My achilles tendon repture & recovery blog.
Archive for July, 2008
July 25, 2008 at 1:03 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I’m hanging out with a group of girl-friends from high school this weekend. We’ve gotten together once or twice a year since graduation 22 years ago. While talking with one on the phone last night, her husband joined in on the conversation offering to play me in tennis now that I had the ATR. We always had competitive matches back in school, so it would be great to be back out there. Anyway, he mentioned his brother ruptured his AT about 5 years ago (at around age 40) … and 5 months later he ran the Houston Marathon and finished. He’s always been athletic and active, but I can’t imagine pushing to run 26 miles within 5 months. I’m going to call him and find out more about his post-op protocol and the degree of damage he had. I’m not interested in meeting that goal, but I’m curious how he got there. 
Anyway, somewhere on this forum yesterday I came across the analogy of hair growing & patience. It is hard to be patient in recovery from an ATR with so much going on around us, most of us were injured being active, and we start to feel good and want to keep going. Recovery, even the little milestones, seems to happen as fast as hair grows at times.
But here’s the thing about growing hair: You don’t see it growing minute by minute, or day by day, but one day you wake up and you need a hair cut. Being able to stand w/o feeling any discomfort , seeing my scar had finally closed completely, and realizing I could dorsiflex with my foot easily were all “I Need A Haircut” moments. I hadn’t been focusing on making them happen, but had been doing the little bits daily to get me to those points - which in the beginning (for me) meant being NWB, keeping it elevated as much as possible, icing to control swelling, and all the other babying steps needed when it is so tender and vulnerable.
So, hang in there those of you just starting off. It will get better. Enjoy (as much as possible) the down time. Rest your body and focus on taking care of yourself physically and emotionally. Ask for help. People want to help - it makes them feel good. Just be appreciative and patient with them when they help in their own way.
Tell me about some of your own “I need a haircut” moments. When did you wake up & realize you’d passed another milestone in ATR recovery? Other than when the casts get changed and you see how long the hair on your leg is. 
Me and my girls. That’s me far left.
July 23, 2008 at 3:40 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Well, when I took the pic I thought it was Thursday. So this is 6 wks, 6 days.
Not a great pic, but I’m pleased with the progress of the scar.Can see some rubbing on the back of the foot /scar from the boot (yet another annoyance with my doc - with scar on the back like that).
Been in the boot for 2 weeks now and doing gentle ROM exercises. Not sure when to call doc and request a scrip for PT (as was suggested by one of the orthopedic clinics I called who couldn’t take me but wanted to offer a suggestion), but maybe will do that next week. I wanted to see what my transportation situation would be like before picking a place and I didn’t want to request the scrip unless I had a place in mind, in case I needed it.
Considering my doc wanted me in the cast for 3 months, I’m pleased with where I am at 7 weeks. Not looking to break any speed records, but I feel much better about being in the boot and able to keep the ankle lose and foot clean, especially in this heat. ugh. I’m still PWB, using 2 crutches is I go any distance, but use 1 crutch at home where I can lean on something or have a short distance to go.
I took my first lift out today and have two others still in. If I don’t have any pulling on the tendon by tomorrow, I’ll remove another lift. I have enough ROM that I may not need them at all at this point, but moving slowly, just in case.
With the rift between my doc and I the last thing i want to do is have to limp back in to his office with a rerupture, so taking it slow and cautious.
Spending the weekend with my high school girl friends at a beach house (yays, lots of steps!!) and we had a hurricane just make landfall a little ways down the coast. The beach will be filled with all sorts of wash up junk, but i don’t think i dare venture that far. And ugh - sand inside the boot! I’d really be rubbed raw!
Hope everyone’s recovery stays smooth!
July 10, 2008 at 1:50 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
As I mentioned elsewhere, I asked my doctor last week about getting into a boot sooner rather than later (to allow better mobility and the ability to do ROM exercises) since his protocol involved 3 months in a hard cast, then moving to the boot (!!). I went in yesterday to get a medical release (I’ve been working from home but before I could return on site, I had to have a note) and the next thing I know, he’s telling me he will put me in the boot, but that I will be on my own for the treatment since it isn’t his protocol.
I called around last week trying to find another doctor who would take over and no one would see me until at least 3 months post-op. So, I have under this doc’s “care” and am seeking out a qualified PT to help me determine the best way to proceed from here.
I am 5 wks (as of today) post-op, PWB, 1 day in a boot. My doc wouldn’t even provide lifts, which I stopped and got on the way home from his office to better protect the tendon. Maybe this is a huge mistake, but I feel that if I proceed cautiously and carefully, I can safely create a plan to get me healthy again.
Ok, off to call PTs.
If anyone has any words of wisdom/advice/caution/encouragement, feel free to post.
