Rupturebyhoops@39

I’m at 14 wks 2 days.  I’ve been doing great.  Steady progress every few days.  I’ve been walking fairly well, no limp unless sore or tired.  I’m able to play golf riding a cart.

In the past week, I’ve started to notice a little bump, like a little ball right where the tendon was repaired.  It’s sensitive to the touch - a little sore, especially after PT or walking moderate distances.  It usually feels better after a few hours but it’s something that doesn’t seem quite right visually.  It sort of protrudes out toward the back of the AT unlike the concave shape of a healthy AT.  I asked an ortho friend who says he sees it a lot and that it’s just fluid build-up and it will go away in a few days.  I’m seeing my ortho later this week - I’m definitely going to have him look at it.  We may do an MRI.  I’m interested if anyone has seen a symptom like this 3 months post-op.  I will definitely keep everyone posted.

I took a vacation to mexico, a cruise actually, and several people saw me wearing my boot and asked me what had happened in a knowing fashion.  I met one guy who had ruptured his AT 11 years ago and has since tattooed over his scar - a rupturing tendon with a soccer ball flying through it.  sort of tells the whole story right there.  Another guy came up to me and said he experienced the same injury many years ago.  It’s so interesting.  It’s like we’re in this club, the global ATR club - we now make special notice of the hardware (the boot), a certain type of limp, the scar….we empathize with the injury and the associated long recovery.  Sort of cool.

I played my first round of golf since the ATR.  I took a cart with a handicap sticker.  I had fun.  I could hit with power and had a few decent shots.  I really didn’t feel all that different because I’m normally not that good of a golfer anyway.  I encounter some trouble (several, ahem, 4 actually,  snowmen appeared on my scorecard) due to lack of playing and uneven lies were somewhat troublesome.  I played without a boot, which I’ve basically stopped wearing as of a few weeks ago.  I have very minor swelling which looks bad because the ankle swells up above where the shoe is so the area is sort of lumpy.  All in all a great time.  so far so good.

I saw the 1st episode of Hard Knocks  - Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals last night.  I cringed when they showed Reggie Kelly get carted off the field with an ATR.  The trainer told him 6 months recovery time.

http://www.hbo.com/hardknocks/

After nearly 2 mos, I finally took the car (with a manual transmission) out for a drive in 2 shoes.  It was good to get out there and row through the gears.  I’m guessing my clutch is the equivalent of 20 lbs of force on my achilles so it should make for a good rehab activity.  About a week ago, I actually drove some while still in my boot, which probably is not a great idea.  The boot is bulky and it’s conceivable that one could hit the brakes inadvertently.  Also, the inability to plantar flex is an issue preventing you from depressing the clutch all the way but in a pinch, driving with a boot (left foot) on the clutch is doable.

Boy that commercial was annoying (no offense to any of you on Dr Scholl’s ad team) but I started to get heel soreness from walking around in a boot so I’ve placed a gel sole in my boot.  I haven’t put it to a long test but it seems to have made a difference after taking a few steps on my porch.  so I never thought in a million year’s I’d ever say this but “I AM GELLIN!”

I’m not going to kid anyone.  I’m a competitive person… and I have peterh and doug53 in my sights! (well, not them per se but their awesome recovery schedules)

I’m essentially 2 mos post-op and I saw my ortho today.  he was very pleased with what he saw - the tendon is very solid, the wound looked good, etc.  he sd it was ok for me to start phasing in 2 shoes, golf in a boot should be ok, and that I was ahead of schedule.  Needless to say, I was happy to hear it.  I’ve been pushing a little ahead of my ortho’s rehab pace and I feel like he’s given me the greenlight to push just ever so slightly harder to getting my active life back.

I still feel tightness when I lean forward on the injured foot when I walk so I plan to take it easy but I’m going to do a little more every 2 days.  I think strength will be more important now. I need more power in my plantar flexion to take the pressure off my knees which are sore after extensive boot walking and to eradicate the limp I have because my left foot walks flat footed.

good luck to everyone.

http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story?id=09000d5d811a09f3&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true

I finally went to the driving range yesterday.  The great as well as incredibly sad thing is my ball striking is actually not much worse with one good leg.  It felt good to get out and do something physical.  I felt no discomfort while I was out there and I laid into a few.

Last night (similar to most nights), my AT area felt a little sore and tender with minor swelling.  I keep feeling the tendon and, whether it’s real or imagined, I think I can feel a bump or edge where my AT was repaired.  It could be scar tissue but I have no idea.

SORENESS AFTER WALKING: As directed by my PT, I try to walk in the boot with as normal a stride as possible.  This causes a stretching sensation in the back of my calf (feels like muscle, AT, and skin) and after a bit of walking or at the end of the day, my AT area is pretty sore.  I think it’s normal to expect this and am hoping some of you have had the same sensation and found it to be normal.

SENSITIVE SKIN AROUND AT: The skin around my AT is still a little sore.  I’m wondering how normal this is 7 wks post-op.  The soreness feels like a mild bruise - nothing painful - but it’s all around the AT area even on the outside of my AT (the opposite side of the incision, my incision was done slightly to the inside to avoid irritation later on from wearing shoes).

WALKING WITHOUT BOOT:  I’m still having trouble walking normally without the boot.  I feel hesitant to really lean forward as I feel the stretching sensation in the back of my leg.  I also can’t get much lift from the injured side so I’m very flat footed.  I only do this around the house.  I haven’t been instructed to but I’m trying to do more strengthening - seated calf raises, where I just try to lift my knees off the ground.

LUMPY SKIN AFTER ICING: Also, after icing, I’ve noticed lumpiness in the skin around my incision.  It’s like there are dimples and ridges up and down my AT.  This tends to even out after a 20 mins or so but it looks really weird.

Other than these minor issues that I’m curious about.  Things seem to be going well.  I’m walking fine and if I’m feeling good, I may hit the driving range next week.

Good luck to everyone.  -wubfree