unclebuck23’s AchillesBlog

It has been awhile since I have added a post, so here we go…

At the 6 week mark, my wife and I took our long awaited trip to Antigua, within the beautiful caribbean islands. It was AMAZING! I strongly recommend it to anyone. More specifically, we stayed at a Sandals resort. We have been hooked on Sandals ever since we got married 6 years ago…

I had a few concerns about the trip. I was very worried about the long flight(s) and the whole blot clot issue. I realized that I am in a low risk group for something like this to happen, but I am one to be overly concerned sometimes. So I took all the necessary precautions. I wore compression socks, took some aspirin, drank a ton of water, and called the airline to reserve the front bulk head seat for more leg room. Luckily, the flights to and fro went fine, and we even got some great treatment at the airports. (wheelchair service, first to go through security and to board the planes)

When we got to the resort I was worried about how I was going to get around, since it is such an enormous place. I did have a wheelchair reserved, but only used it once or twice. The rest of the time, I sucked it up on the crutches. Needless to say, I got a great upper body workout out of the deal. The only thing I was unable to do (at first), was to carry my plates and drinks…unless I did the ever so familiar armpit crutching. (The food is AMAZING at any Sandals resorts, by the way!)

Another concern I had was getting into the water, both ocean and pools. I ended up just hopping and crawling into the ocean (haha). The ocean water was fabulous and I actually walked in chest deep water, as well as some flutter kicking. How amazing! So, this was no problem at all. What a big relief. Later in our trip we actually went snorkeling and it was great!

Near the end of the trip I decided to go to one crutch, so now I was able to carry my own plates and drinks. That was a huge step! I started to feel somewhat normal at this point.

All in all, this trip was obviously the highlight of our summer and it was great for my wife, who definitely deserved it after all she has done for me the past few weeks.

At about the 7 1/2 week mark I had a PT appt. and was advised to start some strengthening with therabands, along with some light passive stretching. I also experimented with some FWB in the boot. Another huge step in my recovery. By the 8 week mark, with school starting back up and all, I decided to ditch the crutches for the most part and FWB for most of the day. What a great feeling to get back some independence again. The Vacocast has made the transition to FWB so much easier. I recommend it if you can get one.

So, I have been doing my daily therapy each morning and night. Currently I am at the 9 week mark. I am very excited to share that I have progressed to walking around the house WITHOUT THE BOOT! I watch every step I take and focus on walking without a limp, but it just isn’t happening at this point. Thank god for crocs! I have noticed that with the FWB, my heal is crazy sore at the end of the day. There has also been a little irritation on the incision from the boot rubbing on it. I don’t think there is much that can be done about that. My calf is such a weakling, my wife laughs at me. Now I think it is just a matter of the injured leg waking up again, the joints getting used to doing their thing and slowly gaining some strength. I see the light at the end of the long tunnel now…

Thank you to all of you on the blog for sharing your progress! Particularly to Norm and Stuart for their great advice, support and firm motivation.

Keep up the good work everyone and watch your step!