My Achilles Tendon Rupture Story

On the Achilles side nothing much has happened in the last 2 weeks. I am wandering around with the cast, waiting for some news at the next appointment with the orthopedist. At work I don't move much and for some other reasons I had to fly and lay down quite a bit, so I have learnt few things and develop some new skills: That a little knee trolley/walker is a great piece of kit to move on flat surface while in a cast. It is better than crutches, you can carry thing and stand-up even, for example to do a bit of cooking. How to embark/disembark airplane with crutches... and that my upper body isn't as strong as I thought. How to use the wheelchair services at the ai rport, thanks to  Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air... It is only fair to say this a good bit of EU regulation. How to perform heparin injection to prevent...

It is now 3 days since I am back from my trip, and I eventually got this ultrasound appointment. I am waiting. The pain has recessed a lot. I found a way to walk with the crutches putting my foot forward and blocking the ankle slightly bent. It doesn't hurt, and I start to dream, well IronMan Austria is probably not for this year, but I should be fine for the half-IronMan in Dublin mid-August and then the full IronMan in Barcelona early October. I really want to do the one in Barcelona. It is supposed to be a fast course, and I should do well and get a good time. Well it is a cheap way to beat my PB of two years ago, it was in Nice, but hey I am not getting any younger and I have got to take whatever opportunity happens. The nurse call me, she is nice but they are busy so no time is lost. " Please confirm name, date of birth, remove your sock, lay down on the table the doctor will be with you in a minute. "  I do as requested, and while waiting keep dreaming about...

I waited the whole week to get an appointment for the ultrasound, but no luck. It is already Friday and the radiology department hasn't call me back. As I am still in a bit of a pain, I go to the nearest emergency and accident department. It is a complete waste of time. They don't have the right ultrasound equipment and aren't able to make any better diagnostic. Tomorrow I have to fly to visit my sister, so I will put my contention socks and hope for the best. 

I wake-up with still a mild pain on my right calf, and I am able to walk with the crutches. I take an appointment with my GP, later in the afternoon. He is a bit surprised to see me with crutches, and wonder what I have done this time. So I explain my story. He checks the Achilles, he is unsure of the extend of the damage. Surely there is quite a bit of swelling, a lot of reduced flexibility, many tender spots on the calcaneal tendon and  gastrocnemius muscle, but whether the tendon has ruptured completely or not is a bit unclear. He refers me for an ultrasound in the nearby hospital, to complete the diagnostic, until then he tells me to keep taking paracetamol and ibuprofen to tackle the pain, and to carry-on using the crutches.

Snap, going back from putting the bin outside, I climb the one step going into the house, I feel a snap like a whip at the back of my leg and fell onto the floor in pain. What a pain! It doesn't last very long 15-20 min, maybe even less but oh goodness it hurts, more than the day where I broke my AC (acromioclavicular) join, well that day I may have been slightly concussed looking at the state of the helmet, so maybe it isn't a fair comparison. Don't know what I have to do, go to the emergency and accident department, wait until the next day and see my doctor?  So as night should bring counsel, I take some paracetamol with caffeine and ibuprofen and go to bed. The pain vanishes a little, I manage to get some sleep.