Achellies surgery

[kerrlakelover]

Tuna, great to see another "seasoned" skier. There aren't many of us out on the water these days. And sorry to hear you blew out your achilles too. Hang in there us "ole" guys can heal and hit the water again. You'll love this, the first thing I ask my Dr when he confirmed the rupture was "can I ski again". His response was, "Well, you have to remember you are 58..." HAHA, I interrupted him and said, "And your point is". He laughed with me, got on the same page and proceeded with an action plan to get me back on my ski.

 

Saw the Dr Monday morning. He was outwardly surprised at this ole guy's progress and my focused commitment to get back on the water. 32 days post surgery and he took me pretty much out of that nasty air boot around the house! Wow, have I slept good the last couple of nights without that thing. I still have to wear it when moving around a lot and/or going out. Still no driving, but I'm ok with that. I'm getting a really good ROM as well. It's amazing how much just doing the ROM and rubber band exercises will do for your recovery. I still have a long way to go...but I'm feeling more positive everyday. Only issue I have is that the Dr found some infection in my incision. So, he's pumping me up with Septra DS. WARNING: you guys who recently had surgery, watch that incision very closely. And if you see any redness, swelling or weeping/non healing areas, get to the Dr asap. My wife had infection after hip replacement surgery, and the infection exploded just over night (not literally). Don't play with anything that looks like an infection. Get on top if it quickly.

[T8skier]

Almost 9 months post-op. Skied today for the first time today. Didn't realize how much pressure is put on the front foot when you get up. Free skied first set. Out of skiing shape! Second round, ran 2 buoys. Tried my new Nano 1. VERY slow ski! With my front foot the injured, it was hard to keep that ski in front of me. Off side turn was not stable because it is alot of front foot pressure. Was hoping for better, but still earlyin the year.

I used a Reflex binding with a flexion strap. Highly recommend it. One time getting up, the boat got me going forward. With my limited calf strength I am not able to put enough pressure on my front foot to keep me from going out the front. The strap tightened and released before I felt any stretching of my tendon.

I feel sure that I am going to release before I injured myself again.

[gator1]

Tore my achilles off the bone, and dislocated the peroneal tendon sept 11, 2011. OTF. Didn't hit the bouy, just stuffed the tip. Doc didn't see the dislocation, repaired the AT. Had to use screws to hook tendon back to heel. 2 months into rehab, going really bad, discovered and self-diagnosed peroneal. Dec 15 2011, surgery on peroneal. March 12, 2012, out of boot, but basically had foot in boot with no weight bearing for 6 months.

 

Calf was atrophied, could only get 40 lbs force on ball of foot. Took from March to November to get to one foot heel lift with 210 lbs barbell plus body weight. Started skiing in July, at that point could get heel lift with 40 lbs barbell plus body weight. Should have waited. No injury, but just risk and little fun until about mid-sept. Surprising how much you need that front foot calf muscle to ski.

 

Agree with T8, standard Reflex with heel strap is best bet. But I'm using Stealth since can't stand a toe strap. Did some mods to the stealth, now think modded stealth is better than the Reflex.

 

Still about 80% calf strength. I wouldn't wish membership in the AT club on most of my enemies.

 

I graphed out strength vs. recovery time if any of the club is interested.

[Zman]

@T8skier Glad to hear you are at least on the water and blasting into you final step of recover - making spray again! Also, thanks for feedback on the Reflex. Is the flexion strap the new boot with the white strap? I am kinda leaning toward a double Strada boot set up. Seems a lot of folks here like them too. Be in Orlando in a few weeks - so will stop by Performance -as I usually do when in O-town - and try on the Strada for fit and feel.

Think we were real close on our injury date. Front foor here as well, stuffing the tip like @gator. Hope to free ski within a week, just before my 8 months date since surgery. I feel like I'm ready....we'll see.

[T8skier]

I tried the Reflex with white cuff the flexion strap on the shortest setting. There are tree lengths to set the strap.

Skied on a Radar yesterday. Felt more normal than the Nano 1. Less drag allowed me to feels as if I was going out the front. Just free skied. Water temp 52 deg. To cold to fall and wait of boat to come back.

I just ordered a reflex on a G10 plate. The G10 is suppose to move better as the ski flexes.

[Zman]

@garn @MikeT - are you guys back on the water yet? I am hoping for this weekend! Just shy of 8 months post-op and feeling plenty ready

[Garn]

I started skiing last fall - free skiing. But now, my achilles isn't even a consideration. I'm good to go. This will be the summer of Garn!

[Zman]

Yea - good to hear @Garn! Rip it this summer!

[T8skier]

Latest update. 9 months + 2 weeks post-op. When it's not raining or cold I have been on the water. About 10 sets. Ran a couple of 35's yesterday. Calf strength still not 100%. I can raise my heal about 1 inch and hold it there. There is a noticeable difference in muscle mass between the two calfs.

I hope the rest of you are progressing well and are back on the water.

We can add Kobe Bryant to our club. It will be interesting how his level of play will be when he comes back.

[tuna]

I started sking with Lucky Lowe on April 23...no problem...6 months post operative...went to Wiley's from Fogman...no problem!

[cragginshred]

T8 make Sure you do physical therapy. Most back pain patients I have treated in the past 15 years have a history of ankle injuries that were not rehabilitated properly. Also make certain you go to a sports med place that knows how use a BAPS board 'REVERSED'. It is a special way this bio mechanical platform is used to normalize dorsi flexion and eversion (A Gary Gray invention -Guru). pm me if you have questions or want more PT perspective.

[T8skier]

I did 16 weeks of rehab. Can run about a minute slower per mile than I use to. Mtn bike is back to normal. Should I go back for more rehab?

[Zman]

@T8skier Making me feel bad, I only did 8 weeks of PT, but then continued some rehab on my own as I started my new job. I don't run, so can't say if I lost anything. Everything feels great on my mountain bike and on my ski.