Tommo’s Tendon Tribulations

Hi there Achilles People,

thoguht I would update quickly on my progress to date and also include some pretty gross pictures of my stitches and wound - be warned! 

I am now 2.5 week post-op and am still in a NWB cast with my toes pointing down. This position is pretty nasty as it makes 1 leg longer than the other while the cast is on, meaning you almost always need to hold your leg up with your hip/quad muscles when on your feet - very tiring. It also makes me look like a flamingo, as my colleagues are loving reminding me.

Had my 2 week post-op appointment with Dr Shrug-a-lot 3 days ago, where he took out my stitches (OUCH! Anyone who says this doesn’t hurt is on drugs - hard drugs) and re-applied the cast. Initially he had thought about putting on a smaller cast that only came halfway up my leg (yes please!), but he went for safety firat and delayed that until the end of week 3. Fine with me I guess.

Still no talk of the boot, and I found out from my hilarious physio Willy that they only have ones without wedges, so I need to be able to reach 90° ROM in my bad foot before I can use it. Beijing - truly a hardship posting.

Anyway, wound is healing nicely apparently, and my rupture, while complete, dfid not damage any surrounding tissue (is this even possible?) so as far as ATRs go it is not too severe. This gives me a good prognosis for recovery time and effectiveness-wise. Yay. Now if only I could find a doctor that lived in 2009 and not 1789.

Here are some cool shots of my surgery wound week-by-week since the surgery:

24-hours post-op, you can see the swelling around the wound and cankle

Cheers

Tommo