So, I am terrible at keeping up with my blog and thus a lot has happened since my last post. I managed to get through 6 weeks in the boot and started walking in a regular shoe in addition to going to physical therapy. I was having a lot of issues with my ankle and swelling so I wore an additional ankle brace for 3 weeks. The swelling wouldn't stop even though I tried compression socks and tried to keep it up as much as possible. Unfortunately, my office is not set up to where I can work with with leg elevated in addition I had ben tasked with attending many more meetings so I was walking all over post. I had also started driving my car (5 spd) two weeks ago)
That catches us up a bit. I was getting ready to go to my 6th physical therapy appointment (Mon, Aug 16) when I stepped on the zipper of the dog bed with my bad leg, instinctually jump off of it and heard an incredibly loud pop. My husband was downstairs and heard the pop too. It immediately started to swell but didn't get huge. I decided I would still go to PT and ask the dr. what she thought so I drove to the clinic and was absolutely devastated when she said she thought I had torn my achilles again. I laid there and cried while they iced and applied electro stim to calm the area down a bit. My husband drove over and picked me up and we were off to the hospital.
At the ER I saw the Dr. that saw me the first time. Herr Dr. Stenz studied English Lit in England and is a Trauma Dr. I told him a brief synopsis of the story and his response was simply - no problem we will do it again. Great - I almost burst into tears again with the though of surgery. During the exam Dr. Stenz called in the surgeon who did the surgery the first time and Dr. Hoffmann wasn't sure it was a rupture so they ordered an MRI. The MRI experience was much more like a three stooges act. The nurse and tech were very nice but what it boiled down to was that the machine was new and they didn't know how to set it up. So they crammed me in, handed me the emergency button, giggled as they said they hoped I didn't need it, shoved the ear muffs on my head and slammed the door. Um, great...30+ minutes of trying not to move my leg that was NOT in a position that was particularly pain free.
MRI done, we are told that there was in fact another rupture closer to my calf and that they would do a more invasive surgery this time. I would have to stay at least one night. So we started the process of getting set up for surgery on Wed, Aug 18. They re-cast my leg and 6 hrs later were on our way home.
Wed, Aug 18th - We arrive at the hospital to check in at 0730. They are doing expansions to the hospital so all you hear are jack hammers and drilling all day. Nice. I get checked in and then go to our ward where I'll be staying at least one night. I am shown my room, which is fine. I shared a room with another german lady who had surgery for a separated shoulder. She was very nice and spoke more english than she let on initially. So, I went in to surgery and all seemed fine. I wasn't nearly as sick this time from the anesthesia as I was the first time. It was quite painful a couple of hours after surgery and they gave me a paracetamol drip that really didn't do much. I essentially spent the rest of the day sleeping on and off.
The next morning Dr. Hoffmann came and said that the damage was more extensive than they thought so the cut the tendon from the calf and doubled it back on itself. They stitched it together and then reattached it to the calf. I am still waiting for the write-up to be sent to us since we are still a little confused on the procedure. A bit difficult with the language difference.
So, I ended up staying two nights in the hospital. I am home now and 4 days post op. It's not nearly as painful as the first surgery, however, I am to be in the cast and non-weight bearing for two weeks before starting in the boot. Amazingly there is very little to no swelling which makes me at least feel that things might be fixed better than the first time. I go back next Thursday for a check-up.
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