It's been a couple months since I posted and thought that I would share a little interesting story of what's been going on in my life. as many of you know, I am quite an outdoor enthusiast and enjoy adventurous wilderness explorations every summer with my son.

6 weeks ago, middle of September, I fell off the back of  work truck and immediately felt dramatic pain in my calf-ankle, resulting in my inability to put weight on my foot and stand correctly and inability to walk requiring me to limp and pain every step I took.

I went to Urgent Care and was advised to go to physical therapy and given pain meds. after 4 weeks of physical therapy which I refer to as a torture chamber 3 times a week it was determined I should see an orthopedist.

The orthopedist told me the doctor should have never referred me do physical therapy these past four weeks as that stretched my mild partial tear of my Achilles tendon to a complete tear of my Achilles tendon. also my employer not adhering to work restrictions created addtional pain and tear of my Achilles tendon. it was during this orthopedic surgeons appointment when he told me after running a couple of tests and doing an MRI in his office to confirm a complete tear that he shared words I thought I would never hear..."I'm sorry to tell you this Gregg but unfortunately you will never be able to walk normal again for the rest of your life unless you agree to surgery."

considering the credentials of this orthopedic surgeon are top notch including the personal foot and ankle doctor of Celine Dion and acrobats of the Las Vegas theme show Cirque du Soleil, I was quite comfortable with his recommendation of surgery opposed to the alternative I will never be able to walk again which to me meant I will never be able to enjoy outdoor explorations with my son.

because it took four weeks of a delay of surgery since the initial tear of my Achilles tendon, scar tissue began to form at the torn tendon fibers and each side of my tendon retracted. this created a four hour surgery opposed to a one hour surgery. one part of my tendon retracted down to the heel of my foot while the other part of the tendon retracted upward toward my calf muscle and when the surgeon made his incision he had to reach down to the lower tendon by my heel and pull up while reaching up into my calf muscle to pull the tendon down stretching both pieces of my Achilles tendon together in order to suture and staple after he scrubbed off the scar tissue.

for the past two weeks I have been homebound sleeping on the sofa glued to the television with occasional falls from poor coordination of using crutches enroute to the bathroom, which is a one legged 20 minute chore of its own. sponge bathing is incredibly difficult and taking a shower with a trash bag and duct tape is unbelievably challenging. the stories I could share about the automatic carts at grocery stores and target are abundant.

I am thankful for my fiance and son helping me achieve the simplest most basic tasks that, those with two working legs, often take for granted. although this situation of mine could be worse such as a wounded soldier who comes home as an amputee or perhaps no ability to have surgery and unable to walk properly again, I must say that this situation I am in does suck and is the most painful recovery I have ever experienced with the exception of cluster headache pain.

I will get my cast off in 3 weeks and be fitted for an orthopedic boot which I will wear for several weeks including 3 to 6 months of physical therapy hopefully resulting in my ability to enjoy outdoor explorations and walk normal.

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Gregg, that sounds awful.  [smiley=hug.gif]As if CH isn't enough.

I hope you recover quickly and completely.

Take care
Maz

Sorry to hear of the struggles. stay strong, hopefully you will heal quickly and when the weather is better enjoy those times with your son !!   

Sorry, Gregg.  Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Ouch Gregg!

May your recovery be as quick and smooth as it can be, so that next July you'll be posting another amazing trip report of your latest adventure celebrating the birthdays of you and your son.

Hi Gregg,
Sorry to read you've been in the wars. Hoping all turns
out well, and ready for your next adventure.

Hoppy.

Ok, Gregg.. I'm laughing with you -- just thinking of you on those crutches trying to get to the bathroom in a hurry.. :)  It is a bitch ain't it?

Seriously, you take care of yourself and get that leg working right real soon. And if it gets too bad - call me and I'll listen to you vent.. Sometimes that helps and you know we're all here for you.   :-*

Sorry to read about the bum Achilles tendon. If there is anything you need help with let me know. I'll lend you my Yellow Pages and you can look it up.
;) Just kiddin'. Hope you heel quickly.

thanks for your kind replies and laughs. I must say that this type of surgery has no medication that works effectively unless it would be an injection near the lower leg to localize the pain. with that said I must say that imitrex or oxygen at least will abort a cluster headache completely most of the time and find this injury more painful in that respect but narcotics do not eliminate the localized pain. never in a million years would I say that something could possibly be more frustrating in terms of pain than cluster headaches however no medication seems to work to eliminate the constant sawing burning feeling of the surgical tool against my lower leg where the pulling and twisting of my internal 2 pieces of Achilles tendon that were stapled together. this week is a lot easier than last week however I continue to fall and find it very challenging to do the basics around the house such as going to the bathroom or showering. hope everybody is enjoying the autumn weather outside and taking a nice walk. sorry if this is not easily read as I am sending this from my phone.

Gregg in Las Vegas

If this week is easier than last week then that's a sign of improvement.  Next week should be better than this week, and so on.  Hang in there.

Hi Gregg...

First off, I am happy you had a remedy and a very good orthopedist who was willing to tell you the absolute truth and go the whole route to fix you up.

Second, so sorry you had a sucky urgent care doctor get you to that point in the first place.

I just want to relay how lucky you are - I had the exact same scenario with the doctors when I tore my Achilles tendon in my right leg when I was a young woman.  It stayed connected by what they called "just a few strings".  Yea. I was never told I needed surgery (shitty insurance back then) and the other "strings" that retracted were never reconnected.  So, since then I've had mountains of issues with my legs which had always been my best body parts. (if I do say so myself  ::) )  The muscle atrophy, imbalance, and pain caused all sorts of problems including damage to other bone tissue, from shoulder to ankles, from imbalanced impact.

Ask a lot of questions, keep your knee up while crutching if the doctor says so, etc.

I know it sucks now, but I hope once you get through everything you will be all the better and get back to what you love doing.  Normally.  You are one lucky son of a gun!!

Feel better soon. 
To strong leggz,
Pepp :D

Maz, what you just wrote I find extremely inspirational as I believe healing and recovery has much to do with a positive attitude. thank you!

Pep, I do feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful doctor and the ability to receive quality surgery and follow up medical treatment. it is difficult to see the bright side of things when one is down in the dumps. however when somebody compares stories of how it could be worse then it is much easier to feel fortunate. thank you for your empathy and sympathy.

falling off the back of a truck that was not moving is quite a boring story so I have changed my story to become a bit creative and enjoy the reactions of people when they ask me what happened hand tried my best to keep a straight face telling them that I was hired as a stunt double on a movie set and running rooftop to rooftop and fell 19 stories below and landed into a garbage dumpster filled with a bunch of boxes that broke my fall and inside the garbage dumpster was a large rat the size of a cat who was startled and swiped his paw and tore open my Achilles tendon. the comments and look on peoples faces after I share this made up story are by far more interesting then the truth of me falling off the back of a truck that was not even moving.

Gregg in Las Vegas

How about you fell off the back of a truck that wasn't moving, other than it being slung under a helicopter being chased by a fighter jet flying down the Grand Canyon with you being a stunt double for some famous actor?

Update I am happy to share... ;)

Yesterday was my 1st appointment with a Physical Therapy office that I am very grateful to have been accepted as a rehabilitation patient.

My physical therapist has an impressive resume working with world-class athletes. He was trainer/therapist for the United States Gymnastics, junior and senior national teams, 1984 Olympic Games, World Championships junior and senior, and United States Boxing team, taking him to four different continents in the world. He was also Mike Tyson’s and Larry Holmes’ therapist/trainer for 8 years and has worked with athletes such as Greg Maddux, Mark O’Meara, Jonathan Byrd, Tiger Woods and numerous other professional and amateur athletes in and out-of-state.

The 16,000 SF facility I went to yesterday has a unique swimming pool called HydroWorx, the only pool of its type in Nevada.  This pool has an underwater treadmill with speed control, warm water, resistance jets, a clock/timer, tv monitor and an underwater camera.

While in about 4 feet of warm pool water, I was instructed on several basic leg exercises. It felt wonderful to stretch!

While holding onto the handrails on each side of me, I was able to slowly walk without assistance for the 1st time in 7 weeks, underwater of course.

Despite the physical and emotional challenge of not walking normal, it felt wonderful to take steps without crutches or my orthopeadic boot.  The underwater treadmill was at its lowest speed of 1/2 mph and was filmed by underwater camera for me to view my "gait" or "stride" of walking on a tv screen in front of me as I attempted my "baby steps."

Over 80% of my body weight was being supported by water which makes "hydrotherapy" a fantastic rehabilitation tool compared to training on "land."

I walked for 5 minutes without a break and that was considered a great start to the next 6 to 12 months of physical therapy.

Thought I would share some good news! ;)

-Gregg in Las Vegas

It sounds wonderful Gregg. It will be hard work I'm sure, but worth the effort. Just keep at it, even when you feel like giving up and you'll soon get there. You survive CH so you are strong enough to beat this. Keep thinking about your next father/son holiday. 

[smiley=shore.gif]

I'm so happy for you it's going well! 
Have a great holiday with your son.

Hugs,
Langa

It's been a little over a month since i've updated on what I am pleased to share as progress  ;)

This past week I met with my orthopedic surgeon for a follow-up appointment. He says no more wearing of the "boot" that cushioned my steps and offered excellent support like a large leg brace.  Also, I am no longer to use crutches.

Physical Therapy (PT) appointments have been consistent at 3x/wk and am making progress with my range of motion and strength.

Yesterday in PT, I accomplished walking forward on the underwater treadmill at 1.0 mph for 10 minutes and backwards at 0.5 mph for 5 minutes. Definitely not something I could do without feeling pressure/pain when on land, yet it was very comfortable due to the buoyancy factor of the swimming pool water.

As for walking on land, I have started my attempts without crutches and without the ortho boot by wearing just a pair of regular sneakers.   I am told it is normal for me to have issues with what I am experiencing 1) a limp 2) incorrect foot positioning/where my foot is not pointed forward like the other foot and 3) some pressure/pain with every step.  Yet am told as long as I practice walking slowly and continue the tedious exercises at physical therapy office, I will recondition my brain teaching me how to walk normal again. 

Every day I strive with adventurous goals in mind - to once again enjoy activities I loved doing in recent past...bicycle ride through rugged terrain, climb steps in a stairwell to the roof of a 61 story high-rise apartment building, jump rope until exhaustion, sitting/standing calf raises with weights, dance, mogul skiing, jiu jitsu, run barefoot on a sandy beach, mountain climb, ice skate, sky dive, long backpacking excursions, etc.

It's all about a positive attitude and 100% commitment...I will succeed!  ;)

-Gregg in Las Vegas

'course you will !!   It's a long road, but you'll get there. It sounds like you've already had huge improvements, and one day you'll just realise that you've walked a mile and it didn't hurt.  Hope that day comes soon.   
[smiley=shore.gif]

You are already succeeding!

Just keep working at it, one day at a time, you'll get there to your goal of one of your magical July adventures with your son.

"It's all in the heart and the mind."  British Commando training US troops during WWII

"Once begun is half done."  Zig Ziglar, I think.

You can do it.  PT is the hardest part of any recovery.  Do what you are told, do all you are told, and the hardest part, don't do more than you are told.  BTDT  It will set you back, but get your trainer to push you as hard as you are able to be pushed.

Jerry

Maz, Mike, Jerry all shared wise quotes and heartfelt advice! Thank you all!  ;)

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Gregg - you just need to do your recovery work and you'll be making us all jealous again with that next adventure.