soj9

Week 6 and 3 days post op - Officially FWB!

Posted on May 11th, 2014 by soj9

Visit to my PT has always been my highlight of the week as it only helps me to see how much closer i am to 2 shoes!

my PT’s aim is by week 8 when i see my surgeon and PT (i managed to plan both for the same day) i can be on 2 shoes! so 2 more tuesdays to go before i go into 2 shoes and suddenly the end is near!

PT suggested i continue to elevate my feet (ok i have been naughty i stopped at week 4plus) as he still observed i have a little bit of swelling. (ARGH!)

After some tissue massage , he then showed me how i should be cycling (speed, and technique). In fact, he said I was way ahead of where I should be but he wanted to slow me down (just because I am always so eager to move to the next stage). He said that as much as I am doing extremely well and ahead of the recommended protocol, he still want my body to take time to recover. Fair enough. I have been overzealous and keep wanting to go above my expected protocol

So anyway, homework for the week is 1) cycling at my own pace 2) continue with the resistant band dorsi and plantar 3) dragging my feet back and stretch 4) if i can tip toe on both legs (my left leg has totally no strength!)

anyway - a couple of questions:

1) is it bad if i don’t wear my boots at home? (its more comfortable and less limping from the height difference between bare feet and boot

2) what other exercises in the gym is suitable of me apart from swimming and cycling?

3) i just wanna lose some of the weight i’ve put on from being inactive! any ideas/suggestions?

thanks!

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Week 3 Post Op (PT date 14th April)

Posted on May 6th, 2014 by soj9

So finally a week after meeting my OS (felt like i wasted a week!) , i finally got to meet my PT.

First thing he did was to check my wound and said it looks good, then mainly asked about my level of activity, what my goals are etc and I said I needed to start getting active again in some form of cardio exercise. (Trust me I could only do abs and weights during the 2 weeks of ‘confinement at home’ I didn’t dare to aggravate my repaired leg) In the one hour, I asked about the timelines and protocol, and he said I could start wearing 2 shoes by week 8 (that’s the goal)

I was very happy to have seen him, but my feet was still bruised and had tingling electric sensations when he massaged. He said its all normal.

just have to continue using the crutches and just wait for the bruise to come down and concentrate on wound healing

He also did some scar tissue massage, gave me a light band to start stretching (basic plantar/dorsi flexion)

I was bombarding him with many questions:

WHen can i start wearing heels? Does his patients ever wear heels again? When can i start returning to sports? Can i swim before i am FWB?

i bet he was overwhelmed! haha but i think he did entertain me for a bit before saying, lets take this a step at a time.

So the focus for week 3 -4 was to reduce swelling, less bruising, scar tissue management, continue to elevate and then wait for week 4 before moving to PWB - 1 more week!

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Week 2 post op 8th April

Posted on May 5th, 2014 by soj9

One week post op and things got a bit better, I wasn’t feeling as painful, but still couldn’t manage standing up any longer than 15minutes before i could feel my toes swelling up and turning purple.

So I basically cooked easy meals and tried to eat as little since I wasn’t working out as much as before, and I felt restless cos of the inactivity. I mean how much can one person sleep. 3 tv show series later I was bored, so started to work from home. I was able to log in remotely from home and do a bit of catch up on my emails.

What I’d say for week 2- just elevate , elevate and elevate as much as you can.

I cannot believe i didn’t step out of my house of 2 weeks (the longest ever in my entire life) and I was so excited to see my surgeon again to remove the stitches and put me in Vacoped (I was in an air cast from 21st March - 25th March) He then said to schedule for physic therapy as soon as I can, and see him in 6 weeks time. Thankfully there were a few of PTs that he recommended was near where I live instead of all the way in St Johns Wood. Got myself booked in for PT but the earliest I could get was the following Monday which is close to my end of week 3 post op. Gutted but hey, what can I do? He also gave me his clinic’s recommended rehab protocol.

just felt like i keep wasting my time on waiting for the next available appointments, but can’t do much can i?

After my visit , i celebrated by taking a taxi to notting hill for some good lunch! It feels good to be released from my prison cell!

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25th March Tues (1 week post rupture and start of my journey)

Posted on May 5th, 2014 by soj9

Exactly 1 week after my accident, I saw Dr Davies and he said he’d squeeze me in for his last operation for that day, and told me to start fasting, and get warded to start icing my foot and reduce the swell else it would be difficult to operate on me. He also said to get myself booked for the ultrasound and somehow I managed to get it booked for 1230pm! Surgery would be about 630pm. Omg - everything happened so quickly! i was really relieved that finally I am 1 step closer to my recovery just by having the operation done the same day.

Lesson learnt: If the clinic said you may get operated the same day, prepare yourself by showering in the morning first, and taking anything you might need like contact lens solution, glasses, make up remove (for ladies) and overnight stay items. You will be warded, unless you have a day surgery.

After icing my feet, swelling came down a bit, I was then escorted to the operation room. General anaesthetic kicked in like less than 2 minutes and the next thing I woke up about 1-1.5 hours later. Very drowsy and with a dry throat, I was very weak and kept falling in and out of sleep.

However, the annoying thing is that the nurse came in every 30 minutes to check my blood pressure to make sure everything was ok. I was tired, can’t speak much, but was hungry so ate my plate of sandwiches and fruits before drifting in and out of sleep. I thought I could make it to the toilet, but no, I was so sedated I had no energy to do it, and was in pain as well. So I didn’t dare to drink much water but I had to as my blood pressure was getting lower and lower, so I needed to drink more water. I had no family here in the UK as I relocated about 4.5 years ago so the nurses are my best friends in this situation.I had to rely on them for everything - water, food, urinal pots etc. Everything. This operation is quite something! I never felt so weak in my life before.

Day 1 Post op 26th March Wed

After a night of not very good sleep due to the every 30 mins blood pressure check, I woke up at 7am in the morning for more codeine and ibuprofen and paracetamol. Had my breakfast before resting a bit more and get ready to be discharged. Dr Davies came in again around 930am and asked how i felt, etc and then proceeded to say that I really shouldn’t be going for my holiday which was in about 3.5 weeks time. I was devastated but I guess I would do anything just to help my recovery a bit quicker. I had so many questions but he came in and out in like lightning speed, so I guess I could only ask the nurse.

I ordered the cast cover online so I could shower in my cast, which is very useful actually, so definitely recommend anyone to order it as soon as you get a cast.

Hobbled my way home on a taxi then went straight to bed immediately. The anaesthesia started wearing off which meant it got more and more painful somehow, which I was warned by the nurses that the first 3 days will hurt like hell. I was practically in bed apart from getting up to go to the toilet then back to bed. I also elevated my feet but basically pretty much bed bound anyway.

The pain got better on Day 3 post op so I managed to move from the bed to the sofa and then continue to elevate my feet. Oh also because I was so weak day 1,2 and 3, I only managed to get dry shower (smelly!) but I knew i had no energy left to shower at all. Plus my cast cover only arrived on Friday, so finally got to have a proper shower on Friday.

I had to rely on my friends for any special requests which I cannot get from my online groceries shopping.

Lesson learnt: in times like these, when you have no family or if you are living alone, you just have to rely on your friends. Am so thankful for their help during this period.

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3 days after rupture Friday 21st March:

Posted on May 5th, 2014 by soj9

Saw the NHS Fracture clinic and first doctor I saw wanted to confirm if I ruptured my tendon or not, so removed my entire cast, and said yes it definitely was a rupture (DUH). He said there is no difference in the 2 treatments and don’t understand why anyone would go for the operation.

I had already done my homework, read up a bit and definitely knew in my head I wanted a surgery so nothing he said will change my mind. I mentioned that I wanted to go private, so i just need a referral letter. Immediately he referred me to doctor 2 ( i am guessing he’s more senior) to talk to me. As soon as I said I want to go private, doctor 2 added on to say ‘ you should go for surgery as it reduces the risk of re-rupturing by 7-14%). Oh great, as soon as doc 2 said that , doc 1 then added, yah surgery is better. I was like, just because I said I wanted to go private????

Lesson learnt: get your referral letter the moment you see the doctor at NHS A&E if you can, so you can save waiting these 3 days to get the same thing done. Also get him to give you an open referral letter i.e. mention in the letter that they recommend you going to private without specifically naming a orthopaedic surgeon as you’d need an approval from your private insurance for any surgeon, so just in case the one they mentioned isn’t covered by your insurance)

So I got my referral letter for this private surgeon that I could only get an appointment 1 week later. Ive already wasted 3 days and i really don’t want to waste any more time waiting to see the surgeon, and then rescheduling for an ultrasound scan and then reschedule for an operation. So over the weekend, I looked up online for orthopaedic surgeons that specialise in achilles tendon rupture and ankle problems. I still wasn’t sure about them but provisionally booked for the referred surgeon then told myself that I’d go for anyone that could do anytime earlier. The earliest I’ve managed to find was for Tuesday, great, but on Monday I was still unsure. I know a lot of celebrities and famous footballer go to London Foot and Ankle clinic but I was not keen as it wasn’t close to where I lived. However, my friend’s boyfriend worked at that hospital and said that he’d go to Dr M Davies without a doubt, and with that statement, I then called up London Foot and Ankle Clinic.

Guess what? I secured a 9am appointment on Tuesday when I called up on Monday , and said that I need to prepare myself that if Dr Davies can operate on me the next day too so just keep the whole day free. I was beaming with joy! What efficiency especially in the UK!

So i was so excited, then berated myself for not going to him earlier! I could have saved myself a week’s time!

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That fateful day 18th March 2014 (Tues)

Posted on May 5th, 2014 by soj9

I just came back from Venice over the weekend and was excited to go to my netball game on Tuesday to burn off all my pasta and pizza!

Thankfully I had 2 games that day which means a good 800 calories burn *yay!*

So in the 3rd quarter of my 2nd game, I was running out after the whistle blew. The next moment I was on the floor, crying and i thought my opponent tripped me resulting in a sprained ankle (but she claimed she was no where close to me when I fell) . I have got plenty of injuries associated with netball , especially on my ankle, but never have I felt so much pain before. I just lay on the ground for almost felt like eternity, and everyone around me said I might have tore my achilles tendon. I had no idea what it meant, and I kept insisting it must just have been a terrible shock and i should be able to get up in a bit. Sat by the bench for the next 15min and an ice pack on my foot, my team mates insisted I go to the hospital to have a check.

I cried not because of the pain, but at that instant, i didn’t want to be in a cast, nor operation, or any disruption to my life (especially I had 2 dates lined up that weekend!) Triple boo and whammy!

So off i go to the local NHS A&E, saw the nurse and she did the thomson’s test and confirmed i ruptured my achilles tendon. (Another cry)

I was then sent to the orthopaedic/ some specialist, and he rattled really quickly about the differences in the two options - operation or non-surgery route. I wasn’t sure about what the best treatment was but my decision was more of vanity over anything else. If i had to be in a cast for weeks and months, might as well choose the non-surgery route as I won’t have the risk of infection/ugly scar.

Lesson learn: If you are healthy, and active, and want to go back to sports at some point, I’d go for the operation as soon as you can (or call up your private insurance the next day and schedule for an emergency visit to the clinic). Don’t bother wasting your time with the NHS Fracture clinic for the next appointment if you can go private.

I left the hospital in a hard cast and a pair of crutches and life for the next 3 days was hell. No work for the next few days as I was living alone, and there was no way I could get to work on crutches whilst adjusting to this new ‘handicapped’ life. I was looking forward to my appointment with the orthopaedic at NHS on Friday 21st Feb.

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