Nov 17 2011
A Diva’s road to recovery
I am a fashionista! I wear cool clothes, sexy lingerie and my shoes are fabulous! My friends call me Diva, because of my style and my attitude!(good and bad!) I wear cool clothes, thigh highs and my shoes…sometimes they are 6 inch stillettos, sometimes a cute wedge heel, sometimes sexy thigh high boots(flat and high heel! I have both!)sometimes an adorable ballet flat. How can an injury like this happen to a fashionista like me? Well, I ruptured my Achilles on September 13, 2011 at an exercise class.(Ironically, I was running outside, barefoot!) When I went to the hospital, they told me it was just a sprain. After they gave me the brace, I told them it wasn’t supported and that I needed an orthopedic boot! They refused to give me one! I went back to work two days later(I am a chef!) and was limping around. Two weeks passed, and I could not wear my fabulous heels and was in pain. I went to my physician whom referred me to a physical therapist. She took one look at my calf and said “You need surgery!” We called around and I left her office with an appointment to meet my surgeon the following week. As soon as my surgeon saw me he said “So, Wednesday good for you?” I thought I could hold off a few more weeks but he said “No. Like 4 days from now!” My heart sank! I had to give a 3 day notice to my work that I was leaving(luckily, I am a seasonal employee and will go back next year!)and went into surgery. I wanted to take one of my high heels in to comfort me but my mother (whom I unfortunately live with and she is very controlling!) and I had a screaming match about how she thought it was foolish of me to bring my high heel. I whipped it across the room in anger!(It still sits under the table where I threw it!)I made it through surgery okay and was in the splint for a week. I ended up falling because my cat was walking in front of my crutches and I put my crutches on her tail by accident(she now doesn’t come near me unless I am seated!)and I fell! Since I fell, at my one week check up, I had to get a hard cast! I was devastated! I just wanted a boot to walk in but my surgeon had me do that so I don’t reinjure myself. I chose a black cast and called it my fall boot! I get this cast off tomorrow(YIPPEE!)and am gonna see what the orthopedic boot is about for 6 weeks. I am excited to walk again but what I am also excited about is wearing two sock or two stockings!(I was wearing a sexy lingerie ensemble for the the guy I was seeing and he said “You look great, but it will be better when you can wear thigh highs again. The cast and sexy lingerie combination looks funny!” Notice I said was seeing?) So now I wait! In about 14 hours from now, I will be in the boot, hopefully able to move. I miss shopping and I miss holding a cup of coffee or bottled water in my hand when I walk!(I will NEVER take that for granted again!) I look at my shoes and wish, hope and I pray that I will be able to walk in them again!(My sister and friends are lined up to take them if I cannot! (Not too happy about the metaphoric “buzzards” circling me!) I don’t know or understand wh this has happened to me but I hope that there is something good coming from this(Other than walking again!) I miss my sexy strut! I miss my confident swagger!
If there was ever a post that warranted accompanying pictures, I think this might be it
Good luck with your recovery. You may find, when you get back into shoes, that all those elevated heels end up being a benefit. Even us guys usually have start out with wedges and heel lifts of some sort.
Oh sister…I can relate to your story.
I’m a fashionable Armani wearing cougar. And I was on the prowl at Marquee Day Club in Vegas, when an excessively enthusiastic jump resulted in a full Achilles rupture. I was wearing Kate Spade flats, as close to barefoot as you can get. And I never wear flats, which may have contributed to the injury.
It’s been over 2 months since that day, and my gorgeous clothes and uber trendy shoes have been gathering dust in the back of the closet.
I’d say don’t get rid of the stilettos yet, you can always have a give away party for your girlfriends later. But do invest in a nice pair of boots with a wedge for your good foot. It will make the next six weeks more comfortable , and you could get really cool ones with shearling lining. I got these:
http://www.zappos.com/alegria-vale-black-chrome-floral-suede?zlfid=111&recoName=zap_pdp_sub
As for something good coming out of this…I’m still trying to figure that out…
good luck with your boot.
Good luck and thank you for sharing
I’m with Ryan — photos PLEASE!! (Why should you be the ONLY one here who’s excited about you getting back into thigh-highs?
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We’ve had some discussions here about “what you did that might have helped ’cause’ your ATR”, and I think most of them are off-base. Stuff happens, and most ATRs happen out of the blue, to people who’ve warmed up and even stretched. But spending a lot of time in high heels (which would tend to tighten/shorten your ATs and calf muscles) then doing athletic things in running shoes, flats, or barefoot. . . that may be a pattern that actually DOES increase the risk of an ATR. Hmmm.
Pity you were denied the boot at first. You might have done well non-op, which would eliminate the scar, which is sometimes unsightly and sometimes uncomfortable in “extreme” footwear.
BTW, if you can, please install the ATR Timeline Widget here (details on the Main Page), so we can all keep track of your schedule, which foot is which, etc.
Actually, I slipped on a rock while running full speed doing sprints barefoot!(LIKE I WROTE IN MY POST…THAT YOU JUST READ! I know that tidbit of info is in there!) It has nothing to do with my wearing of heels! This is a case of “Shit happens!”
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