My new cast

One month down and another one to go.  I was a little paranoid today going to the doctor because I had developed an infection in my mouth due to grinding my teeth at night.  The dentist said this was from the trauma my body was going through and clinching my teeth in my sleep.  So I started taking Penicillin for the infection.  Well come Sunday after being out on the deck in the sun for a bit I started to get a rash on my rt knee.  I stopped taking the meds and started Benadryl to help with the reaction.  In the meantime I just knew the rash spread down inside my cast.  Needless to say when they took off the cast today my leg had the rash all over it.  My doctor comes in and takes a look, owe your foot looks great.  The rash will be fine, lets get this next cast on you.  Ummm.....really?  My foot looked in bad shaped to me, there was some blistering that had occurred around the incisions they made.  He was like oh this, lets clean it up.  He's handling my foot like nothing was wrong and I was laying there scared to even touch it.  As you can imagine his demeanor put me at ease and made me feel much better about my progress. 

So they proceed to put my new cast on me and I have attached a couple of new pics so you can see them as well.  This cast will allow me to be partial weight bearing on it.  Meaning I can stand on it and walk around on it but if I am going to be up and about I will still use the crutches to assist me at times.  I have yet to really test this out as I think it will take some getting use to feeling comfortable enough to stand on it again.  That's okay, I have a month to break it in and no where to go. 

"Nature performs the cure, the physician takes the fee."   Benjamin Franklin

One more week

I had commented to family and friends recently about the fact I had yet to have an incident with my crutches.  So what happens tonight, yup, nice little moment with the 3 steps from the dining room to the living room at my dads place tonight.  Manage to catch myself from true injury but tweaked my knee pretty bad and stood on the toes sticking out of this cast and my big toe is screaming at me right now.  No other pain so I guess I am all good and hopefully didn't screw up my recovery.  I will be getting my new walking cast next week with a raised heal.  Which means I will need to get shoes with a raised heal for my good foot as well.  Seems they are not common for males so this could be rough unless I just buy some heal insoles.  I have not had any issues with itching so this makes me happy and really all I feel a tingling sensation pretty frequently around my heal and achilles area which is a sign of healing so this is good even though it definitely an odd feeling.  So more to come in a week with new photos and how much longer I will have a cast and be unable to drive, probably another good 4 weeks. 

"A patient cured, is a customer lost" Unknown

Follow up Appt

So I had a pretty good week in learning more about how well I can move around in my cast.  I wouldn't really say that I have pain anymore but more of a tingling sensation every now and then that just feels odd.  Hopefully it's a sign of healing.  I will say that the main source of pain I have now is trying to extend the amount of time I can be up and about on my crutches.  It seems I can only manage about 15 minutes on my left foot and leg before they begin to cramp and burn in a way that says get off your only good foot now before I make you collapse.  Needless to say my left leg is getting stronger while the right is growing weaker.  I'm sure it will make for all kinds of a fund rehab. 

So I went to the Dr office yesterday to have them hear me say I am in little to no pain and it's been this way for almost a week now.  They looked at the cast and my foot and said this is great news we will see you the end of the month.  Hmm.....not what I expected, I could've just called and told them that instead of making the trip and being there all of 10 minutes so I then made them earn the co-pay.  I had been experiencing some pressure on my upper shin from the cast pressing up against it when I have my foot resting on the floor so they sawed some of the top of to relieve the pressure.  Problem with this is the lady wound up cutting a little too deep and now I have some discomfort in my shin, lucky me.  I guess if that's the worst of it at this point then I should be happy.  I won't dwell on the fact that it comes off in 16 days and then I will get some sort of partial weight bearing walking boot of a cast.  So for now I heal away and be more and more thankful for March Madness. 

My 6 yr old daughter did some decorating of my cast today which is good and cute.  She wrote her our names and then she drew a soccer field with a net.  I think she is planning to draw her and playing soccer on it the grass tomorrow.  I think we will go see Lorax tomorrow and see how I do being out of the house and in a theater for 2 hrs. 

Martin

So it's Sunday night and I made it through the weekend without using my pain medication and have only had some minimal pain to deal with.  I used Ibuprofen to help keep the swelling down but other than that things seems to be progressing very well.  I have found though that if I stay on my crutches and on my left leg for more than say 10 minutes at a time my left foot begins to cramp and feel like it's on fire from the stress of balancing and my weight.  Needless to say I think I need to head back home for a good pair of shoes to help in that area.  So tomorrow my dad and I will be heading back to my place for my mail, shoes and check on my place.  I should be good to work a full day tomorrow and not be horizontal to do it.  I have found my foot to be pain free while sitting in a chair and leaving my leg extended so some good small steps are being made.  I find that at some point in the evening I have thoughts about how much longer I will have a cast on my foot and well, it sucks.  So I try to get rid of those thoughts quickly and focus on one day at a time to maintain my healing and understand what my body can take at this point so that maybe I can be back on my own sooner than later.  The only then real problem being, how will I get around if I can't drive with a cast on my foot.  Oh well, jump over that hurdle when I get there. 

Thanks for reading

Martin

I have to say I am feeling somewhat better today with movement and less pain so tomorrow I will go without my meds and see how it goes.  I am also hoping my energy level begins to improve as well.  I have ordered my seal tight waterproof cast bag so that should help in showering.  The leg over the side of the tub thing is a bit strenuous.  Lots of basketball tomorrow, lets see if Texas can upset Kansas.  My follow up DR appt is on Thur, trying to focus on one day at a time.  Big picture view with this cast on can be daunting. 

Martin

The Injury and Surgery

This is my first ever blog and I thought I would create one to help in my recovery to building up my achilles after it ruptured a week ago tonight on 2/23.  I was playing soccer on my co-ed soccer team up at Magnusson Park on LK Washington.  It was a simple game and I was about to make a run for a ball when it popped and well it felt like someone whacked me on the back of my foot with a baseball bat.  I thought I had been kicked only no one was around me so needless to say I become rather paranoid and worried as I fell to the turf.  My whole foot was numb and felt like it had fallen asleep as I could not move it on it's own once I got to the sidelines.  Good friends of mine drive me to my dads who then took me to Highline Hospital where they put a splint on me and thought is was a rupture and to see an Orthopedic Surgeon the next day.  I was able to get into to see one on that Fri and he confirmed that it was ruptured and surgery would be needed.  I had the surgery on Tue 2/28 and it was a success.  I am now in a non weight bearing cast and experience most pain when I get up to go to the bathroom.  I am horizontal all day long and trying keeping my leg elevated.  I am in good spirits at this time and hoping to stay that way but it may be a struggle the longer I have to remain horizontal like this.  I will be scheduling my follow up appt tomorrow and will maintain as is for now.  I am still taking the pain meds and plan to start decreasing them over the weekend.  I have to say the pain I feel when I sit up right and lower my leg towards the floor is pretty remarkable, it definitely takes my breath away.  If you have found my blog I hope you enjoy the reading and please feel free to ask questions or provide feedback.  Happy reading and see you soon. 

Martin