused on stretching, mobility, and range of motion and I’m allowed to put up to 20% of my body weight onto my leg in some PT exercises. I’m super excited because this gives me something to look forward to and to focus on in the meantime since quarantine life is pretty boring! I’m a little scared of how hard and long this recovery is but I’m also determined to come back in equal, if not better, shape than before! If Misty May can do it, why can’t I? I’ll write back after my first appointment to explain how it went and what my treatment is going to look like.

Thanks!

Vicky

P.S. My doctor is super thorough but once I get home from my appointments, I think of so many non-urgent questions I meant to ask him but forgot that aren’t important enough to call his office about so if anyone is reading this and has any answers or advice I’d appreciate it!

Random Questions

• When did you stop elevating your foot whenever you were lying down and during sleep?
• When did you stop wearing your boot to sleep? *Bear in mind, I am an extremely active sleeper*
• I have gauze and an ACE bandage on under my foot but the incision doesn’t bleed anymore, do I still need the ACE bandage?
• Is there any easy way to wash my boot???

P.P.S. I’m not as consistent a blogger as I’d like so I’m just catching up with my old posts

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Hi everyone!

Sorry about the unintentional hiatus, I’ve been keeping notes together but have neglected writing my full posts until now. Going back to describe surgery that happened Aug. 13.

My surgery was exactly 2 weeks after my ATR due to schedule conflicts (my orthro surgeon said 2 weeks is the longest anyone should wait after the injury) so I got to the hospital around 8:30 that morning. Getting checked in was a smooth process. I was put into pre-op room where I had to repeatedly confirm personal info and details of the surgery, get hooked to an IV drip, and do a COVID test. Around 9:30, the anesthesiologist came in to meet me and go over my health background and the CRNA came in to explain that I’d be going under general anesthesia administered through the IV and I’d be out within 5-10 minutes. Once it was go time, I was wheeled into the OR and the last thing I remember was moving from the bed to the operating table…

I woke up groggily in a general recovery ward before I was moved into my own post-op room (my memory of that move is pretty foggy), I realised that I was back in another splint with much more dressing than the ER one. I was in and out of it for a while in the post-op room before I was finally discharged and wheeled out to be driven home. I wasn’t in too much pain, I just put elevated my leg on pillows and slept for hours. When I woke up that evening, my mum told me that my doctor said the surgery was smooth and complication-free and he administered a nerve block that I would be feeling the effects of for the rest of the day. I was prescribed oxycodone but I didn’t take anything when I got home because I had taken Percocet (Oxycodone + Acetaminophen) in the recovery room. I had dinner in bed but felt nauseous and didn’t eat much (anesthesia side effect). My leg really didn’t feel too bad, I just felt pressure and a dull ache so after dinner, I slept again. I woke up around 1AM with a really strong, aching pain so I took one of my prescribed oxy pills and eventually went back to bed.

The first three days after surgery were definitely the hardest, but still not as bad as I was expecting. I normally avoid taking painkillers unless absolutely necessary so I was really trying to limit my use of the Oxy as much as possible. The night after surgery, I woke up around 6AM with burning, aching leg pain so I took another Oxy. When I woke up, did some googling and found out that I could take Tylenol (Acetaminophen) at the same time as Oxy and when my doctor called later that day to follow up after surgery, he confirmed that I could take Tylenol and Advil (Ibuprofen/NSAID) along with, or instead of, the Oxy. I decided that I’d alternate one Tylenol and Advil pill (with the rare Oxy) during the day as needed and I’d make sure to take Oxy at night to try to help me sleep through the night.

My leg felt heavy and had the dull (but strong) aching pain throughout most of the day. I made sure to wiggle and flex my toes in the splint often to make sure I could. My pinky toe and the outside of my foot had been tingling since the surgery and though it initially felt like I had some gauze or something stuck between my pinky toe and my fourth toe, I looked and realised that there was nothing there. To the touch, there was still that weird feeling of tingling and some numbness, but I was still able to feel everything. I mentioned it to my doctor during the follow up call and he wasn’t concerned and suggested that it might be from the retraction (pulling the skin open) during the surgery which stretched some nerves. He told me to keep an eye on it and said it should get better over time.

I spent the first two days in bed, sleeping and watching tv, only getting up to go to the bathroom. My family brought me everything I needed throughout the day which was super nice. I didn’t feel too much pressure or blood rushing to my foot when I would get up which was lucky. I didn’t succeed in sleeping through the night until the fourth night but by the third day, the pain was largely better and I made the big trip out of my bed to the couch downstairs! I made sure to elevate with all my couch pillows down there too and I had my lunch on the couch. I eventually got tired again and crawled back upstairs to get into bed. I stopped taking any pills by that night.

Thanks,

Vicky

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