ATR Blog

Slept a lot better last night thanks to a tip from someone on this site on how to sleep. I sleep on my side, and was not able to get comfortable on my back with my leg elevated. I took another blogger’s advice and laid on the side of my good leg, put two pillows on top of that leg, and rested the ATR leg on top of that. Kept it elevated and granted me some sweet sleep on my side.

I also, again based on another blogger’s input, have been on a strict “every 4 hours” percocet cycle and it has helped tremendously. 1/2 a pill is still the max, but by taking it every 4 hours (yes, that means setting an alarm at night and waking up for a dose) the pain level has decreased substantially. I don’t know if it’s related or not, but I noticed that the intensity and duration of pain I felt when gettig upright to use the bathroom this morning was noticeably less.

Speaking of using the bathroom……that’s my issue of the day. I haven’t had a bowel movement since Monday which means today is going on 4 days. I took a laxative yesterday (citrucel) but still no look. My appetite has diminshed greatly as a result and I’d like to get things moving again as I think it’d help me feel much better. Any tips on that would be appreciated. I’ve been drinking plenty of water.

I’ve also been able to do some work thanks to one of those $20-$30 laptop carts from Walgreen’s / CVS. It has an adjustable height, tilts, and has a “lip” to keep the laptop in place when tilted. That allows me to lie flat in bed, adjust the height, and tilt the laptop so I can use it with minimal discomfort. It’s also allowed me to pass some time playing WoW as well……

Just passed the 48 hour mark since coming out of surgery. Thanks to the excellent advice of members on here, I was able to avoid some potential disasters had I followed the Dr.’s office advice to remove my dressings, wash the wound with soap and water, and put a water proof bandaid on the wound….:(

The full dose of percocet was making me sick (nausea, headache, dizzy) and so far 1/2 a pill is working better. A lot more pain is “sneaking” through but it’s manageable and worth it to not be sick.

I’m also using one of those ice water pump machines at the recommendation of my Doctor and that has been a God send. It cost us $115 to rent it for the 10 days between the operation and the followup and it has been worth every penny as I don’t know how I could have easily iced the wound. I can definitely tell when it needs more ice and I would definitely recommend it to anyone even though insurance doesn’t typically cover it.

Thanks to other blogs, I’ve been deliberately keeping pressure off the wound site by elevating my leg and lying sideways as much as possible. My worst issue with pain is when I get up to use the bathroom, the blood rushes to my leg and it hurts something fierce. I’ve learned to sit up in stages and allow the blood to slowly return which helps somewhat.

This afternoon I’m going to (with my wife’s assistance) try and take a bath with my leg hanging out of the tub. We’re also going to remove the outer dressing just to get a peek to see if there is a lot of blood and to see if we can shift the ice water wrap around a little for comfort. I’m also curious if I have staples or stitches as my wife said the operation photo looked like a 5-6 inch incision.

Great site, I’ll echo the comments from others in that I’ve learned more here than from the Doctor….

Went to the Orthopedic surgeon on Monday and he confirmed an almost complete rupture. He suspected some of the fibers might still be intact as I still had some up / down foot strength. He asked me to go get lab work down and scheduled me for surgery at 8:45 on Tuesday (next day / yesterday).

Surgery went well, very nice hospital and staff. I opted for general anesthesia and they injected something to relax me, some anti-nausea medicine, and a narcotic before sedating me with gas.

Post-op went well and I awoke with almost no pain and a moderate amount of grogginess. They gave me a Percoset and sent me on my way. Surgery began at 10:45 a.m. and we were in the car at 2:00 p.m.

I was taking the Percoset every 4 hours but woke up this morning very nauseous, light headed, and a pounding headache. I switched to Advil and feel better but the pain is very noticeable. I might try to take a reduced dosage of Percoset.

The wound was wrapped with some type of bandage that attaches to a cooler filled with ice and water to keep the leg cool. It is also in a splint and a pressure wrap.

Wound care has been confusing. They sent us home with generic instructions other than to schedule an appointment in 10 days to remove the stitches. We called the Dr.’s office back and the nurse said to remove the bandage after 48 hours and gently wash the wound with soap and water and pat dry. She then said to put a “water proof bandaid” on the wound. I called back as that sounded fairly “casual” to me knowing that I would be in a cast in 10 days so I called back and asked about the splint. The nurse said “oh yeah, sorry, I forget to tell you to put the splint back on.” Not to be a worry wart, but I’d like to hear some input from others as to the post op wound care.

According to the Dr., I go back on 11/7/08 to have the stitches removed and a cast put on. The cast stays on for 4-6 weeks and then he’ll put me in a cam boot.

I also have a photo of the surgery that I will post as soon as I get a copy.

After conferring with the Dr., the orthopedic surgeon’s office staff called back and moved my appointment up from 11/6 to 10/27 (this Monday), 10 days post injury.

They stated that I just needed to use the crutches and compression bandage in the meantime.

Hey gang, unwilling member of your blog / group site. I’d never googled “achilles tendon injury” until this past Sunday, and the more I read the more I believe I wasn’t missing out on anything….

I’m a 38 year old moderately active male. Desk bound office job, but exercise often outside of work. I was trying out for a recreational football team when the injury occured. I was recovering from a mild version of the flu and had been taking heavy antibiotics (1000 mg of biaxin / clarithromycin) for about 2 days. I also was wearing a brand new pair of cleats on a grass field, first time I had ran in cleats in many years and it just felt “funny” doing so.

Anyway, I stretched out well and warmed up. We ran some 40 yard sprints and some shuttle runs then jogged over to run some pass plays. I ran the first 2 no problem. The third was a “square out” where we sprint 10 yards and make a hard left hand 90 degree turn before sprinting out another 15 yards and catching the pass. There was a defender / coach at the 10 yard mark to signify where to turn, and when I made the turn I could have sworn he “frogged” (punched with his knuckle extended) my ankle when I powered out of the turn. As a matter of fact, I remember shooting him a nasty look over my shoulder before turning to catch the pass.

About 2 steps out of the turn I felt pain in my ankle and couldn’t walk normally. When I would go to push off with my left foot my leg would just buckle. I stayed on it the rest of practice (another 45-60 minutes) beforehobbling back to my car and driving home.

At home I iced it down before going out to a cookout with some friends. Although I stayed off it at the cookout, I still walked on it to / from the car and around the house. We stopped and got some crutches as I had a business trip that I had to leave for the following day (Sunday).

Sunday drove about 400 miles to a class / conference. Kept the foot elevated and iced / cooled most of the trip. The pain level was still very manageable for me.

Monday and Tuesday, out of stupidity and pride, elected not to use the crutches. Didn’t have to walk a whole lot (less than 100 yards) but I still had weight on it. Tried to keep it elevated in class but didn’t elevate it.

Tuesday night went to a walk in clinic. The Dr. did the Thompson test and said I needed to go immediately to the ER. I told her I was from Florida and would rather go to an ER on my home turf. She bristled, but decided to take x-rays first. After seeing the x-rays, she stated that going to Florida would probably be a good idea but that I should get it taken care of as soon as possible.

So here I sit. I really want / need to finish this class and would prefer to stay up here through Friday, use my crutches, keep it elevated, and just go to an Ortho next week.

I called an ortho and they booked me for a 11/6/08 appointment (15 days from now). I asked repeatedly if I needed a cast, if it could wait that long, etc. and they insisted that it was fine. They are going to run it past the Dr. to make sure so I half expect them to call back and move my appointment up.

Great source of information here, and much appreciated. I’ll keep everyone posted.

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