sagehen0347’s AchillesBlog

This is great news! I’m having a tough time with not being able to drive. Starting to question getting my life back when things keep getting taken away! Your news is inspiring!

Hi Vicky,

I’m an old timer on this message board, having my ATR over ten years ago at age 53, but I still drop in now and then. I’m a former college athlete who became a doctor, and that made me bold enough to rehab a lot faster than my ortho surgeon intended:

http://achillesblog.com/doug53/52/

With your youth, good fitness, and an athlete’s sense of her body, I’m sure you will rehab well, but you will probably lose a little off your vertical jump. Part of jumping is the Achilles stretching as we prepare to jump, then rebounding as we go up, kind of an internal trampoline. (Kangaroos take this principle to the max when they bound along, storing energy in their tendons as they land, then releasing it to assist their next jump.) After a rupture, the Achilles can heal nice and strong, but not have that optimal degree of elasticity it had before, that aids jumping and other explosive movements. That matters little to most people, but can be a significant problem for a high level athlete.

What you called tendinitis is probably really tendinosis, which means your other Achilles could go someday, too. Rupturing the other

Hi Michelle!
To start your own blog, I think you need to email achillesblog@gmail.com and include your username in the message to let them know you signed up. Thanks for reading and for the support! Good luck on your journey too!
Best,
Vicky

Hi Vicky I am one month behind you on recovery. I will definitely be following your story. A quick question how are you able to post? I signed up but am unable to post anything. Wishing you the best on your recovery. You are super young to get an injury like this! The struggle is real when you are used to being on the move constantly. I see people running and biking and think I wish I could do that. One day!

Hi Shane,
Sorry to hear about your injury but you’re in the right place if you want some company! My foot is currently at 90º in my boot and I’m going to be NWB for the full first 6 weeks. I’m starting physical therapy this week focusing on stretching and ROM but I’ll be allowed to put 25-30% of my body weight on my Achilles in some exercises.

I’ve looked into lots of different protocols and read about early weight-bearing measures and I’m personally not convinced it does anything exponentially more beneficial. My doctor wants me to start with movement early so I’m looking forward to that but he also explained his feelings towards early WB vs 6 weeks out.

Playing high-level sports for a long time is extremely important to me so I’m not taking any chances that might affect my recovery in any way. I plan on taking it long and slow with my priority being a return to full strength over walking sooner, so I don’t see myself doing anything unless I talk through options with my doctor and physical therapist. I wish you the best in your recovery too!

Best,
Vicky

Hi Vicky
Hopefully everything is going well for you. It looks like I ruptured mine (8/21) and had surgery (8/26) not too long after you. Curious if you could give an update on how things have been going since our timelines aren’t that far apart.

I had my two week follow-up appointment today and was put in an aircast walking boot, NWB for 4 weeks. After doing much research on here I am not sure I will stick to that. Probably slowly work my way up to FWB over the course of that time. I ordered a Vacoped boot that will be here in the next couple of days and plan to transition to that. My docs office did not offer it and it seems like it was preferred on here.

Again, hope everything is going well and look forward to hearing an update on your surgery.

Thanks
Shane