big challenge

today marks a new milestone: goodbye boot, hello shoes!  it is both liberating and frustrating at the same time.  it is liberating to get the 5-pound godforsaken apparatus off of my leg (…yet i am thankful that modern science has enabled us to have things like this).  it is also frustratingly deceiving as even though i am wearing two shoes and look somewhat normal, i know i am not.  “dah-dum, dah-dum, dah-dum, dah-dum” is the all-too familiar sound of my footsteps.  at least people know i’m coming.  

a few uncomfortable pings are keeping me at the slow, yet steady pace.  i’m not quite sure what i am feeling.  perhaps it is due to the fact that i have been off of my leg for quite some time.  i’m sure that with pt i will gain the strength and rom to begin to walk normally soon.  aah patience! 

for those not yet back in your shoes - the time will come! 

best wishes everyone

after a little over 4 weeks off of my leg entirely, i am now wearing the boot!  :)  the doctor said i can be fwb when i feel comfortable.  at this point, i am nervous to move without the crutches, so i hope eventually i can wean myself off of them.  my sad little emaciated leg received its first bath since the surgery.  and let me just say that it was divine!  i was told to stay in the boot for 4 weeks, and after will begin pt.  it’s a long road to recovery!  the doc mentioned that it takes a full 2 years for the achilles to completely heal from atr - does anyone know how accurate this is?  obviously you can be fully functional before this point, however i wonder when athletic activity is safe again.  after 6 months?  a year?  i am hoping to complete the m.f.a. program in dance on time (this is my last year starting in august), however am fully aware that i will have to adjust and modify training according to my recovery speed.  

hello

as the summer passes by and i realize that i will most likely be adapting my final year as a graduate student in dance to accommodate my recovery, i have tons of time to consider my final research.  i know that this injury will influence my work.  there is no way it couldn’t.  it has affected my entire life. 

so…considering that you are also going through a life-altering experience with your own injury and recovery process, i wonder if you would like to be a part of my dance?  here is how:

send me words, images, sounds, smells, anything that comes to mind regarding your injury. 

here are some examples of words that come to my mind:
disassembled, fragmented, obstructed, frayed, sutured

your contributions will be used in the creation of dance phrases.  these phrases will be a part of a larger performance used in conjunction with research for my master’s degree.  they can be as literal or abstract as you wish - i would just love to have others’ input!  

being somewhat confined to my apartment due to my injury, i have had a lot of time to surf the web.  as a result, i stumbled upon this site and was refreshed to hear from others who are going through similar trials as me.  

my achilles ruptured while i was rehearsing with a dance artist from nyc.  in august, i will start the final year of my m.f.a. degree in dance.  this came as not only a surprise, but a nightmare as well.  interestingly, the morning of the injury, i awoke and made a mental note that my achilles felt tight.  i had been rehearsing intensely for over a week at that point and shrugged off the feeling as i prepared myself for another long and sweaty day.  before rehearsal, i warmed up and stretched.  everything felt fine.  during the middle of the dance, i began a sprinting section.  i ran at top speed forward and backward a few times.  as i began to head forward again, i had the sudden realization that i couldn’t feel my heel hit the ground.  i instinctively hopped over to the wall and that’s when the pain set in.  fire, gunshot wound, stabbing, all sorts of insane pain shot into my leg right below my calf.  i saw my ankle swell and began to breathe deeply to avoid screaming.  i was laid down and immediately put on ice.  once i realized that i had probably torn my achilles, the flood of tears began.  this could end a dancer’s career. 

so after a visit to the er, a sports medicine doc, an mri, and surgery, here i am.  i was put into a post-surgical splint for two weeks and then moved into a lovely light blue cast.  i have been crutching around now for quite some time and am (im)patiently awaiting my cast removal visit on monday.  i have never been so glad to wear the boot!  i have been an emotional wreck, however know that in time it will heal.  sigh.

i write this blog to share with others and to aid in my emotional healing.

feel free to send thoughts and/or comments.