Posted on March 18th, 2011 by thisdogcanthunt
Feeling somewhat back to normal, i continued my work in outside sales. It was a Friday shortly after the Feb. Blizzard here in Chicago and there was a ton of snow. I walked out of an account, a gym no less, and my foot sunk in on the packed snow. Snap! louder then the first time….i knew it re-ruptured. Got in my car and drove once again home. The pain wasn’t as bad as the first tear, i learned later it is because scar tissue has less nerve endings. I took the boot out again and strapped it on and scheduled an appointment once again with my orthopedic surgeon. He couldn’t see me until the following Tues. After a short evaluation, he pushed through and order for a MRI with my insurance. Got the results back days later and went back in to discuss. He told me i needed to go in for surgery as the tear was 2x worse than the first. I got a referral to another surgeon and went in to schedule the operation. Key learning here…push for the MRI the first time around, trust your doctors, but if something feels a miss in the gut, there is no shame in getting a second opinion. When pondering surgery vs conservative casting…weigh out the pros and cons. Each situation is unique and depending on age, activity and time, the choice really varies. In looking back, for me, i could have saved time, money and some arm pit sores by pushing my Doc further to undergo surgery. Anger and frustration are time wasters…put the energy into something worth while, in this case it was me getting better, quickly.
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Posted on March 16th, 2011 by thisdogcanthunt
The insurance company promptly turned down my PCP’s request for the MRI, 2 days post tear, and i saw the Orthopedic Surgeon on day 5. He did the Thompson’s test and concluded my achilles was indeed torn. He ordered the much cheaper ultrasound to make sure. He reviewed the gap and told me no surgery. I was both relieved and put-off as some of the research i did said that surgery was the way. Nope. 8 weeks in a cast changed out every 2 weeks and then to a walking boot, and then to physical therapy. I played by the rules. Did everything asked of me. Got the cast off…huge win. Walking boot put in the closet…another win. PT for 4 weeks making progress, FWB, normal shoes, and gaining strength and mobility…Victory!!
it was 18 weeks from time of rupture to that point. I endured much and learned alot from everyone on this blog …i was feeling good, until the unthinkable happened…
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Posted on March 16th, 2011 by thisdogcanthunt
First off…i cannot begin to tell y’all the help that your posts and this site gave me when i first ruptured my Achilles in October 2010.
Now, i humbly submit my story in the hopes of easing someones concerns and stress immediately following a tear. (my first resource the night of the incident was the Internet…and this site).
I am a 34 year old active athletic male, or at least i was. “Pre-tear”, i was running/working out 5x a week, and keeping my competitive juices flowing by playing in 2-3 softball and football leagues. The night of October 18th 2010, i was playing football on artificial turf. I was rushing the Quarterback and trying to elude a block, in doing so, i tried to push through the opponent and felt a HORRIBLE pain in the back of my leg. I likened it to someone hitting me just below the calf with a hatchet. Immediately, i thought someone kicked me from behind, hard. When i turned and saw no one there, i knew what it was. I tried to walk but fell to the ground. Got sick to my stomach and drove myself home. The next day i went to my PCP and she told me what i already knew…ATR. She ordered up a MRI, gave me some vicodin and referred me to an Orthopedic Surgeon. The new doc was not available for 5 days, so i got some crutches and waited it out….
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Posted on November 16th, 2010 by thisdogcanthunt
Welcome to AchillesBlog.com.
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Dennis
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