When you suffer a life-altering injury, you have choices to make: to do or not to do. Four weeks after rupturing my right Achilles tendon, these are the choices I am making to recover well.
January 12, 2025
In response to the title question, the answer is: I can do a lot. Even sporting a walking boot, I am capable of taking care of a lot of business.
Three weeks after my Achilles tendon snapped at the gym, I eagerly and cautiously walked back into that space. Well, maybe the operative word is hobbled. Either way, my resolve to make as full a comeback as my body will allow informs all of my next steps.
This post examines the different aspects of my “normal” life, adaptations I have made, and my rehabilitation efforts to heal.
The long road to recovery
Recovery means different things for different people. Some are very passive, waiting for things to heal before trying any significant movement. Others are super aggressive, pushing and testing their limits, potentially risking re-injury.
My approach to healing
As with most things, my approach is somewhere in the middle. I understand and accept the importance of giving the repair enough time to set and strengthen. I also have an active life to lead, and that requires me to be as mobile as possible.
In that light, in order to heal, I will have to do things that are uncomfortable. The skin at my incision is sensitive and doesn’t stretch easily. When I do flex my foot, I feel that uncomfortable pull immediately. The tendon is also tight from being in the boot all the time. It takes a long time to loosen that up.
The challenge is to find the daily balance between inaction and taking too much risk. How can I chose wisely in my efforts to heal so I don’t do something stupid?
Here’s my outlook: For as long as it takes, I regard each day as an opportunity for progress. This applies whether I’m injured or completely healthy. The path to progress is through mindful, active choices.
While injured, though it requires baby steps, I have slowly inserted myself back into my normal life. Modifications must be made, but four weeks post-surgery, I have returned to most of my regular routine.
The first two weeks after surgery
In those first two fragile weeks, it was crucial to stay put on the couch.
For the majority of the time, my foot needed to be elevated so the repair could properly set and minimize swelling. Otherwise, everything in my future could be compromised.
Wearing the cast, I was very limited as to what I was able to do. I had to navigate every step using crutches and a knee scooter. Taking care of bathroom needs was arduous and required advance, meticulous planning. One wrong step and losing my balance would land me back in the hospital. It would make my already bad situation much worse.
The cast kept my ankle immobile. The best I could do was wiggle my toes and try doing tiny isometric micro-movements at the ankle. I did that a lot. That kept my foot muscles alive and mitigated the inevitable nerve irritation. It also reminded my calf that, despite its continued state of atrophy, it still had a job to do.
My ongoing mantra became don’t do any more damage.
Movement heals
Even in the cast, there were still plenty of things I could do without causing damage. My workouts focused on other body parts: seated weight lifting, body weight exercises on the floor and light stretching.
Movement has a healing effect. No matter how small the effort, my body and brain always feel amazing after I move around. Maybe that’s why I have a hard time sitting still. I crave the dopamine/serotonin happy hormone hit that I get from moving.
For me, movement is a familiar friend. It connects me to who I am and who I want to continue to be. When you’re injured, it’s really easy to withdraw and disengage from life. I didn’t mind catching up on a couple of Netflix binges on the couch. I just didn’t want to lose myself in the abyss of the couch cushions.
Even if I couldn’t put weight on my foot, there were plenty of movements I could do. This is a little mini-workout I did while in the cast:
While I was certainly limited, I was not going to let the limitation stop me completely. I was going to go back to work. To do so, I’d need to maintain my strength and endurance to make it through the school day. My plan was to return the day after the cast came off and the walking boot was on.
Week three: stepping into the boot
Exchanging the cast for a walking boot was a game changer.
The best part: I’d be able to take it off to gently move my ankle, massage my foot and leg, and take a real shower. That felt AMAZING.
The boot wasn’t without challenges. I had to learn to slowly put weight on the foot all over again. I needed to be in a pointed toe position at all times. It was like walking in 6-inch platform heels, which I NEVER do. The first two days in the boot, I needed the crutches to carefully navigate my environment.
The third day in the boot, I tried walking a few steps without the crutches. I realized that not only was there no pain, it was actually much easier to get around without them. Stairs felt less frightening to ascend and descend. I could hold onto the railing and not worry about bringing the damn crutches up and down. Like I said: the boot was a game changer.
In two days, I prepared myself to return to work sans crutches.
At Work
Some look at this injury as an opportunity to take some extra time off. Fortunately, I have paid medical leave, so if I took a couple of extra weeks, it would have been fine. But, I knew that wouldn’t be a good choice for me. Why?
- I have too much to do there that I care about.
- The movement from navigating my classes and the school building would actually be great for circulation and healing.
- My job provides the social connection and joy that I crave.
As stressful as my job can be, I loathe the idea of abandoning my students. We have a concert to create in June and I don’t want them to fall behind. I have a musical production to direct. I’m one of those teachers that usually accumulates a lot of sick days.
As soon as I was able to walk in the boot, I returned to work. I navigated the halls with a knee scooter. I taught dance through a little movement and lots of description. In my first full week back, I finished auditions and cast the spring musical. It is a point of pride that I have the strength to do all of this.
Built-in mini workouts
The good news is that as a dance teacher, I have the ability to exercise at work. I demonstrate lots of things on the dance floor. I have students demonstrate those things I cannot do yet. So, my body is never still for long. Maintaining muscles that are supple and strong is something I can easily work on every day.
All of the movement and exercise I did at home and at work has paid off. That’s why I wanted to complement my efforts by returning to the gym.
Returning to Flipper’s
The place where I wanted most to return was the gym. I knew I was many months away from jumping on the trampoline. Even so, my flippy community always warms my heart. Whether I’m coaching or being coached, I thrive on the personal celebrations (or funny fails) we experience together.
My first time back (read about that here) was about getting reacquainted with the space while wearing the boot. I had to be very careful moving from surface to surface. Even with healthy limbs, it’s easy to trip if you’re not paying attention. In a boot, it requires double the planning for each step. I carefully dabbled in some strength and mobility work while supporting my fellow adult gymnasts.
My second Sunday visit (week 4 after the injury) was dedicated to conditioning all my uninjured body parts. Whenever my body feels strong, I can manage almost anything. Even though I walk like Frankenstein’s monster in the boot, there was so much I was able to accomplish. I even kicked into a couple of handstands from one foot (not easy). It took me two hours to get through it all, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Here’s a look at some of the work I got done:
Taking care of the house
As much as I don’t love chores, I was feeling pretty useless early on being a complete couch potato. Once I was in the boot and was able to ditch the crutches, I had much more freedom to move. It felt great to take care of more things around the house.
I started with folding a load of laundry. I even found a method to take the basket of folded clothes up the stairs. It was really inefficient, placing the basket on each step, ascending one at a time, but I got it done. It felt like a huge victory.
Last weekend, I vacuumed the main floor and stairs as I hobbled in the boot. I can now putter around, declutter, do dishes, take out the garbage and cook a meal with relative ease.
I’m now taking back my life, one chore at a time.
Driving
Given that I injured my right foot (again), I have not yet been cleared to drive. I know that some people quietly drive with their left foot. I couldn’t fathom the repercussions if I caused an accident. Instead, I lean on the kindness of family and friends to get around. I hate it, because I don’t want to make anyone go out of their way for me. But, it is required right now. It’s nice to know that there are people who have your back when you’re down.
Physical therapy
I had been looking forward to starting PT since the injury happened. My original commitment to taking an active part in my healing process is greatly informed by my rehab sessions.
From the first evaluation, I think the therapist has been impressed by my progress. I’m sure learning that this 53-year-old ruptured her Achilles tendon while in gymnastics training was a new one on him. Nevertheless, he treats me like any other athlete and seems to understand that I have no intention of stopping. Best to help me heal stronger than before.
PT has helped me to gauge where to push and when I need to back off. Here’s what a typical session looks like:
Warmups
I always start seated with my feet on a balance board. I do five minutes of gentle plantar and dorsiflexion then five minutes of eversion and inversion.
Whenever the boot is off, I’m automatically doing these exercises.
Deep tissue massage
Two words: this hurts. It really hurts. It’s meant to break up and scar tissue, promote circulation, and remove any accumulated swelling. But man, it hurts. He finds places in my foot, ankle and calf that make me yelp. I have to employ some serious deep breathing to make it through.
I have tried to employ as many of the massage techniques that he uses as I can. Of course, his massage technique hurts a lot more than I could do to myself.
Isometric exercises
Isometric contractions are where you are pushing on something that is not moving. For example, holding a plank position is isometric.
Most of these exercises aren’t too painful. Basically, I have to push my toes against his hand and he pushes back. I think I’m so impressive when I show just how “strong like bull” I am. But when he flexes my foot to its current limit, then tells me to push on his hand – owieeee I see stars. ✨ That’s when I realize how much further I have to go in my healing.
At home, I try to do as many of these exercises as I can. I use a light Theraband for warmups. I push my injured foot against my other foot to simulate the isometrics. My goal is to continue the work my physical therapist is doing on the days I’m not there. That way, I build the flexibility, strength and endurance throughout the week.
What I’ve learned so far
- The first couple of days after surgery are for rest. Period. Suck it up and sit down.
- You are the best barometer for what you can and cannot do.
- Movement heals.
- When you’re injured, slow down.
- Whether in crutches or in a walking boot, carefully plan your steps. One absent-minded step can lead to disaster.
- Learn to do what’s uncomfortable to get through challenge.
- Do your research about your injury, ask questions, and advocate for what you need.
- Take an active part in your recovery. If you get physical therapy, do the exercises more than just in your sessions. You’ll progress faster.
- Trust the process. It will take much longer than you want, but all you have is time.
Fortunately, all of my efforts so far have been beneficial. I have stayed within my “no whammies” policy. The therapist keeps saying that I’m healing faster than normal. Of course, we’ll see what the doctor says at my four week follow up. I’ll certainly keep you posted about that visit.
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