Tarheel74

I had another follow up with the surgeon today. Interesting is the best way to describe it.

The sutures were removed. (Yay - I can take a shower without the stupid plastic guard) I was a little scared as the last time I had stitches removed I was 5 years old! Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be although she did have problems with one of them.

I got fitted for my ROM boot (sort of like a moon boot) and will go and pick that up tomorrow morning. It will look a little like this



All was going well at the appointment until it was time to leave. I somehow managed to catch my leg on the carpet and fell onto the leg (so much for no weight bearing for the next 4 weeks)... Immediate excruciating pain. They ran and got a wheelchair and rolled me back into the exam room. I truly thought I had ruptured it again. The doc came in checked it out and said it was still all together (Thank God) But Lord, I have never felt anything so painful. They had me take 1/2 a pain tablet in the office before I left (I live about 10 minutes from the office they made me promise not to stop anywhere on the way home LOL)

He assured me that everything felt fine, but that there was no way to be 100% certain (ugh) but he's confident it was ok. The brace that I'm wearing prevents any injurious movement so I should be fine.

Next step - Physical Therapy starts Friday.... This should be fun....

Well I just had my first follow up with my surgeon today. Things are progressing better than we all thought they would at this point. The wound seems to be healing nicely. I'm not quite ready to get the stitches out just yet. I go back in a week for that.

I was able to see the incision for the first time today. We were able to get a quick pic before I was bandaged up again. Scroll down if you feel like seeing it. (Not too gross, but some will want to avoid)

I'm back in the splint until the stitches come out. At that point he will make the decision as to whether I'll go in a cast or boot. I'm hoping for the boot as I'll be able to shower completely with that.

I also start physical therapy next week although the first appointment is for an evaluation so that they can put together a treatment plan. It's still a progression.

The other good news is that aside from any major complications - I should be walking unassisted with no limp or anything in about 4 months. The early estimates were that it would be 6 months so this was certainly good news. I should be able to avoid ice and snow danger for the most part.

The only bad news is that I'm almost ready to stay in bed all day because my hands hurt so much. I'm using the crutches the right way, but that unfortunately means that all of the weight goes to the heel of the hands. I'm told they toughen up over time (I will do a dance the day that happens).
Meanwhile, I'm going out tomorrow to see if I can find something like a sheepskin wrap for them.

Ok, here's the pic of the incision - 1 week 3 days post surgery.

So, I attended a wedding on August 11th. Had a great time. That is until the DJ played the Cha-Cha Slide


During the Charlie Brown part, I thought someone kicked me but there was no one close enough. I went to move my foot - No Go... I knew exactly what had happend. Oddly enough though, no pain.

The groom, who is a Physician's Assistant took a look and confirmed my assumption. I drove to the ER (it's my left foot) and they confirmed my assumption.

Went to an Orthopaedic surgeon on Monday and he said he wanted to operate (pretty much the best course of treatment) FRIDAY.

Go in at 9 AM Friday, they wheel me back at about 10:30 for a 2 hour surgery.
Success, so far...

Here's the leg 1 day post surgery:


Here's a neat animation of the rupture (once this video plays, there are some other videos of actual repair surgery - not for the squeamish):