60-days post rupture; post op.
Week 7 and week 8 seem to be...for me anyway...a major breaking point with recovery. At Week 7 I started to ditch the boot and walk on my own. Although it was a rather flat footed duck walk, I was walking without any support. At week8, I'm walking, or limping, in a shoe, but the duck walk has straightened itself out as I gain more confidence and strength in the lower leg and ankle. The heel pain has subsided as my foot strength increases. I had to use the crutches once because of the fatigue of walking all day. The end of the evening is still the worst time for heel pain.
My physical therapy is still set at 3-days a week and I'm showing great improvement with my flexibility, lack of swelling, strength and mobility. We work on a multitude of exercises for 1-hour. I firmly believe physical therapy is the key to rehabbing this injury. If you have the luxury to go 3-days a week, by all means do it! 5-days a week would be nice, but I use the days off to work out on my own. I'm back in cycling shoes and riding my mountain bike 3-days a week right now. Yesterday I pushed it a bit too hard, and stressed the Achilles and calf. Also, I have to stay off dirt trails as the bumps in the trail actually hurt the ankle. And...I don't want to crash and risk a re-rupture! So, I stick to the paved and rather flat bike path. I'll probably pick up swimming in the next week or so to help with my cardio workouts.
Mentally, Week 7 and 8 have been a major boost in my overall attitude towards this injury. I've heard a plateau in recovery is coming, but I look forward to my physical therapy and regaining the cardio effort I had 61 days ago. I'll probably return to work (modified duty) in the next couple of weeks, and look forward to getting out of my home routine. My boredom has subsided as I'm able to work in the yard and finish projects that have been nagging at me since August. I stained the deck and winterized the irrigation system. And...I can mow the lawn again...Yessss!
Who would think that mowing the lawn and even doing laundry would be exciting moments in one's life! There small stepping stones on the road to recovery, but they feel good mentally.
Oh...the crutches and the boot?...they live in storage now.
Happy Halloween
12 years ago
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2 comments:
Hi c sco,
Well, what’s been happening this week in sunny Australia. No more duck walk I'm now walking with a slight limp. If I have a real good warm up on the bike I can walk normally, but 'G' my ankle and Achilles feels so tight. I have to really concentrate on walking with a normal stride pattern otherwise I start walking too fast and its back to the duck walk. I had 2 physio sessions and 2 Hydrotherapy sessions this week plus my own gym and cardio workouts. I find the Hydrotherapy really good, I do lots of lunges, squats, calf raises and stretching, this has improved my ROM but it feels so bloody tight around my ankle and Achilles area. My surgeon said this would happen because he had to remove a piece of the damaged tendon and pull it really tight to re- attach it but I suppose I'm only at week 9. Reading some of the other blog sites, some ATR sufferers aren’t even FWB at 9 weeks.
I have been feeling pretty good this week so I even had a night out with the boys from work for a meal and a few beers, my wife said I deserved it, but I won’t be doing that for a while standing up all night with dress shoes on didn't help, my ankle and foot were like a balloon when I got home.
I even took the dog for a walk on the beach today, walked for about 40 minutes in the water, not very fast but it felt really good and not much swelling.
Happy healing back to you paul r
Hey paul,
I'm laughing because of the duck walk. When I start getting ahead of myself and speed up, I regress back to the "toe pointed out flat footed duck walk!"
Sounds like your progress is going nicely still after the issue with the incision site.
And...you're right about dress shoes! Ouch! Running shoes tend to be shoe of choice right now!
Keep on healin'! And beach??...I forget it's the beginning of summer down under. We might get snow tonight in the Denver, Colorado area. Beach sounds good!
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