Comments for starshep's AchillesBlog

Comment on One Year Later by kkirk

kkirk — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:34:56 +0000

Sratshep: My doc. has always said 3:1 One month of NWB = 3 months of strengthening, which sucks for me! It the one aspect of my recovery I still have (as expected) such a deficit. Right now (at 20 weeks) there is a 4 cm difference between my each calve muscle and who know how much difference in Mass! Anyway, thanks for the post and here to as full of recovey as possible.

Comment on One Year Later by starshep

starshep — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:33:17 +0000

Norm:
I suppose I’ll be pretty bummed out when the 1-leg heel raise becomes an Olympic event and I won’t be able to compete. LOL

Andrew:
As far as short stepping goes, it seems like once you’re able to develop enough strength to dynamically propel yourself forward with your calf, the short stepping goes away. You don’t need much vertical raise to be able to do that, which is what the heel raise is all about. Once you have been in a cast and CAM boot for a while it is amazing how complex walking correctly is. When I was on the treadmill, I concentrated on the subtleties of all the facets of a walk cycle trying to get it right.

kkirk:
I remember how much it helped me when I was recovering to see the reports of those who had recovered. I’m glad I can pay a little of that back. Remember that your recovery will never be linear. There will be times where you will make no progress, times where there will be set backs and the seemingly magical moments when all of a sudden, things come together and you go to the next level. Remember that the calf muscle is one of the first muscles to atrophy, it atrophies quickly and it is one of the toughest muscles to build back up. With that in mind, I am so amazed that every workout I get one more rep in and when I get to 24 reps, add 5 more pounds to the stack.

Comment on One Year Later by kkirk

kkirk — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:32:46 +0000

Man, I love these posts! I’m about 20 week into my recovery and still moving slowly along. I see improvement (very gradually), but sometimes frustration sets in when improvement starts to slow down. The process of rebuilding calf strength, has been one of the more difficult aspects of the recovery, minus my NWB days, so thanks for the positive post.

Comment on One Year Later by andrew1971

andrew1971 — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:15:53 +0000

Good news your going well Starshep, I’ve done the glute tear too (many years ago on a BMX bike of all things) and really do sympathise with you on that - OUCH!!, Glad it’s healed now though.

My non-op repair I am sure is a little long, not overly so but enough, I simply get about 3/4 of a heel raise (which I can do with ease multiple times) and it feels as though there’s no travel left, it could be something that gets better over time with continued PT - but as both you and Norm both said, I’ve not missed it in day to day life - I still short step in the mornings and after long drives, but it’s less frequent now (still not coming naturally though after long periods of rest) I hope I can say same as you in few more months that the limp is no more.

Thanks for popping on for the update - always good to hear the positives from people recovering on or around same as I was/am.

Comment on One Year Later by normofthenorth

normofthenorth — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 05:40:33 +0000

Glad you’re happy, Starshep. Pity about the 1-leg heel raise, but I’ve been shocked at how little I miss mine on the left (newer ATR) side — even though at 67 I AM still into playing sports (and competitive ones with a bunch of 30-somethings)!

Comment on Physical Therapy Session 28 - The Grand Finale by Andrew1971

Andrew1971 — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:56:05 +0000

Fantastic Starshep, I will miss reading your new posts which have been a fantastic source of information and inspiration.

Luckily the blog has plenty of life left in it for me as a guide for many more weeks yet…..I want to thank you for taking the time to be so detailed and lighthearted in your entries, it would be a missed opportunity for future ATR’s if they do not come visit your blog.

Now that you’re well on your way to reaching the end game - I hope you are able to pop in with some more updates as and when……until then, safe journey, have fun and take care.

Comment on Physical Therapy Session 28 - The Grand Finale by kimjax

kimjax — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 02:27:05 +0000

Starshep - I need you to check in with advice every so often!! Glad to hear you’re doing so well and I’m glad you’re staying out of the stilleto’s - yucky to think of hairy legs in those, lol! I listen to Britt Nicole’s “Walk on Water” for my inspiration - whatever it takes to get through this mess. Enjoy getting “back to life” and getting out on the water. Thanks for all the encouragement and humor along the way - I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and so many others on this blog. It’s a wonderful source for answers and ideas. Blessings and congrats! Kim

Comment on Physical Therapy Session 28 - The Grand Finale by michelle153

michelle153 — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:07:39 +0000

Congratulations !

Comment on Physical Therapy Session 28 - The Grand Finale by Skutr

Skutr — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 22:27:34 +0000

Bon Voyage Starshep! Stay safe & try to keep it between the buoys

Comment on PT Session 27 - Real Running and an Additional Goal Reached by starshep

starshep — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 17:43:39 +0000

eastcoastrunner,
My therapist had some sort of shock-absorbing platform that he had me doing my running in place on. If you do some, I would suggest you do it on a heavily carpeted area. He also added an enhancement to it which is a little hard to describe but I will try to. He attached a belt to me and then attached the belt to a stack of weights on a weight machine with IIRC about 15 lbs. of weight. He then had me run in place for 15 seconds facing away from the machine then turn at 90 degrees so I had the weights pulling on my left, front and right sides too.