A couple weeks later...Week 4 post op

Well, I took out one insert from the boot last Wednesday and have been experiencing a new pain along the outside side of my heal. I tried to get an appointment with the physical therapy office on post and was told they couldn't see me for a month so I should just go in town...that would be fine if someone from the Tri-care office would actually answer the phone to give out the phone numbers. So, I decided to make a follow-up appointment with the Orthopedic Clinic at the hospital where I had surgery. I will go next Friday to see what's the what and how things are going.

I have had a a little trouble with the internal stitches that are supposed to dissolve. The external knot was catching and rubbing in the boot and caused a bit of irritation. We cut the threads down today but it seems a bit irritated. It might be slightly infected but it's not big and the irritation is not deep so I will watch it for a few days.

I have been able to work out at the gym for the last two weeks. I manage to ride the bike for about 20 minutes and then a good bit of upper body or single leg exercises and abs. I figure it's not worth sitting around since my left leg (ATR leg) is already noticeably smaller than my right after 4 weeks and I can walk in the boot. Since I needed my legs to get smaller for physique competitions I am trying to see the silver lining here.

I will take another insert out next Wednesday but considering the weird pain I am experiencing I may wait until we return from Madrid the following Sunday and after the Drs. appointment.

On the road to recovery

So, on May 25th I went to practice for the first time with the ladies volleyball team here in Stuttgart to prepare for the IMCOM Volleyball Tournament Jun 11-13. As luck would have it, with 2 minutes left to practice I felt a strange pain in the back of my left leg and fell to the floor. It would seem that the jumping action while going for a spike had partially ruptured my achilles.

For someone who has never seriously been injured - meaning, hospitalization or surgery, this was pretty scary. I decided I would document my recovery since most of the reading I have done of others has been from those in the US and I had noticed that the recovery and recommendations are very different than what I am experiencing here in Germany.

Timeline:
5/25/2010 - sustained injury
5/26/2010 - proceed to the ER for diagnosis
5/27/2010 - surgery
6/2/2010 - start with Achilleswalker - walking boot with 3 heel lifts (The Drs actually wanted me to have the boot on 5/29 but we had to order it)
6/6/2010 - remove butterfly stitches

workouts
6/8/2010 - ride bike for 15 min (boot on), TRX (chest, back, arms - 1 set each)
6/10/2010 - bike for 15 minutes, TRX (chest, back, arms - 1 set each), abs


As of today, I have had the boot for one week and it is getting easier to walk without the crutches. My foot still swells if I spend a lot of time up and about. I try to moderate how much I walk with out the crutches to short periods. I am also doing some massage in the evening although, I managed to sprain my ankle at the same time as the rupture so everything is still pretty sore.

The Drs did not advise any physical therapy after the 6 weeks in the boot, which I found strange so I enlisted the help of some friends and will be going to see a physical therapist on post next week. In the mean time, this is the second day this week that I have ridden the recumbent bike (boot on) and done a short workout on my TRX suspension trainer.