Anybody else ever rupture an Achilles tendon?

[Jim Richards]

Hey Doug...how did the "suspension upgrade" go?

[Rob G]

Hi Doug, Sorry to hear that. It is a long recovery. My daughter is going through it right now. Its been 2 weeks with 8 more to go and then start the 6 to 8 month rehab. Stay Strong.

[Doug E]

Hey Jim, thanks checking in ... good one on the "upgrade" Here's an update ...

I was told that surgery went well on Wed morning although all I remember was Dr. Feelgood telling me to take deep breaths into the mask and I then woke up 2 hours later. The doc told Suzanne it was 100% ruptured and one of the worst he had seen in a long time. He used the "sewing 2 mop heads together analogy" but said everything came out fine.

Wed afternoon post surgery wasn't too bad because the nerve block was still in effect. Once that wore off around midnight, however, it was a different story. I didn't sleep at all that night due to the pain ... the meds they originally prescribed didn't do a darn thing. I've got a high tolerance for pain but even I couldn't take this. It was simply the worst/longest night of my life. When the doc's office opened on Thursday morning my wife went back and got a much higher dosage and a prescribed sleeping pill.

Thursday during the day with the higher dosage pain meds was better but still the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I really tried to stay mentally active by doing work on the laptop, reading, watching movies, etc... so that way I didn't focus on the pain. That night I took the sleeping pills and slept like a baby, all through the night. Great stuff indeed

Friday was better with occasional throbbing/pulsating sensations. Movement in all my toes had returned and the swelling has gone down considerably but what that has done is cause my foot to shift with-in the cast so there was discomfort from that.

Last night I took another sleeping pill but it didn't have the same effect as the night before so I was only able to sleep intermittantly. So far this morning OK and I am going to try and ween myself off the pain meds today.

I'm in the splint/half cast until next Friday when they'll be putting on the full cast (I'll be asking for the zinc oxide as recommended by a few people). Hopefully 5-6 weeks later the full cast will come off and I can then start rehab. At that point I'll go into one of those soft boot/walking type of cast things.

One thing that has come out of this so far is that I've had a chance to catch up on some movie watching. I've lost track on how many I've already seen as I try to avoid thinking about the pain / discomfort.

My plan is just to continue resting through the weekend and try to move around as little as possible. There's a chance I will try to go into the office on Monday after having been out all last week but we'll see how I'm feeling come Sunday night.

Time to blow my whistle so my Nurse knows to come and bring me another drink All joking aside, Suzanne and the boys have been great and I couldn't ask for any better caretakers so that has made it easier to stay positive and strong.


Rob - sorry to hear about your daughter ... looks like she ruptured both tendons? Best wishes to her on her recovery. Just curious, but how does a child rupture their achilles and why do they have the casts going above her knees?

[Rob G]

Hi Doug,

She had both tendons lengthened. She has a syndrome called Angle-mans Syndrome. Children with this syndrome general dont walk along with many other issues. We however are lucky enough that she started walking around the age of 4. Her feet were turned so far out she was walking on the inside of her ankles. They also have very flat feet so they put a bone wedge in the side of the heel to give her an arch. What doctors can do these days is just amazing. The cast go over the knee to keep her of her feet. Get better really soon and good luck. Here is the link on what they did.


http://www.orthop.washington.edu/UserFiles/File/research/2008_articles/Deformities%20Childs%20Foot.pdf


Rob G