I Can’t Figure Out What I Was Doing in Utah This Morning……

Hey! I think your blog is good. I llke it :).

Go Stroh, Go!

stroh - Loved your post! By the way, I grew up in SLC, Utah. In fact I’ll be visiting family in SLC in a few days. Beautiful place. Alta is my favorite ski spot, which is about 1/2 hour drive away from where my family lives.

Now then Stroh,

New Order!! Little Bernard, Joy Division etc. are we on the same wavelength here? My friends hubby (in the music industry) was a great pall of Bernard. My pals hubby was also original manager of Happy Mondays!!

Annie

@ Ultidad….hahaha that’s hilarious I am definitely going to ask him next time! My feeling is that it won’t go down well….he seems to have eaten a fair helping of self-importance!!! Lol…

@ Stroh…thanks for making me smile. My pen pal is pretty darn cool and full of great surprises!

happy hols guys !

@mshap - thanks for the congrats….and I agree, you do tend to re-evaluate a lot of things taken for granted….the seemingly simple task of walking comes to the forefront of my mind, followed by doing everyday, mundane tasks yourself. Happy to hear your recovery is progressing along………and next year you better be here, after all, it is the “greatest snow on earth”!

@maryk - you’re certainly welcome……a sprinkling of humor is something we all can use as we traverse down our paths of recovery!

@ultidad - thanks for the laugh…….how’s your snow in Colorado shaping up this year?

@shortseason - thanks for the congrats and making small, attainable goals is what propelled me along during these first 8 weeks, without question. Tell your hubby to keep hanging in there…….the light at the end of his tunnel is getting brighter……and it’s NOT a train!

and lastly @rutha - YOU ROCK………by the way, how’s that pen-pal of yours?!

Happy Holidays to all………. best wishes in your recoveries…….and may the New Year bring happiness and peace!

Well said! Love the “special holiday edition.” Congratulations on the progress.

Good suggestion on making small, attainable goals. I can see my husband’s spirits elevate with each small milestone he can tick off the list . He was positively giddy when he made the switch to PWB.

Merry Christmas!

rutha- this is probably too late, but if you want to gauge the sense of humor of your surgeon, ask the following question: how do you hide a $100 bill from an orthopedic surgeon? Put it in a book!

Funniest blog post title yet, thanks for the laugh.

Stroh,

Congratulations! I can relate to every word you said. I am 6 weeks post-op and had the medical tape removed from my scar today. The bath I gave to my foot felt like heaven. You re-evaluate all the things you took for granted through the ATR journey.

BTW I was going to go skiing to Utah this Christmas. Not anymotre, but may be next year.

Marry Christmas

Lol, Stroh, you rock!

I am off to surgeon in a few hours…I swear today I will make him laugh!!! :0)

Good for you Stroh!! Great work. You are just over 2 weeks ahead of my and my guiding light lol!!

I go for my 4 wk post op this Friday, and am really hoping to be PWB and told I can swim. My wound is great, I can stand up completely straight (without weight bearing on bad side obviously!) and have been careful not to overdo things….please let me be rewarded :0)

Have been a little naughty not always wearing the boot at night though - it’s SO hot here, and the boot makes that 10 times worse…plus it rubs on the incision now that the dressings have come away. On the other hand it’s not bad for kicking the snoring person next to me, when I would rather not lie awake and listen to his dulcet tones….!!!

Thanks for the inspiration, fingers crossed I will have an equally positive post to share in a few days’ time!

Ruth

Hi Stroh,
Sounds like you are doing fantastic! I wouldn’t put any heel wedges in since that will decrease your passive range of motion- you’re ahead of the game if you didn’t have to gradually remove a wedge each week! Also I put a Superfeet insole in the bottom of my boot that made it more comfortable, supported my arch and added a little padding to the heel. I had that pins and needles feeling when I first started PWB but it’s gone now.
I see my doc on Thursday and I am hoping he will ok the swimming since we are going to St John on Friday!!
Congrats on the awesome recovery-
Emily

Stroh, I wouldn’t put any wedges in at this point. It keeps your ankle frozen with toe pointed down. When you start trying to walk in a shoe FWB (which I am now doing 6 wks 5 days PO) it is impossible to flex your foot beyond the 45 degree angle L shape . Maybe my achilles has shortened more than yours but I can only take baby steps and I do mean baby. Moving my foot only it’s length with each step. My knee will not bend at all when I am standing with full weight on my left foot. Are you sure you don’t have any wedges in your boot now? They come with 2 installed and 2 extra, my doctor had me start with all 4 and remove one each week. My foot was almost 2 inches from my heel touching without the wedges when I first started wearing the boot. If you have no wedges, consider yourself way ahead of the game. As for me, I think I will be taking baby steps for quite some time. Paulette

Ron………..thanks for the advice on the wedge. I haven’t had ANY wedges put in my boot thus far, but I’m thinking it may be practical to put one in as my mobility increases and I’m becoming more weight-bearing by the day. Thanks again………..Stroh

I don’t think that there is a down-side to putting a wedge back in - anyone else?

@ emily……………..it certainly looks like we’re on the same timeline. Swimming, for now, is merely wishful thinking! I would like to get my hands on a brace I can wear in the pool however, when that time comes…..I’ll let you know if I find anything. I’m hoping to put some weight on things this week (my surgeon sees me on the 24th for the “official” PWB moment), so we’ll see how it goes. For now, I’m doing some ROM exercises and last night, for the first time, I slept without the boot……….my wife was happy about that, but things tightened up overnight………so I think that was short lived, much to her chagrin! Best wishes and keep in touch! Ciao…………….Stroh
@ mari………………….I did enjoy my first cast/boot free shower over the weekend (wow, was it fantastic)! Fear not, a responsible adult was close by! Best wishes…………..Stroh

2 more weeks would put you right where I am!

My appointment is the 25th, 2 days before end of week 8 since surgery!

Enjoy that shower, but do it sitting down! With an adult close by!

Hi Stroh-
Been perusing the blogs and saw you are on the same timeline as me. I’m 3.5 weeks post-op too. I got my boot on day 9 but just started weight bearing in the past week. I can get around on one crutch but don’t go very far and have to ice and elevate afterwards…
Did your PT say you could start swimming soon or is that wishful thinking? Is there a brace we can wear in the water that you know of? I was thinking I’d try a stationary bike because I need some cardio work to keep me happy
Take care-
Emily

Thanks for the well wishes, Ron………I appreciate it! Hope all is well your way in Denver….we’re getting a bit of snow (in the mountains) over the next several days out here, won’t be long before it’s here on the benches! BTW…..I LOVE the “box of frogs” comment…….that’s a good one! Take care and thanks again for the comment. Ciao…………Stroh

Good work, Stroh.
As an aside, I dropped Smoley’s “box of frogs” on an English coworker today and she nearly spit out her coffee laughing (don’t worry, Smoley, I gave you credit). Cheers, Ron

@ sam66 - I’ll certainly try to take advantage of our public pool……..it’s just a short 5 minute drive from the house, so accessibility shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I’m going to wait until my final two weeks of NWB are over, just to err on the side of caution.
@ limmerz - good to hear your recovery is progressing along splendidly. Sounds like you and I are on somewhat of the same path…..and I agree, when my surgeon started massaging my tendon, I thought I was going to pass out! I figure he’s been doing this for 43 years, so he must know a thing or two more than I do……haha.
@ smoley - thanks for the “virtual pat on the back” and for the “mad as a box of frogs” analogy……it certainly keeps me chuckling! I’ll wholeheartedly enjoy that first bath without the boot/cast/plastic cover………and a toast you as well…….here’s to a smashingly fabulous recovery………..Ciao………….Stroh

Dear Stroh,
I don’t have anything useful to say or suggest - just a jolly good virtual pat on the back, old bean! Enjoy that bath/shower. I raise a glass in your general direction!
Smoley

Great news - I just had my sutures removed this morning…..only 13 of them for me. Relatively painless process. The doc did the same vigorous massage on my tendon and it did shock me to say the least! Keep on going, seems like you’re doing great!

My physio was just saying today that another person she’s treating who managed to go swimming frequently with the cast on is progressing more quickly than me - the swimming seemed to have kept all the soft tissues throughout the whole leg more mobile. Also said walking in the pool would have been good earlier on in the recovery, obviously because of the water taking the weight.
Good luck.

Pendersnitzel - big step is right! A positive attitude, help from friends and loved ones, and plenty of rest/relaxation during the first 2 weeks are certainly key. Best wishes on your recovery and hope you’re “steppin” soon as well.

Smoley - thanks for your vote of confidence and YES……maintaining a positively fantastic attitude has helped immensely (not to mention the unyielding help of my fabulous wife). I’m very surprised to see where I’m at in this journey thus far……happy to hear things are progressing for you too! Sounds like we’re both well on our way to a full recovery.

Paulette - thanks for the comment……and to answer your questions…..1.) I have ZERO wedges in my boot, 2.) I’m still NWB with crutches and my scooter….and 3.) I think something else that helped me was an immediate surgery. My operation was only hours after I ruptured it (about 5 hours to be exact). I’ll start a light PT schedule when I go back in a week to get my sutures taken out……LIGHT being the operative word! When my surgeon asked me to move my foot as close to 90 degrees as I could yesterday my first reaction was “are you serio

Stroh, Glad to hear you are moving along so quickly in your recovery. My surgery was 3 days before yours & I also went right into the boot at my 2 week checkup. I can’t imagine how you could have moved your foot so easliy to 90 especially with no pain. My calf and AT feel like they have shortened about an inch, and when I flex, foot just won’t move beyond 60. How many wedges are in your boot & are you still NWB with crutches? I started with 3 wedges & am suppose to remove one each week. Told to start 25% partial weight bearing beginning at 4 weeks PO, with hope of 90 and full weight bearing at 6 weeks PO. I guess alot of it depends on the type of tear when the AT ruptured and how much tendon had to be cut away to repair it. Sounds as though you are one of the lucky ones and will be walking without a limp in no time. Take care! Paulette (Justpeachie)

Stroh - that’s brilliant! Two weeks in can be a bit of a low point for many people (novelty has worn off and still such a long way to go etc etc ) but you have really done great. Hope it continues! I’m sure your fab positive attitude has really helped too. Keep on doing what you’re doing!
Smoley

Congrats….big step–no pun intended!

My surgeon also told me that the first 2-3 weeks was crucial to a good and expedient recovery.

Hope you get to “steppin” and that PT brings you along really quickly.

Thanks for the comment, Kath63! Hope your weekend was a fabulous one. How far along are you on your recovery? I’m 15 days post op…………so my journey is still in its infancy, but I’m hanging in there! I have my first appointment with my surgeon tomorrow to get this cast off and my sutures out…………looking forward to reaching this first goal. Best wishes……………..Stroh

Ditto, that! What a great thing to read at the close of my day.

Strohdecaire - Welcome to the club! Very cool set of wheels and in Postman Pat red too! These knee scooters just don’t seem available in the UK, so I’m very jealous - I’m managing on my wheely office chair because crutches at home are just useless. I’m all in favour of your neighbours pain prescription - glad to see you have good people around you to make this bearable. Keep your chin up,
Smoley

very, very nice…. i have roller envy right now!! I need to get me one of those!!!

DEE-DUBYA-EYE…………Got it! It’s funny you say adult beverage………that’s what my dad always calls it too. Pretty funny stuff. I’m hanging in here…………the road is long, but I know I can get back to where I was on the morning of October 18.

Wheels and adult beverage….can you spell DWI?

Limmerz………..I took a minute and read your entry…….sounds like we’re in the same boat, floating down the same river……..thank God we have a few crutches lying around so we can navigate…….kind of! Glad to hear you were able to go on your NYC trip…………even in a diminished capacity it’s still a sight to see. Best wishes on your recovery as well and yes, I agree, after reading a few dozen of these stories, it does seem to happen to the “independent ones”…………go figure. Here’s to getting this damn cast off and into the partial weight bearing mode.

I’m 4 days post OP 11 days post ATR…..hope your recovery goes well! So funny how this inury seems to happen to the independent ones that never ask for help. I’m the exact same way. It’s also interesting how this injury really helps you appreciate loved ones in your life. Good luck on your recovery….keep you spirits up and keep blogging!

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