Update 5/26

Where have I been?

Ah, I’ve experienced the “kiss of death” as those like to say in sports. My days of not stretching and warming up properly has caught up to me and now I’ve definitely learned my lesson! I’m currently coming back from an achilles rupture that happened right at the end of April, during one of my regular scrimmage/pickup soccer games I attend.

I was repositioning myself for a ball and when I pushed off my back leg it just felt like I got kicked, and then subsequently was unable to walk on that affected leg properly. Hence, the timeline is pretty much as follows so far:

• End of April: Rupture occurs
• Following day: Go see Urgent Care (I had initially just thought I pulled it really badly, but by the time I woke up I realize it was not that). At the Urgent Care, they performed a Thompson test and this was when I was initially informed it was probably an Achilles rupture. The day after this, I got put into a splint (very uncomfortable at first, mind you).
• Week after injury: Got lucky, was able to see an orthopedic for an official diagnosis, and yup, it was an Achilles rupture. We went through the recovery options (surgical vs. non-surgical) and I came to the conclusion of going through with surgery.
• Day after orthopedic visit: Receive surgery on the affected leg
• Week after surgery: Out of work, going through the very boring waiting period of not being able to keep my leg down for anything
• Now: Back to work, all caught up, and getting into a semi day to day routine while I wait out for the true beginning of the recovery.

Any new projects that came up?

Unexpectedly ended up running a Hermes Agent on my laptop to sorta figure out what I can experiment with from a ‘harness’ perspective. It’s still finnicky imo, I’m trying not to run up a bill via API pricing and be conscious of usage… but just spinning up the agent and figuring out and playing with it took quite a few dollars of experimentation. More to come on that.

I’ve also been spending loads of my time in actually learning about the Achilles and spending some time how others handle this injury from a recovery perspective. Quite difficult to sit at my chair, primarily because letting my leg hang swells and brings some pain the longer I leave it down. That, and because I can’t put my feet flat, so positioning it correctly is tough too.

What is your Achilles?

Point blank, it’s the muscle behind your heel. One of the strongest muscles in your body, but very susceptible to injury Swithout proper stretching and warm up. It’s what helps connect your heel bone to your calf muscle.

What was it like when it initially tore?

This is the part where I think about the most. When I initially tore it, it didn’t hurt too bad, I actually felt like someone kicked me, but not super hard, and I thought I just tore it really badly. After the initial tear, I thought I was going to be able to walk just fine. Turns out, my muscle/body was not listening to what I was saying at all. I would try to stand and boom, instantly fall, felt like there was nothing holding me up.

It really didn’t hurt a lot afterwards, it just… didn’t listen. I try and try to make my foot move, but there’s just nothing my foot is doing to communicate. Weird feeling more than anything.

The best way I can try to illustrate it is, completely let your leg hang. Don’t try to control it or anything. Then, try to imagine standing on that completely empty leg with no way to pick it up. Doesn’t really feel possible right?

It was also impossible to drive, which was a real bummer and has been for my girlfriend. I’m temporarily the passenger princess haha!

So what’s the recovery journey going to be like?

There’s a surgical and non-surgical journey, I chose the surgical route.

From a general perspective, I’m in for a long run:

• Weeks 0-4: Not allowed to put any weight on my leg, and have to keep it elevated as much as possible. Am able to crutch around and some knee scooter every now and then, but so far it’s been very difficult to sit at my desk since the swelling increases progressively as my leg stays down.
• Weeks 4-12: In a boot, progressively weight-bearing to try and stand on it. I’ll also need to start physical therapy, and in the boot, I’ll take off these little heel steps over time. By week 12, I’ll be in shoes and walking again.
• Weeks 12-24: Working to get back to walking at a stable pace again. The way I understand it, I’ll be cleared only for walking at first, no jumping, no running, nothing. Not sure when that
• Up until Week 52: Sometime along this timeframe (probably the year mark, if I’m honest) I’ll be cleared to play sports fully again with no restrictions. I’ll be happily waiting for it :)

In the meantime, I’ll be working on whatever I can from my couch and from my laptop, up until I can start sitting at my desk comfortably again. I’ve been binging Persona 5 Royal on my ROG so it’s been a bit of a blast!

Surgery v. Non-Surgical

According to my doctor (and Reddit, candidly) this has been a hot debate recently. The traditional recommendation has been to go down the surgery route since that will definitively repair the tendon, while the non-surgical route you’re pretty much going on hopes and prayers that it’s healing.

The primary reason I chose to do the surgical route is for two primary factors:

1. I would like to continue playing sports after the tendon heals, which I might feel more paranoid to play if I go down the non-surgical route.
2. In the non-surgical route, your Achilles elongates because the tendon repairs itself… elongated tendons also tend to re-rupture slightly more often as opposed to surgically repaired tendons.

Again, this is a hot debate and if I have misspoken, please feel free to correct me - I’m regurgitating a bit of what my doctor has told me as well as Reddit threads.

Now What

I’ll be coming back to regularly scheduled programming, I’ll just need to juggle time a bit closer from now on with physical therapy, doctor appointments and all. Expect posts every Tuesday again