Week 10

I entered week 10 2-days ago. 70 days post rupture; post op

I also enter my last week of PT with my current physical therapist. I go back to work on November 4th to a desk job until the doctor gives me the word that I can return to full duty as a fire fighter (probably by Christmas). So...I'll sit at a desk and a computer for 10-hours a day. Sorry for those that do that for a living, but I'm used to the high paced action filled world of being a firefighter.

My limp is not quite as pronounced as it was a week ago. I've been focusing on taking proper steps to get my gait back. My wife noticed I was rolling my foot to the outside as I walked. The pad under the big toe is still painful when I put full weight on it, so to compensate, I roll to the outside to avoid that area. Also, my calf muscle and muscles in the front of the leg are so weak that I again compensate to the outside to lessen the fatigue. To correct that and build up tolerance to the weight bearing, I'm taking steps the way I used to before the rupture. After 3-days, I feel stronger and more confident with the calf, foot, and the big toe. I also work on two legged calf raises (standing) and one legged calf raises with 25 pounds of weight (seated) to build up the muscles. I'm not able to do a one legged calf raise while standing. It's a strange feeling to have the nerves fire up from the brain to the foot, but no strength to push myself up. I wear my running shoes all the time now. They tend to give me the most support for walking.

In PT, I'm still working on the balance board, squats, hamstring curls, some pilates type machine that works the thigh, and walking back and forth with proper walking mechanics. I did try and run the other day. It was a flat footed waddle and not a run, but I got a bit of cardio out of it! I've lost a couple of pounds from the injury weight, so there's a bit of encouragement there as well.

On to Week 11! I feel better every week! Oh...and I hit a bucket of golf balls again!

I've read a couple of blogs from folks that have re-ruptured their Achilles. One guy slipped while walking up some stairs at 11-weeks...11 weeks!! The other guy at 7-weeks slipped on a curb while wearing the boot! So, I have to be careful and not push too hard.

csco

Week 9

66 days post rupture, post op.

I mowed the lawn today. I took it slow as I was walking on a weak ankle, but I mowed the lawn! It actually felt liberating. My brother called and told me, "it's like being on house arrest." Yes, this injury is similar to house arrest, especially when your non-weight bearing. I've read some blogs from people who live in upper story apartments, alone, with only a couple of friends that are becoming worn out under the burden of helping them with simple tasks. This injury is debilitating, demoralizing, and psychologically devastating. You really have to keep your wits and sense of humor to get through this thing.

Week 9 continues with physical therapy 3-days a week. I'm working with a device called prostretch (just google prostretch and you will find several sites selling the device). The stretch I get on my calf and achilles is tremendous. After 5 sets of 30 second stretches, I can walk with a normal gait. There's still a bit of pain and tightness at Week 9, but this little prostretch helps.

My physical therapist starts with a massage of the ankle and scar tissue to help break it up. After the massage and a warm up on the bike, I hit the prostretch, balance board, one-foot balances, squats (body weight), and hamstring curls for the next hour. Everything is progressing nicely. I'm a tad sore when I leave PT, but my walk definitely improves after the session.

Standing on one foot (the rupture side) is liberating as well. I was very nervous about attempting it, but using all the tiny muscles of my foot and ankle to stabalize my weight helps with the recovery progression as well. Once I was able to stand on one foot...about a week and a half ago...I was able to take my first shower standing up! No more plastic lawn chair in the shower!

Week 9 is very similar to week 8, I'm just getting stronger and stronger in my atrophied leg, and stronger mentally too.

Ohh...and I hit a bucket of golf balls at the driving range! I hit right handed, so my injured side only pivots; no pushing off. But....I hit a bucket of golf balls on a nice 70 degree day. wow.

Week 8

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.

Out of the boot! Week 7

I saw my surgeon today for a follow up visit. He said my range of motion is excellent and I've regained some strength back in my lower leg and foot. Also...he told me to transition out of the boot over the next week. I told him I was already walking at home with a running shoe and only wear the boot to sleep or go out. He told me...than take the boot off! Yeah baby! No more boot! He did say that if I felt like I needed it for support, then by all means wear it. But...I'm stickin' with the running shoe.

We talked about the heel pain that I experience while full weight bearing; especially out of the boot. He said that's because the tough skin that protects the heel has weakened along with the foot muscles over the past 6-weeks. And, that it will take some time for that protection to build back up again. I do very well in the morning, but the heel pain creeps up in the afternoon. By the evening, I can't stand it, so I get off my feet and ice down the heel.

He said the Achilles has repaired itself by week 6. Now it's just mobility and strength that I need to regain in the ankle and lower leg. The chance of a re-rupture is there, so I have to take it easy. I cannot jump up, push off hard, or jump down from heights. He said the muscles of the leg are so week that it could put extra pressure on the repaired area and rupture it. I am restricted to carrying 20-pounds and I'm not supposed to walk for more than 4-hours at a time. So...I'm just walking slowly with a limp, riding the exercise bike and getting my physical therapy done. In 6-weeks, I head back in for a follow up. The doc said that the potential is there for me to return to full active duty as a fire fighter after that follow up.

Right now, it feels like my ankle is so weak that I could "roll" it at any time. It's going to be a mental challenge as I learn to walk again. I should be able to drive a car now, and will test that theory tomorrow when I go to PT. But for now...

Wow! No more boot! I'm walking!!

This is a long recovery process, and for those going through it, especially in the beginning phases.....hang in there! It does get better! People go through different treatments and rehab, I just found an aggressive doc that want me back to full speed.

Google: achilles tendon repair protocol. It will bring up a couple of .pdf files that show you what to expect over the next several weeks.

I'll check back in at Week 8 unless there's something new to report.

P.S. Here's a video of Misti Mae Treanor snapping her Achilles tendon on "Dancing with the Stars." Listen to the sound and then her description of the injury. For those reading the blog that have gone through this...or are going through this injury...the sound and her description are spot on!

Week 7

I'm at the start of Week 7. In an earlier post, I mentioned I was finishing up Week 7, but I had to go back and change that. Maybe I should slow down a bit as I keep getting ahead of myself and the schedule. I guess being cooped up in the house and not driving a car has me very antsy to get healed and back to work. I'll be careful.

I had a good ride on my indoor bicycle without the boot today. I just took a flat footed position in a running shoe and stayed out of the toe clip. The ankle was tight, but it loosened up over the course of a 20-minute ride. It actually felt great to work out some of the stiffness. I tend to workout pretty hard, so once the Achilles began to act up a bit, I tempered my pace and stayed on the safe side. I wore the running shoe for support, and now find myself walking in the shoe around the house. Is this the first stop towards walking? Will my doctor approve this? No more boot? I find out on Tuesday the 7th of October what he thinks of my new found skill.

Mentally I'm out of the fog now. I still get some small bouts of depression as the day wears on, but I'm seeing positive results from workouts and physical therapy. My life feels patterned and mundane, and that's hard for an active guy like me. Returning to work and the unexpected nature of my job should shake away any feelings of a routine.

I still have bouts of insomnia, and have been taking Lunesta to help with sleeping. My mind wanders with random thoughts of boredom that keep me awake at night. I wake up every night between 2 am and 2:20 am. Strange eh? I think about work, life, money issues, weight gain and surfing the internet for Achilles info. My mind spins out of control until I fall back asleep around 4:30 am and then up at 6am to start the day all over again.

Overall....I'm fine mentally. This is a tough injury psychologically, but the light shines brighter each day at the end of the rehab tunnel!

I'll check back in after my appointment on Tuesday.

No more crutches!

I started the morning out with one crutch. I needed to get a cup of coffee from the kitchen to the living room to work on the computer. I took two steps and realized I left my crutch in the kitchen, but I had no pain in my foot, ankle or Achilles. I decided to take a few more steps and came to the conclusion that I do not need crutches any more! As I posted in a comment earlier, the freedom to walk in the cam boot is liberating...not only physically, but mentally as well.

I have not talked to my surgeon, but I'm finishing up Week 6, and he wanted me full weight bearing by week 8. So...I just started a bit early! I was able to do laundry, I know fun right!, for the first time today. Actually carrying a load of laundry in both arms was amazing! I truly want to mow the lawn and get some outdoor projects completed before the snow flies, but I better not get too ahead of schedule. Plus...I'll turn my sock green in the boot!

I'm also continuing my cardio rehab on the spinner bike. I weighed myself today, and I'm at a portly 203-pounds. Portly, because that's heavy for me standing 5-feet, 11-inches tall. The day of the injury, I weighed 193. So...10-pounds later, and winded on a flight of stairs has me on the bike every day. Today I was able to spin and push myself a little harder because of the weight bearing. It felt great! Albeit sweaty and out-of-breath, it felt pretty good. My right leg has definitely become weak. I've got a ton of work to do to get back to work.

Remember...I'm still on track for the Colfax Marathon in May. Can I do it? My physical therapist does not think so, but my surgeon says yes. I can't wait to run!!

More weight bearing

I'm down to one crutch. I'm able to start bearing more weight on my right foot, so I can ditch the other crutch for another week. I'll go to full weight bearing in week 8, and after my doctor's appt. on October 7th, I might be in a shoe! Yesssss! A shoe! I better temper my thoughts on the shoe though. I know I don't want to push to hard, but getting out of the boot will be a tremendous boost to morale.

I turned in the Roll-A-Bout. It's a bit harder working in the kitchen or doing dishes, but using a chair with a folded up towel worked great! I could rest my good leg, or use the chair as support for both legs. I have a stool that I use at the bathroom sink for the same purpose. I'm still showering in a plastic lawn chair sitting in the tub, but I'm able to stand on more often now.

PT is going well. My therapist has been working on range of motion the last 5 appointments, and I graduated to a one-legged squat on a moving platform that I lay down on. There's hardly any pressure on my foot, but I'm working the thigh and calf that have disappeared over the past month. I have a spinner bike that my mom let me borrow that now resides in the basement. I have started my cardio recovery finally. Hopefully I can drop some of these injury pounds that have built up since August. I ride with the boot on for now, but hopefully can ride in a shoe soon. I'm doing push-ups and sit-ups every Mon, Wed, and Fri. Check out http://hundredpushups.com/ it's a great site for an upperbody workout.

I was once a big time crossfitter. But I'll have to wait 8 months to a year before I can start that program at full speed again. Check out www.crossfit.com. They have some killer workouts!

One word of advice for those of you in the boot. Wear a sock. I was barefooted during the initial stages of wearing it. It stinks!....Literally! Once I began wearing a sock, the smell has dissipated. Sorry to the doctors who had to smell the thing. Yuck!