First Physical Therapy

Yesterday was my first round of physical therapy, after rupturing my Achilles and having surgery 2 weeks ago.  I was very nervous about it.  While I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, my tolerance for *anticipating* pain is very low.  I didn't know what to expect, but I was certain there would be discomfort.  My nerves were high. 

It turned out to be quite pleasant for the most part.  This was the first one, so there was a lot of time taken on measurments.  She measured angles that each foot moved and how mush swelling there was.  The swelling was really low.  There was a 1.5 cm difference, which I was told was amazing.  The movement is disappointing.  I can barely move that foot AT ALL.  

She gave me a gentle calf massage and then did some work trying to move my ankle a bit.  I never once felt pain.  I did feel stretching in my calf.  She gave me some exercises to do each day.  They are so basic.  I have to gently pull my foot back with a strap, stretching the calf.  I have to do ankle rotations, and toe curls.  That's pretty much all the movement I can do alone anyway.  Doing them there, with supervision, made me almost pass out.  There was no pain, but I compensated for it by getting hot, dizzy, and clammy.  

She gave me a very loose timeline of what is going to happen.  The time could change depending on my progress, but I intend to do everything I'm told and do my best at everything, so I can make the timeline short. 

I'll remove a wedge from my boot each week until I am plantar neutral. Meaning flat footed.  This is an 8 week process and there is no speeding it up.  In two weeks though, I'll start putting some weight on the foot and maybe rocking back and forth.  Not walking, but one step closer.  At some point I go to one crutch, and then to walking in the boot with no crutches.  Then we work on walking in a shoe again.  She said that she thinks I'll be done in 8 months.  EIGHT MONTHS.  

As soon as she said "8 months" darkness crept in.  I KNOW this is a long process. I've been told it's a 6 month recovery.  I'm very hopeful that she is saying 8 months so that when I'm done at 6 months, I'll be so happy.  She said that learning to walk on stairs in a shoe is the last thing.  But suddenly it's 8 months and that is sooo long.  That ruins any chance of participating in the Open, let alone improving (I knew I wouldn't been making strides this year, but I thought I might be able to at least participate).  

She knew a little about Crossfit because she said that we'll get back to rowing and wall balls in time, but they all need ankle mobility. 

I'm not sleeping well.  I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm wide awake for hours.  Once I finally do fall back to sleep it feels like a very short time before the alarm is going off.  Because it is... 

So, no sleep and dashed hopes.  It's an open door for depression to creep in.  I did go to the gym to help ward that off a bit.  It only helped a little.  Coach Amy had some great ideas for my participation this time, so that was great!  But not being able to participate normally is going to get to me if I let it.  It's something I'll actively have to battle.  It's depressing to simply have to let someone else bring you weights and not being able to put stuff away after your workout.  The coaches are very accommodating and have assured me that it's not a problem for them, but it still feels yucky. 

Ruptured Achilles Tendon

On August 7th, I ruptured my left Achilles tendon.  I thought I'd write about it here.  I haven't written in awhile anyway, and I expect I'll have updates as the time goes on.  Perhaps, this will help another person get through a catastrophic injury like this one. 

I've been consistently hitting the gym 5 days a week for a few months.  I wrote earlier about the Consistent Club.  I *almost* made it in March, April and May, and I did it in June and July.  I've been feeling really good and very proud of my efforts.  I'm not losing weight still, but my skills are returning.  I had set a goal to dramatically improve my Open scores this year.  

August 7, was just like any other day.  I was at the gym at the regular hour, trying to plan the best way to finish the WOD.  The WOD was 4 minutes to do 15-12-9 Wall ball and pull ups, and as many double unders as possible in the remaining time, 4 minute rest, then 4 minutes of 15-12-9, wall balls and toes to bar, dubs in remaining time, 4 minute rest, then 4 minutes of 15-12-9 wall ball and pulls up, dubs in remaining time.  The posted score is how many double unders you get through.   There was an option to scale to 12-9-6 to make sure there was time to get some jumping rope done.  I was set to scale, but decided to see if I could do it at Rx time first round.  I did 15 and 12, checked the time remaining, and did 6 on the last round so I'd get at least a few jumps.  I got 5 double unders.  I heard a pop, and it felt like something had hit the back of my leg.  When I landed on the jump it felt like I was standing on a 25# plate on one foot.  I actually looked around to see what I was standing on, thinking that there shouldn't be anything there, and how weird that was.  The person jumping next to me thought I'd whipped myself with the rope and was looking for marks on my leg!  

There was a 4 minute rest and everyone was collapsed on the ground, recovering.  Including me. Only I wasn't trying to catch my breath as much as I was trying to figure out what to do now.  I had already guessed that my Achilles had ruptured.  I clearly remember when Julie Foucher had the same thing happen during the Crossfit games in 2015.  Her description and what I felt were the same.  

The ER doctor was very nice.  He had every student he could find come in and feel my heel.  The only time it hurt to touch was when he touched my calf.  The ankle was painless, but the calf was very achy and hurt to touch.  We spent very little time in the ER.  He gave me a boot, crutches, painkillers, and referral to a surgeon.  

I saw the surgeon for a consult on the 9th (Thursday), and he scheduled surgery for the following Monday (13th).  There is no waiting around.  

The surgery was easy.  The surgeon said that there was a pretty big gap between the ends, but they went together really well and this will be a good outcome.  Yay!  

I was in a cast (they called it a splint), for 2 weeks.  My toes were pointed and my foot was HOT.  I wore a compression sock on the other leg.  As much as I didn't like wearing a sock, I do like how it kept my ankle from being swollen.  It was still not difficult to give that up when I had the chance.  

I was getting around OK with the splint.  I have a scooter, which I tricked out with streamers, a bell, and a basket.  I am able to cook and clean and get around the office with the scooter.  I have a bedroom on the second story and three steps to get into the house, so crutches are a must sometimes.  In fact, I've found that they are easier if I'm not going to be going long distances, like going to the store.  It's a hassle to get it in and out of the car and quicker to crutch places.  Because I do Crossfit, my shoulders and arms are not sore at all from crutching around. I'm really proud of that.  

The cast came off on the 28th.  I'm in a boot now with wedges to keep my heel up.  Actually, the wedges haven't arrived yet (mix up at the doctors office, or something), and so I have a block in there at the moment.  The wedges arrive soon and I'll replace the block, with something that is maybe a little more comfortable.  It's not like I'm standing on it though, it's just in the boot keeping my heel from lowering too much and pulling on the tendon. I'm non-weight-bearing for awhile still. 

The boot is harder to get around in that the cast was.  It's heavy and cumbersome, and it sticks out a long way.  It was painful to wear at first as the weight of it seemed to pull and stretch my leg a little bit.  After a couple of days, I've gotten used to it and the pulling has stretched the leg a little and it's not so painful now.