My Rupture to recovery

I am now at day 4. I want to start by thanking all the wonderful people who offer their support and wisdom with this injury. I thought I could go to my daughter’s t-ball game tonight but it became very apparent I was not ready for such an outing. I have a Dr. Appt. tomorrow. I wonder if he will take stitches out. I think the Surgeon had said he would put leg in cast for 4 weeks following surgery. It seems that no 2 doctors think alike with the follow up care from surgery. Some say early mobilization, some say no mobilization, some fit you with a boot and some fit you with a cast. Sorry to say I think a lot of decisions are based on cost. I belong to a HMO and through this whole process, from when the 1st dr. said that it could not be repaired with surgery to the decisions for a cast or a boot, I believe cutting cost has and will be a large impact on my recovery. I know that a cast, when done by their own employees, is much cheaper than a boot.

 I am not trying to bash my healthcare. I am just opening a topic of discussion that I believe the more it is talked about the better care for future patients,

I ruptured my Archilles Tendon playing basketball and immediately went to urgent care at my HMO (Group Health). They put leg in a splint and scheduled me with Orthopedics the following day. I saw a physician assistant. She diagnosed it as ruptured by using Davidson test. She said it was up high where calf muscle meets it. She never did feel for rupture and there were no MRI or Ultrasound tests. She then said that treatment would be immobilization and put me in cast. I then did some research and found that this treatment is very rare and is proven to have more complications, is weaker and I would be on crutches for a lot longer.

I then waited for 1 week trying to get authorization from Group health for a 2nd opinion. I found on their web site where I could email the PA who treated me. She then reacted very quickly and scheduled me in for a 2nd opinion in their office.

The Orthopedic Surgeon was immedietely able to diagnose the rupture lower not upper. He even brought in a colleague who confirmed his diagnosis. They both said it should be fixed with surgery and they rushed me into surgery 1 day later due to it almost being 2 weeks from injury date.

I had surgery yesterday and they said it went great. I just opened my mail from Group Health and it was a letter rejecting my plea for a 2nd opinion.

Where would I be if i did not act on my own instincts?