Posted on April 18th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
I had my appointment with a 4th consultant today and guess what - a different story yet again! Oh well, this time I have finally said goodbye to the casts 
I am now the proud owner of an aircast boot with two wedges in the heel and, joy of joys, I am now full weight bearing. I can walk with some difficulty using one crutch although that will get better with practice but more importantly I can now carry somethng while I move. That’s a huge improvement. Not only that but I can finally stop bumping up the stairs on my backside and walk up them whilst holding the rail firmly. Result!
The plan is to wear this boot with 2 wedges for a week, 1 wedge the following week then a further week or two with none… then start to wean off of the boot completely.
I’m feeling very positive today
P.S.
A question for the experts out there - While I’m waiting to hear from the Physiotherapist… are there any exercises I should be doing now?
3 Comments »
Posted on April 10th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
I’m just back from what was a busy and fun but frustrating weekend. Just before I ruptured my Achilles we had booked a family trip to Center Parcs for Easter. As it wasn’t possible to move it we went despite the fact that I couldn’t actually do anything there but added a Mobility scooter to allow me to get around. The scooter itself was fun but it was massively frustrating to watch everyone else having fun and not be able to join in.
I did come away with a positive though. While Iwas there I showered without a chair - what a relief! I’m still NWB but I’ve found that resting my foot on the floor takes so much strain off of the other leg it makes it possible to balance with my hair and eyes full of shampoo. The first thing I did this morning was remove the chair from my shower at home. Its bliss to be showering standing up again
It’s now 8 days till I have this cast removed and start the path to normality. I can’t wait!
2 Comments »
Posted on March 28th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
Well, I’ve seen three different consultants / Doctors so far.. and had three completely different opinions on the treatment I should receive. Don’t you just love the NHS?
In the same Health district in two parts of the same hospital I have heard this so far:
1) The day I ruptured my Achilles I sat waiting in A&E for 4 hours to be told that yes, I had ruptured it fully (they could insert a finger into the gap where it was torn) and that I would probably have surgery. This Doctor quoted a 15% re-rupture rate without surgery and 10% with surgery. I was advised that the consultant would give me choices later in the week. My leg was placed in a front slab and I was sent home.
2)A few days later I had ultrasound to confirm a full rupture. It was indeed ruptured, described as ‘mush’ by the ultrasound tech who was looking at it. My leg was placed in a second fromt slab.
3) One week after the rupture I saw the next Doctor. He said that I didn’t need surgery as it was healing (no gap this time) and that I would now spend 3 weeks in a cast (full aquinas) followed by 2 weeks in another cast (mid aquinas) and then a final 2 weeks in a final cast (normal position). He was not familiar with using a boot and his eyes glazed over when I started taking about it and the forum… I was duly sent home in a full aquinas cast.
4) My appointment was delayed by a week (for some reason that wasn’t shared) so this Monday, 5 weeks after the ATR I had the cast removed and the nurse was about to put another cast on when we started taking about treatment options and she realised I hadn’t seen a consultant yet. He didn’t want to see me but she was persistent (thank you!) and he eventually turned up to see me. He couldn’t understand why I hadn’t had surgery and proposed a different strategy again. I am now in a semi-aquinas position in another cast for the next 3 weeks. Then I will be straight into 2 shoes with a heel insert. He muttered something about needing a treatment protocol for the hospital… No kidding!!
Something tells me I need to be very careful During weeks 8-12 (May)!!
5 Comments »
Posted on March 19th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
My 4-week appointment with the NHS consultant has been cancelled and moved a week later. That means an extra week in a cast and even longer off my feet. Not what I wanted to hear! Ah well, it could be worse…
On the upside, my balance is improving and my hands are slowly getting used to carrying me on the crutches. The grips I’m using are definitely helping and the new pair that I’ve just received are an improvement over the 2nd hand ones I was using before. Combined with a pair of padded cycling gloves they really take the ache out of using crutches - in terms of hands anyway.
1 Comment »
Posted on March 15th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
So that’s 3 weeks since my ATR now, all spent in a fixed cast. This is the longest that I’ve gone without driving since I passed my test at 17… I miss it and it’s going to be a long time before I can do it again too. This is especially galling as I was supposed to be taking the classic car that I’ve just rebuilt to a steady stream of car shows.
Still, working from home has some benefits - the coffee is good, I get to choose the music (and the volume) and the seating is very comfortable. I can keep my leg elevated and work on my laptop without distressing my leg. All very good, just lacking in social interaction somewhat. There is one other benefit to being at home - I’m further from the cake shop
3 Comments »
Posted on March 7th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
Well, I’ve completed two weeks in a cast now… and I now know why the Daleks continued to fail in their conquest of Earth! I had no idea how easy it was to get up stairs by walking until I’d spent time hauling myself up the stairs on my backside. Actually that’s probably not fair. I’m getting quite competent at scooting up and down the stairs now in fact the biggest problem I still have is my hands. Being a soft office worker my hands aren’t used to carrying my bulk around all day. On the plus side, I can feel the positive effect of crutches on the rest of my body.
10 Comments »
Posted on March 1st, 2012 by stalledminidriver
OK, I know it’s far too early for me to consider a boot yet but I am after some advice from those of you further down the road than me.
Having read the glowing recommendations and the various studies that have been referred to on here, can any one tell me if they have had problems convincing the NHS to allow them to use a vaco cast boot? My current plan is to buy one (anyone know where from or how much?) and to convive the learned Doctors to let me use it. Another question is which variant of the boot - hinged or normal? Experiences anyone? The final question would be when should I hit them with this?
My foot has been in it’s current cast for 2 days so far and they said it would be 3 weeks. Should I wait until those 3 weeks are up and go straight to the vaco cast boot?
So far I have been very lucky, having almost no pain. In fact my only pain comes from letting my foot swell when I don’t put it up enough - which does happen quite quickly!
4 Comments »
Posted on February 28th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
I had an appointment with my consultant / surgeon today. Having spent a week in a partial cast (front slab) he had a good prod and poke around my achilles and calf… and said that I don’t need to go down the surgical route!
This was good news as when I was assessed last week it was possible to insert a finger into the break in my tendon so I was convinced that surgery was likely.
I’m now facing the next 3 weeks in today’s cast which is (thankfully) a lightweight one, but no surgery
10 Comments »
Posted on February 27th, 2012 by stalledminidriver
I’m a relatively fit 41 year old in the South of England. My ATR happened last Monday (20th Feb) on the Badminton court. I’ve been playing since I was 12 and was half way through a match, trying to show some youngsters that I could still play… when I lunged for a shot at the net, heard a distinct pop and hit the floor like a sack of spuds. I knew exactly what I’d done instantly and my only thought was "why isn’t there any pain?" One of my friends drove me home andI was whisked off to Casualty where I sat for a long time… Four hours later I was home in a front cast and with an appointment to see the consutant in a week’s time.
I’ve subsequently had an ultrasound that confirmed it is a total rupture which is higher than normal - 8cm above my ankle and I’m back in a different half cast.
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