wsfost02‘s AchillesBlog

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Pretty impressed with the 29# weight loss! Not sure if overcoming ATR was your inspiration but sure sounds like you are crushing it. Thanks for the post!

One year and 100% healed tendon…that’s awesome! Congratulations!

Congratulations on the 1 year mark! Good luck in the half marathon. I look forward to getting back to running as well. Really miss it. Wintertime might just be the time to have that second one done! Good Luck.

Glad you’re back to running now! Good luck on your half marathon!

Oh bummer your next foot is your right? I did the right foot first since it was the worst. The right foot is just more of a PITA since you can’t drive until the doctor gives the OK. For me that was at 6 weeks. And whenever I asked my doc when I should get it done he always said - when the pain is bad enough that you can’t stand it. The caveat is that there are no guarantees you’ll be able to get back to doing the things you love doing (soccer for me) after the surgery. So when I couldn’t play much soccer anyway due to the pain I had the surgery on my right foot. My left foot wasn’t quite that bad yet but since the right foot was so successful I figured the left would be as well and I wanted to be fully healed in time to go see the women’s world cup in France next June

The good part is that you can plan this type of surgery (assuming your Achilles doesn’t rupture on its own due to the bone spur) and do it when the timing is right for your life.

Congrats on the 6 month mark! Before I had my right foot worked on I didn’t even notice the bone spur on my left (but I knew it was there). Now that my right foot feels great I notice my left foot more and more. It’s painful enough that I’m looking forward to surgery to remove the bone spur (aka LARGE lump of bone) on that foot. I’m already getting things planned out to have the surgery in fall. I thought I might be able to wait a couple of years to get it done but it is really painful now and my right foot feels sooo good!!! I’m thinking I just didn’t notice the pain of the left foot because my right foot was so bad - LOL!

There was a gal who posted very detailed information. Her blog is http://achillesblog.com/agnesatr/

And yes - months 5-8 are tougher since the improvements are in much smaller increments. I think I noted the same thing in my blog - LOL!

Glad you had a painless PT session! I’m actually impressed your calf size is normal size already. Mine is still smaller than it was - but that is often what happens to some folks after this surgery. And I’m glad my suggestion to do PT helped. I absolutely believe it is essential. My PT found other problems I didn’t know I had (right glute was massively weak! in addition to the rest of the right leg due to non-use). My doc gave me the “do anything” OK at the 6 month mark but even then my foot did not give me the OK - LOL! Let your foot guide you in the first year. If it is painful to do then your foot probably isn’t ready. i went hiking at 8 months (from what I recall) and wasn’t able to go up a really steep hill still. Since I’ve hiked many a steep hill since I’m sure it’s not a problem now (13 months out).

I know the feeling on the one foot balance drills. Its definitely a HUMBLING experience HAHA> I stand one legged on this circle foam thing and then throw a weighted ball into this angled trampoline screen and it comes back to me. 5 sets of 5…. humbling!

I wish I had done my PT earlier. I think the DR was trying to let me heal as long as possible on my own. I still walk with a slight limp… the guys at work call me “Step, drag. step, drag!”

wow, thats awesome to hear that you made it through a PT session with no pain. I’m only ~15 weeks out and every exercise hurts my ankle in ways that I would never expect it to, bone, other tendons, overall soreness, etc.

the one footed balancing drills are definitely challenging and humbling because I can barely keep my balance on one foot.

good luck with your continued PT!

I wish my doc and PT informed me about barefoot waking. I was basically told it’s fine and was walking around very early on (maybe 8weeks). I will make a post later today outlining my issues. Currently regretting my surgery. Good luck.

PRP won’t help me. I have a very large and very visible bulge of bone (aka spur) on the back of my left heel (and previously on my right) which the achilles has to go over. Until that bone is removed the achilles won’t feel good since it is continually rubbing over the bone bulge and my show also rubs on the bone bulge and achilles. My right achilles doesn’t bug me at all now that the bone bulge is gone. And, as long as I continue to play soccer, I’ll continue to have an unhappy left achilles.

I was giving the OK to run at 15 weeks if I was transitioned out of heel lifts. I wasn’t since my achilles would bug me when I didn’t wear them. By week 18 I was able to stop using the heel lifts and was giving the OK to do some VERY light jogging and VERY light ball dribbling (my aim was to get back to soccer). And when I first started running I could do just one lap of the field. My PT always told me to stop if I’m getting pain. Of course everyone heals at a different rate and PT will be different since what happened to everyone is a bit different. My doc saw me at the 6 month mark and gave me the OK to do anything. Of course my achilles/calf didn’t allow me to do anything at that point - LOL!

I also did not get the OK to go barefoot until my 6 month doctor visit. He wanted to make sure everything healed up well and had strength and flexibility before I went barefoot. Barefoot will cause a lot more work for the muscles/tendons/bones so all those need to get their strength and flexibility back before you stress them.

wsfost02, I measured the circumference of each calf when I got my boot off and the bad one was about 1.5 inches / 4 cm smaller than the good one. In the last 3 months I’ve gotten about a third of that back. Since I’m not a runner and already have no limits on my biking, I’m just following the PT recommendations and not pushing too hard with the calf raises.

1. At 15 weeks, which was my last checkup, my doctor thought I could start some light jogging around the 5 month post-op mark. That would have been late July/August 2017. I ended up waiting until late November to start a Couch to 5K program as my running rehab plan (a mix of walking and running to start with). I tried to start earlier but it never felt right. So it took me a good 8 months to start up again. Today is actually 11 months since surgery and I ran my first official 5k race this morning, 30 seconds under my goal time. It may take some time, but you’ll get there!

2. I had a similar feeling and attributed it to being non-weightbearing for so long. The skin on my heel was super sensitive and my heel overall felt soft, like it had lost some density during the NWB phase. I’m not sure when that feeling went away…I don’t remember it lasting past 5-6 months.

For what it’s worth, I found the phase you’re entering to be the toughest part. A lot of things felt better, but my strength wasn’t there and certain movements still caused me pain. I was frustrated because it seemed like some people moved through that phase faster. I

Thanks for the information y’all.

I am normally a mentally strong person but the recovery has taken its toll more then I thought. I think its the day to day grind. Swimming has been a huge blessing. I feel I am getting stronger and stronger. I know it will be a mental boost to start walking on the treadmill and track. I know those first couple of steps when I run all feel totally weird!

Anyone know the odds/chances of a heel spur reforming on your surgerical foot?

Emupilot,

Thanks for the information.
I am the same way on the calf raises. I can do them on both legs but not stand alone. Did you keep pushing thru or just give it time to keep building strength?

I have tried the compression socks and I can tell a small difference. I may try wearing them all the time now to see.

I have been swimming a lot and going to start some light pool running and see if that affects anything.

1. I am 6 months post surgery and I am still not allowed to run. The limiting factor (for me at least) is strength - I can’t do a single calf raise with my bad leg and they don’t want me running until I can.

2. I have had that feeling too and I assume it is from swelling. In footwear with a soft sole, the bottom of the hell can swell up a bit and then I feel it when I go barefoot. The feeling tends to subside pretty quickly though. I still wear a compression sock most of the time during the day to control swelling. If you have swelling I recommend using a compression sock if you aren’t already.

Thanks for the advice. It has worked some. I am a FAST walker by nature and literally have to tell myself to slow down!
Everyday is little better. I feel great in the AM and up thru lunch and then afternoon i notice I start limping more.

I think you should see if you have anyone around you that does PRP for the achilles. It has mixed reviews but it worked for a few people I know. ANYTHING is better than surgery — especially a second surgery. I am 16 weeks post op this week.

Well after soccer on Thursday and a game today I may get my left foot done next Feb. It is really painful and I had to ice it tonight, finally, since it just wouldn’t stop paining me. So it will probably be just 2 years between right and left.

I’m catching up on your posts You really don’t want to go barefoot until things are all healed and have some strength back. I don’t recall exactly when my doc finally OK’d me going barefoot - but you can find it in my blog if you’re interested. I kept asking him since I love to go barefoot too!

One suggestion I have is do go to PT. My PT guy found that I had a loss of strength in my glutes as well as my leg so he had me focus on exercises for both. It was pretty striking how weak my surgery side glutes were too. It wasn’t something I noticed since I had learned how to compensate for it with other muscles.

And, regarding the limp - try taking smaller steps so you don’t limp. You don’t want to get in the habit of limping and having a bad gait. You really want to try to take normal steps even if they are smaller than normal. As your heel heals and your flexibility improves you can slowly lengthen your stride. When I first started walking in 2 shoes (after reading others talk about walking normally but with small steps) I just experimented to find out how small a step I had to take to walk normally and that’s how I walked. As the strength and flexibility improved I was able to slowly lengthen my step.

I’ll have to get my left foot done eventually. But it won’t be anytime soon. My doc did say I might have waited a bit too long on my right foot (a piece of the bone spur had broken off just about a month before surgery but, fortunately, my achilles was in good shape still). When I asked about my left foot he said wait until you can’t stand it anymore. The reason is - something bad could happen during/after surgery. So do as much as you can for as long as you can and then have surgery. I’m just about at the point where I’ll have to wear a gel pad sleeve for my left foot. It was sore enough after my soccer game last night that I didn’t go to my HIIT class today. So I’ll put my “leftover” gel pad foot sleeves to work for my left foot this time around.

So I will wait at least 2 years, if not more, before I do my left foot. I waited over 10 for my right foot from when the heel spur was first diagnosed and the bone bulge was quite pronounced when I finally did get it removed.

I’ll see my surgeon for my 1 year final check sometime next month and I’ll get his opinion and maybe he’ll schedule an xray so I can track its growt

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Thanks for the advice!

I Agree– do the PT. It helped me so much. It doesn’t seem like it because the sessions are short but it really does help!

Go to PT anyway. They do help you strengthen things in the right way and may find that you have other weaknesses. I had no idea my right glute was weak - quite weak. I spent a lot of time strengthening that in addition to my right leg.

And congrats on starting to walk! Hopefully the boot bottom is kind of rocker shaped. That helps you to do the normal foot rolling motion without stressing the achilles initially.

I have no advice but hope your PWB and FwB go good! Tomorrow I get my hard cast off and into boot for PWB with crutches. I know how you feel!

Whew!! You are lucky to be out of a cast. Had my surgery Nov. 3, and in a cast for 2 weeks, removed, incisions out, then back into another cast for 4 weeks, then a walking boot for 4 - 8 weeks. My cast is so claustrophobic. The pain pills increased my claustrophobia, and it is manageable so long as no pills. But my foot aches and ankle feels constantly wet. My toe has a sore spot from rubbing and my foot pad and toes are still numb. I would prefer to have a cast that I can take off to shower, scratch itches, massage my foot, etc. Dec 13 my cast comes off. I opted for the hight end vaco boot and can’t wait!

Check with your doc if you can wear a plantar fascitis boot at night instead of the walking boot. That is what I got from my doc (check my blog for a picture). I couldn’t walk in it (though, as you say, I was also NWB with the walking boot for several weeks) so if I had a midnight bathroom visit I had to scooter to the bathroom - but at least it was much easier to sleep in and kept things in place as the doctor wanted.

My doc told me to keep the foot hanging over the edge of the pillow so there is no pressure directly on the incision area. I didn’t have any hip problems either. I did get a recliner (we needed to replace one we had so I bought one that would work for my surgery as well) but I ended up not using it too much. I’m just too fussy about my sleeping environment. I tried sleeping in it one night and ended up on the couch so at that point I moved to the bedroom and basically stayed there. I would go downstairs periodically and elevated in the recliner chair - but that wasn’t my major hang out spot.

As I said in the other post - don’t worry about the spurs. If they come back then they come back. I imagine that keeping your achilles stretched and flexible might help, but that is just a guess. Since they don’t really know why they form there is no way to tell if they’ll come back. I wonder why my left foot spur is so much smaller than my right. Maybe because I’m right footed? That really only comes into play when I play soccer since I usually plant with my left foot and kick with my right. Would kicking cause the spur to grow???

I’m sure not letting a possible return keep me from doing anything now.

I was in a cast for maybe 3 days - LOL! They had me in the splint for 2 weeks and the tech made the mistake of telling me I would be in a boot at the next appt. Well at the next appt they put me in a cast (I think that was on a Thursday or Friday) and I complained loudly and long that they said I would be in a boot!!! I insisted they talk with my doctor to see why I wasn’t going into a boot. They couldn’t get a hold of him righ then and there so they put me in the cast. So I had the cast over the weekend, got called in for an appt on Monday got the cast off and was in the boot - LOL! Still NWB of course. I’m sure the fact that I was doing what I was told and had very little swelling had a lot to do with getting the boot earlier. Also the cast and splint were very uncomfortable and I was going in for splint changes about every 3-5 days due to rubbing, looseness, … I also reminded them I would be coming in for cast changes just as often since I was having enough trouble sleeping with the darn thing on my foot so I didn’t want any more annoyances like squished padding wrinkling, …. And I emphasized many times that I could

SO did they put you in a cast right away? How long were u in the cast? I am just in a splint and bandages first week. He said Monday I would get staples out and then a cast. He won’t say how long the cast will be… 2-6 weeks is initial thought. Then a walking boot for 8-10 weeks.

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Did they say what the chances of the spur coming back was? What can u do after you recover to prevent the spurs from returning? That is my BIGGEST fear… I go back to running and in 3-4 years I get spurs again!l

I assume the more they mess with the AT the longer it takes in the healing process? My doctor said age and previous activity also are major factors in recovery.

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LOL. I am in the guest room and my wife is on the nice temperpedic mattress in the master. She is pregnant and due in January. She has been a champ for me as well. I am lucky to have a great job that I can work some at home and come and go as I need to.

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Yes I found the heel trick out the hard way… LOL. Have u tried elevating both legs for different periods? I haven’t had any back or hip pain. If I had to do all this over I would buy a recliner and sleep in it full time. I just do not have any room in my house for it.

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When sleep with the cast Hun make sure the heel is not on the pillow. This will stop the heel from hurting as there is no pressure on it. I’m waking up with back and hip pain every morning but I think it’s something that goes with having the leg elevated unfortunately. but do try the heel thing it definitely helps xx

For me a knee scooter was a necessity - crutches and I do not get along since the one time I tried to use them seriously I fell. It wasn’t too difficult taking the scooter up/down the stairs as I went up/down on my butt so not using crutches didn’t bug me.

I also had an amazing care person - my hubby. He made many trips up/down the stairs in the first 3 weeks when I was supposed to elevate almost all the time. Delivering food, ice, … I was lucky in that I could schedule the surgery when it would work at best for having my hubby at home. Those who have an ATR don’t have the luxury.

And, since I was NOT able to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time for the first 4-5 weeks hubby slept in the guest room - LOL! He could not get any sleep with my tossing/turning all the time. I was going to move but he said to stay in our bedroom since I was all setup and the bathroom was closer.

I’m with Kaiser and my instructions were:

elevate 90% of the time during the first 3 weeks. and ice 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off as much as possible.

Now I’m back to playing soccer, doing interval training and everything I was doing (though hobbling a bit after a soccer game) before surgery! I followed the docs instructions to the letter (thanks to my hubby who kept the ice pack coming)

And why is it so important to elevate for SOOOOOO long I asked my doc? He said the foot has very little fat so when it swells the skin/muscles/… just got pushed on/stretched which isn’t helpful for healing and can make the entire recovery process take longer.

For my surgery the achilles was completely detached in order to remove the bone spur - but mine was quite large (I called it a bone lump, not spur) since I had been delaying the surgery for 10 years

I was NOT able to ever get comfortable when I was in the cast. I think for about 5 weeks I got 2 hours of sleep at a time. I was so tired I didn’t even care that I was laying around doing a whole lot of nothing. I was in a cast for 2.5 weeks, then into a boot for many more weeks. I complained about sleeping so much that they gave me a night boot. I couldn’t walk with it but eventually I got used to it enough that I could sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. The pain pills for me would only give me about 2 hours of sleep. I think I used them full strength for the first 5 days, then 1/2 strength for about 3 days and then not at all. Do eat lots of fiber though if you’re taking the pain pills!

And, yes, doing not much of anything works up a sweat initially - LOL! I remember when just butt bumping down the stairs would work up a sweat! My hubby knew I was feeling better when, at about 4 weeks, I started taking the scooter up/down the stairs myself and insisted on going with him on a trip to Costco just so I could get out of the house and see things - LOL! And keep that foot elevated and iced as much as possible. Keep

Being non-weight bearing (NWB) just plain stinks. It sounds like you’re off to a good start with the knee scooter and shower seat, but everything you do takes alot of energy and mostly you’re doing nothing. The good news is that every day is better than the one before, and you can look forward to little things like when you’ll be able to brush your teeth while standing on two feet. You’ll sweat a little less the next time you get the mail, and when you are full weight bearing (FWB) you can do a power hobble to the mailbox! Just do what the doctor tells you and keep laughing at how ridiculous your situation is.

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