Blog transfer

Anyone who will be unlucky enough to have to go through this injury will definitely benefit from www.achillesblog.com 

I decided to continue my blog journey on that site as it has such a great community and support system. 

Join me there! 

www.achillesblog.com/skim92 

Happy recovery!

Physio #2

Not much has been happening these days. Except I have started to walk without crutches! Just in the aircast boot now. 

My scabs all fell off and I thought it was good to go but suddenly a little spot near the bottom of the incision started to bleed a little with a little bit of pus. I'm wondering if its infected but it doesn't look red around it or anything so I'm not sure. 

I've heard incisions re-open sometimes because the skin in the Achilles area takes longer to heal. 

Visiting a different physio clinic today. Found out that there's a funded program for recently operated orthopedic patients so I get 7 sessions for less than the normal price of 1!! 

Didn't do much today in terms of physio though...just a few leg lifts and initial measurements. Boo. 

First Physio Session

Started with some ankle stretches to check range of motion. 

Ultrasound therapy. 

Stationary bike 12 minutes. 

Ankle exercises (seated)

- Up and down 

- Rocking back and forth lifting toes then heel

- Heels planted on ground. Slide feet back til you feel stretch

- Elastic pull and push

Then this thing. For anti-inflammation. 

Which left me lookin like this: 

Some more elastic push and pull. 

Day 45 Post-Op

No more wedges and scabs gone!  Bio oil is my new best friend. 

I've been walking pretty well with the boot on and no crutches.

Starting my first physio tomorrow morning at 7am... Wish me luck. 

Follow-up update - Week 6

• FWB in boot for 3 weeks (without crutches) --- but I have to learn how to walk in the boot without crutches slowly...sigh. 

• after 3 weeks, 2 shoes!! 

• start physio 

• biking in 2-3 weeks 

• next follow-up in 6 weeks 

And....

• sleep without boot!  Yay!! 

Oh and no damage from the fall.. phew!~~~ goodnight!

Wipe out

I've been crutching around this morning to look at different houses (lookin to buy) and one of the houses had a sealing paint type front landing outside AND It's a little rainy today... Stupid me didn't really think much and tried to crutch up. The second I put weight on it to hop up...It wiped out from under me and I put a bunch of pressure onto my bad foot as I fell.  And now it's aching quite a bit. 

I really hope I didn't damage it. 

Well, at least my next followup is in 2 hours. Fingers crossed. 

Oh, and I'm down to one wedge in boot! 

Post-op Day 32

A lot of the scabbing is falling off slowly. I can't believe it's been a month already but at the same time I feel like, wait..it's ONLY been a month?? ~~ confusing, I know. 

In a few days, I hope to be getting the go-ahead to PWB at least and get my physio on finally. 

I yearn for the day to have two shoes on my feet again. 

One month anniversary

Yesterday was officially the one month mark for my surgery...

I'm down to 2 wedges now in the boot. And next Monday is my follow up appointment so hopefully I will start PT shortly after. 

I've been swimming a lot and my boyfriend is here with me for the week so he's been an amazing help in the pool as well! 

Today, I was his caddy as I drove around the golf course with him while he played and I even got a little putting in! 

So fun! 

The journey to recovery is slowly progressing. And sadly, so is the weight gain. 

Dented calf

Something weird is happening to my leg. It's indenting on the side. Below it toward my incision it's rock hard and above the dent, it's mushy and soft... 

What's happening to my leg?

Day 28 Post-Op

I've taken another wedge out so I'm down to 2! 

My next followup appointment is next Monday so maybe ill be able to get one more out then!! 

I've been reading up on others recoveries and I feel like I'm a lot farther behind than most. But maybe that's because I have like zero patience and always want to get things done quick.  Not the right mentality for this kind if injury, I know. Sigh. 

Scabs and Vitamin E?

This is what it looks like today. 

It's been 27 days post op. 

My question is when can I start rubbing vitamin E cream, oil or ointment on it?? Do I have to wait until all the scabbing falls off?? Or can I start now? 

Hallllpppp! 

Scar in all it's glory

All steri-strips have fallen off now! I'm SO tempted to try and peel that dry skin off but I'm sure that's a very bad idea at the moment so I will leave it. 

Now that I've seen the whole thing unveiled, I have more of an idea how bad it looks. I hope this scab falls off soon so I can start to rub vitamin E all over it all day long. 

First time in the pool!

What an amazing feeling it was to get in the pool! Not only did it feel nice on my ankle, it felt amazing for my knees and hips, which were feeling a little sore and tight. 

Today, I just felt out the water. Literally. I didn't just go full force swimming yet. Just did some underwater leg lifts and gentle kicking while I floated holding on to the board. But all this pressure and strain felt like it was leaving my body as I was in the water. 

I started off easy with just 15 minutes this time. Tomorrow I'm going to go in for 25-30 minutes! Swimming definitely lifted my spirits. 

Not only did I swim today and take out a second wedge, 3 more steri-strips have fallen off!  But why does it look like the strips made my skin DARKER? Strange... I hope that goes away. I don't need that on top of the oh-so-lovely scar I'm already left with! 

Removed a 2nd wedge

Ok. So I know he told me to remove a wedge every week and I removed one two days ago. But just to see how it would feel, I removed another wedge today and slid the boot on and it felt fine! No pain or tension like it was stretching it too much or anything! So I'm going to leave it out. 

I don't think it's bad to move ahead with this as long as it feels ok on my foot. The whole point of the process was to return my foot to 90 degrees slowly and if we could at the time of my last appointment, we would have started off with fewer wedges anyways! So I think because I've been doing my own flexing exercises, the process is moving along quicker than expected. 

I'm still not weight bearing at all until I see him in two weeks but I think this is definitely a good sign. 

I may even go swimming today! Wahoo!

Down to 3 wedges in the boot now! 

Weight gain

I just had a really disheartening moment. I didn't have a one piece bathing suit (for when i start my aqua rehab) so I went to get one today but since it's a mission to try on stuff with the boot and what not.. I just bought two sizes and decided to try them on at home. 

I'm usually a size 4... 6 at most. So I bought a 6 and an 8 (justttt in case they were made small)... 

Both were too small.

Either 1) I have too long of a torso. 2) They are made REALLY small or 3) I've gained a serious amount of weight (more than I previously thought). 

My conclusion is 3. 

I know I have been eating like crap because I've been so down about this whole thing (and my mom just wants to feed me everything there is in attempt to cheer me up)... I tend to eat my feelings. But now it's time to wake the hell up. Not being able to workout is killing me. And seeing the effects of it, definitely just killed my spirit. 

So I am going to use this as motivation to focus more on diet ...even more so now, since I can't work it off with a sweat and burn. 

First steri-strip off!

The first strip is off. It looks so gross. I want to cry!! I can just imagine the scar it's going to leave... 

My skin around it is also soooo dry. Even though I have been putting vitamin E Cream on it.. Sigh. All of this is so disheartening. 

One wedge removed!

Progress: I removed one wedge today and it feels good!!!

I can't wait to have all of these removed and feel my foot flat on the ground!! Well, flat in the boot at least.. 

Day 20 Post-op

A part of the scab has fallen off. You can't tell as much in the photo but that black scab part used to extend out further. Yay! Keep falling off scab!! 

I put both of my feet on the ground to see how high my heel is lifted off the ground. This is the difference right now. 

It's like I'm permanently wearing heels on one foot right now except without the pain of wearing a heel because I can't put any weight on it. 

I get to remove a wedge in two days... Progress. Slow and painful progress. 

 

Day 19 Post-Op

Ankle is still swollen and bruised. 

Yesterday I tried doing a little workout for my upper body, abs and some leg lifts. I don't think I did as much as I could though. Feeling down makes me feel so sluggish and lazy but I know I'll get that motivation at one point especially once I can put a little weight on it and start swimming. 

All I want to do is return to a little normalcy in my life..(ie drive somewhere or cook a meal) but I'm not allowed to yet. 

My best friend's bridal shower is coming up next weekend. So that'll be nice to be able to get out and see some faces.  

Hobble hobble I go! 

Helpful resources

http://achillesblog.com  - is an amazing resource. A big online community for those experiencing the same awful injury. 

Some exercises I'm starting with: 

http://www.orthoncforms.com/forms/hep/Ankle_Foot_AROM.pdf

Cuts and Bruises

My foot and toes began to really hurt throughout the night. I couldn't handle it anymore so I took it out of the boot to see. I guess the wedges in my boot were causing a lack of circulation because my foot had to be squeezed in to fit in it. 

There's also still some major bruising on the top of my foot too. All the nerves are out of whack so when something even slightly skims the top of my foot, I get these tingly shockwaves run through my foot.  

The big bandage came off today. So this is what it looks like as of today. Sterile strips are still in place. And although I can't clearly see the incision site, it still doesn't look very good yet. 

I don't think swimming is going to happen this week. 

On the path to Rehab

In my previous post, I mentioned the Aircast walking boot with 5 wedges in it.  This is what it looks like: 

As you can see, the wedges are quite high because my foot is still pointed so far down. The problem with this is: the bottom part of the boot doesn't want to close.  So I've figured out a way around this problem for the time being (see below).

Now that I'm pretty much caught up on what's happened so far, I'm really looking forward to starting this path to rehab.  I know it's going to be an extremely long and sllllooooowwwwww process so I just need to make sure I stay positive and get the encouragement I need through the tough times.  I've already felt bouts of depression hit me where I feel super down about the whole situation and feel like I can't see any light to the end of this terrible tunnel.  I can feel the weight piling on already.  And all the hard work I put into maintaining my physique is going down the drain... which is super discouraging and depressing at times.  My boyfriend keeps reminding me that it won't be hard for me to get back into shape once I'm up and running and I know he's right... but it's hard to see WHEN I'll get to that point where I can work out again.  It seems soooooo far away. 

My surgeon told me that I could actually start swimming...I'm on Day 17 Post-Op (POD17).  But, I'm a little uneasy about getting in the pool yet because the incision is still scabbed and I don't want to risk infection.  So I think I'm going to wait until I can see the incision is fully healed with no scabbing.  I can't wait to get in the pool and get some physical activity going. 

Today, I started doing some light ankle ROM (Range of Motion) exercises.  My awesome boyfriend did a bunch of research and sent me a word document he made with what I should start with. (Who needs PT, when you have him!)  My ROM is awful right now. I can barely move it at all. My toes are in pretty good condition though. I can do the toe curls pretty easily without much pain.  The alphabet doesn't look like I'm writing any letters with my foot AT ALL... but it's day one so I'm sure it'll improve daily.  Up and down & side-to-side ROM is not in great shape either at the moment.  

But at least being able to start the process definitely put me in a better spirit today.  I'm feeling hopeful and today I saw a little, tiny spot flicker at the end of this tunnel. 

Post-Op to Suture Removal

From June 23rd until July 8th : my routine was pretty much the same.  Watch Netflix. Take pain meds (but I stopped taking percs less than a week post-op and took Advil instead when it hurt a lot at times). Eat. Sleep.
Lucky for me though, my amazing boyfriend was able to stay by my side since my parents were at work a lot so I didn't have to be alone. Thanks babe!

The biggest mission during this time was going to the bathroom.  My boyfriend would hold my leg/cast while I crutched because the weight of the cast would pull down on my leg and cause a great deal of pain.  And I definitely had to get used to the fact that my mom had to sponge bathe me in bed... not a great feeling to feel like you can't even do the simple things by yourself like use the bathroom and wash.

My toes looked like little sausages because they were so swollen post-op.  That started going down after a week or so...

Major feel-good moments during this time included: getting out of my bed for the first time and going out to the deck and enjoying the beautiful lake in my backyard & getting my hair washed for the first time post-op.  It lifted my spirits so much!

Then, when the time came for my follow-up appointment, we headed back down south.  I was under the impression that I was supposed to get this plaster cast removed and a new fibreglass cast put on.  However, my surgeon decided to just take the stitches out and instead of putting me back into a new cast, told me to use my Aircast boot with 5 wedges in it (because my foot was pointed so far down). Slowly in the next few weeks, I will remove one wedge a week to bring my foot back to a neutral 90 degree state.

When I first saw my incision, my stomach flipped.  I saw photos of other achilles' tendon post-op patients and their scars so I knew it would be pretty big...but at the same time, was hoping that by some small chance...mine wouldn't be.  That hope died very quickly.

I was quite nervous about the suture removal because I've never experienced that before either.  Everyone told me it would just feel like little pricks.  Well, some of them weren't so bad getting removed, but a few definitely hurt a little more than a prick and caused quite a stinging sensation.  After they were all out (I think she said there were 7 or 8 stitches), she placed sterile strips over them and another big bandage over it.  She told me to remove the big bandage in two days and let the sterile strips fall off on their own.

Below: photos of the cast and suture removal

I got the Kobe.

While I was home, with the best company and the best food a girl could ask for, my mom thought it would be a good idea to get a second opinion on my ankle. So we went to the hospital here (since my mom pretty much knows everyone that works there), and a family friend who's a doctor took a look at it.   He said it looked like it was a partial tear (but at that time it was so swollen, I don't think anyone could really tell just by looking at it). He also said that these days, research has shown that non-operative and operative methods lead to the same result in healing and that surgery may not be necessary.  He suggested to start physio right away (which was not a very good idea in hindsight).  I hadn't even had an ultrasound/MRI done yet or received an exact diagnosis of the injury.  Regardless, I went to 2 sessions of physio where she kneaded the muscles from my ankle upwards my calf and used a therapeutic ultrasound machine on it.  I don't think it really helped me much...

On Friday, June 21st, I had my ultrasound appointment at the hospital down in Toronto, where I originally went to emergency.  So my boyfriend drove me down again (thank you for being there for me through all of this!).  First, we got my ultrasound images taken and then went to the fracture clinic appointment that I also had scheduled to see the specialist. The first thing he asked me to do was flip over on my stomach and he squeezed both of my calf muscles to see the reaction my feet would have.  He knew immediately with that simple test that it was a complete rupture of my Achilles' tendon and he said he didn't even need an ultrasound. If you squeeze the calf muscle and there is no response from your foot, then you know it's ruptured.  He was quite upset that emergency didn't handle the injury the way they were supposed to, saying that they should have contacted the fracture clinic that night to take a look at it and it could have been treated immediately.  Apparently, if my ankle was put in a cast the night of the injury with my toes pointed down, I wouldn't have had to have surgery.  However, because too much time had passed since the time of injury, my only option (if I wanted to get back to a level of playing sports or being active) was to go through with surgery.  He said he would give me time to think about it and call me later that day.  

He called the next day and surgery was scheduled immediately for the following day. 

I was told not to eat anything after 8pm and wait for a call in the morning to find out what time to come in.

On Sunday morning, I got a call from the hospital around 9am to be there within the next hour and a half.  My boyfriend took me to the hospital where we were put in a room and proceeded to wait there for endless hours on end. I got my very first IV put in (which sucked big time) and I was starving, nervous, anxious, and in pain and finally around 5-6pm, they came to get me for the surgery.  My mom was still on the way down from up north so I didn't get to see her before I went in.

When we got to the OR floor, the anesthesiologist told me I had two options to be put out during surgery.  The first was the general method, where they put me under and put a breathing tube down my throat.  The second was similar to an epidural, where I get an injection in my lower back and everything below the waist goes completely numb and I would also get another drug to put me into a deep sleep through the operation.  He recommended the latter as he suggested had a few less negative side effects.  So that's what I chose.
I got wheeled into the operation room and it was definitely not what I pictured it would be (maybe I've watched too much Grey's Anatomy).  Anyways, it was extremely bright and an iPod was playing music on a dock.  The anesthesiologist pumped my IV with what he called the "apple martini" drug, which was supposed to make me feel happy, less anxious, and very much out of it.  Then they sat me up and I'm not really sure if they put the injection in my back at that point or if it was after I rolled myself over onto the operating bed. All I can really remember is rolling myself over onto my stomach and he told me to get comfortable and I passed out.

I woke up in Recovery and was feeling really out of it. I think I asked the nurse some random questions and was laughing...I can't really remember.  I do remember being extremely itchy though, all over. It was probably the effects of the anaesthetic. After lying there for what seemed to be a short time, they took me back to the room. I'm not quite sure a lot of what happened here and there.  But my boyfriend did take some videos of me (upon my request), I just haven't really watched them. Not ready to relive it just yet.

Once the numbing started to wear off, it was probably the most pain I could have ever imagined.  I stayed in the hospital overnight and my boyfriend and mom couldn't stay with me so they were going to come back early in the morning.  Throughout the night, the pain was so ridiculous.  I would ask the nurse for more painkillers but it was always too soon.  The painkillers were barely effective for 2 hours. They alternated between giving me 2 percs to giving me a drip of diluted morphine (I think it was).  I also experienced a severe bout of nausea and was sweating up a storm from the pain as I tried to use the bathroom at one point.

My mom and boyfriend returned early in the morning and now the dilemma was: "How am I going to survive a 5 and a half hour drive up to my parent's place".  I couldn't stay at my place in Toronto because there are way too many stairs so I had no other option.  Thankfully, with my bright idea and my mom and boyfriend putting the idea into motion, I managed to find a comfortable way to transport up north in my car.

How it all began...

I'm starting this blog a little late but since the journey to recovery is still a long ways ahead, I thought it's better late than never to log my injury and recovery for those who may experience an Achilles' tendon rupture in the future.

Just a little bit about me: I'm a very, very active person who grew up playing a lot of sports including basketball, volleyball and also figure skated for 9 years. After high school, I didn't play a lot of team sports anymore but I've always been quite the gym rat. I focus a lot on training and diet and right before my injury, I had been going pretty hard for months doing a lot of weight training, taebo and yoga. I was in the best shape I had been in a while and felt great. 

I was living in Korea for the past 4 and a half years and I just made the move back home to Canada at the beginning of June. I was so excited to be back and couldn't wait to do a whole bunch of fun and active things. My boyfriend is a sports fanatic as well and we couldn't wait to play together. We spent a few days just throwing a football around and rallying back and forth with a volleyball in the park. I really wanted to PLAY volleyball and we happened to find out that the community centre right near my place had open volleyball every Tuesday night.

So on Tuesday, June 11th, 2013, we decided to go. I had already bought new (pink) knee pads and everything, and was so excited to get on the courts.  However, literally within 5-10 minutes of playing, I felt a sudden sharp pain at the back of my left ankle.  It felt as if someone had kicked me really hard and I felt a pop.  I looked around to see what happened, if someone had kicked me or if the ball from the other court came and hit me by accident...but nothing.  I limped off the court and I couldn't even stand anymore.  The pain started to get worse.  So we went to the hospital.

We got there around 9:30pm or so, I think, and didn't get out til around 1am.  Emergency said that I would have to come back to see a specialist in a week or so but for now, I needed to wear an Aircast (cost: $200) and use crutches (cost: $50).  And parking at a hospital is complete highway robbery (cost: $17) so needless to say, already at this point, it's been a very expensive volleyball game.

My parents told me to come home until the next appointment so my boyfriend drove me up there (5 and half hours north) and on the way, we made a little pitstop at Costco.  I must admit, this has been the ONLY perk from this injury: driving around in a motorized wheelchair.

Below are photos of how swollen the foot got and the internal blood that was pooling near the bottom of my foot: