The new boot is broken.

It seems I've improved on my boot destruction technique, because it only took me 3 days to break this one. I think I even did a better job of it, too. It's not cracked, but I have no idea how it hasn't yet.

Here's the damage:


That bit on the right was pretty much straight this morning. And at about lunch time when I gave it another check. Yes, I'm a bit obsessive compulsive about the boot, but I think it's to be expected after the last one.

Here's a closer shot:


I have no idea whatsoever how that happened. It's almost folded over on itself. That's not even the direction I'd imagine the force of my weight going.

So I have to rearrange my day again tomorrow to go back to them.... again. With maybe 6 weeks still to go in the boot I hope...HOPE... that this will be the last time I have to go back to them. Good thing they weren't open when I noticed the bend - I was furious!

Well, at first I was speechless. I didn't even tell Em - I just held out the foot and pointed at it in stunned silence. This was at the bottom of the stairs, so after I'd climbed the stairs at a frustrating pace (back to 1 step at a time to avoid using the boot at all) I took the boot off to give it a closer inspection and almost threw it. As if it's not been enough of an inconvenience the last few weeks, this is making it a complete pain in the ass. What else is the boot for if not for walking on?

Labels: achilles

I finished work early this afternoon and headed back to where I got the boot from to see what they thought of the state of it.

They were a bit surprised at the condition it was in. Doesn't seem like they've seen it happen before, but thankfully they gave me a replacement boot and sent the old one back to the manufacturer. The new one seems a tiny bit smaller than the old, which hopefully means it's a little less cumbersome. It's a lot less stinky, that's for sure :P

Hopefully this one lasts a little longer than the last. It only has to last about 1 week longer than the last to make it to the end. :)

Labels: achilles

The boot is broken.

After noticing a week ago that it was flexing quite considerably as I put my weight on it, I mentioned my concerns about it breaking during the checkup on Tuesday. He said he's never seen anyone break one of these boots. So I guess I'm lucky enough to be the first to do so.

It's not entirely broken as such, but it has a noticeable bend in the metal bar that runs up the left side of it. This bar (with the rotating mechanism about a quarter the way up it) is what supports my weight as I walk on it. This bend has been there for a few days, but last night I noticed it's gained a crack now as well. I figured this would only be a matter of time, cos you can't flex metal that often that much without having adverse affects.

Here's a shot of it:


So now it's Saturday morning and after a bit of ringing around we've discovered there's nowhere we can go to get this replaced. So I'm stuck till at least Monday struggling around on the crutches again. I can put weight on the boot fine, but only so long as it's flat on the floor. I'm not at all comfortable putting weight on the toes end of it any more. If I do so and it breaks completely then it would likely put all my weight on the achilles, which would be a bad bad thing.

In order to get our early bird parking on Monday we'll probably go to work early, but then leave a bit early and go throw this boot at them on the way home. The crack is only one of the problems I've had with it - the stitching on one of the straps came completely undone and after trying a safety pin I ended up literally stapling it together, and the velcro on the metal bar is starting to come unstuck and will eventually fall apart as well. At $240 I would have hoped it would last a bit longer than this, considering it's only lasted half as long as it's needed.

Labels: achilles

I had my first checkup this morning since getting the boot.

Seems everything is going well and he's happy with how the tendon is feeling. So the boot has come up to 15 degrees (from 22.5), which will stretch the tendon out and force it to lengthen some more. This new angle is feeling much better. I can all but walk on it now, though I still half need a crutch or something for balance. It should make getting around much easier.

During the checkup when the doctor asked me to stand on the boot, I mentioned how it tends to put backwards pressure on my knee - something I have a little bit of a phobia of after a minor netball injury maybe 8 years ago. He asked me to sit again and had a bit of a play with the knee and said there's definitely some damage to the anterior cruciate ligament. Regardless of the achilles injury, the damage to the ACL is enough that he would have suggested I not return to netball. It had always been a concern to me and I was always very mindful of that knee when on the court. I'd had it checked by my GP a while back but he couldn't find much wrong with it so I hadn't seen a reason to stop playing. At least I know now that it wasn't all in my head!

I'm booked in again in 3 weeks time to go to 0 degrees on the boot. That should come soon enough, given I feel I can probably return to work full time now. I'm actually booked in on the last day my doctor is at work before he takes a month off over Christmas. So that means the next stage - which should be 3 weeks - will be 4 as I wait till he comes back to work. At that time the boot will get the flick (yay!) and I'll return to more normal footwear.

That's not the end of the process, though, as he said at the end of that 3 months in the boot it's still only about three quarters healed. So I will still have to take it easy for the following 3 months.

The good news is that when I mentioned that I want to replace netball with cycling, he said I should be able to get on an exercise bike as of right now. So I might give that a try maybe later tonight to see how it goes. At least I can get some exercise in in the next 6 weeks to combat all the eating that's usually associated with Christmas. :)

Labels: achilles

It's been 6 weeks almost to the minute since the injury, but it feels like it's been about 6 months.

Em said the other day it feels like it's gone really quick, but for me it feels like it's been forever. You know how time seems to go quicker when you're busy? I've spent around 4 days a week for the last month and a half on the couch, so time has been going really slowly for me. :/

I have my first checkup on Tuesday, so I'll get a better idea of how much longer I'll be stuck in the boot for. It can't be soon enough though. I'm at the stage where it's feeling pretty good so it feels like the boot isn't necessary any more, so it feels like it's just being nothing but a nuisance.

I take the boot off from time to time to air my foot out and what not, and my leg muscles are depressing me quite a lot. It's insane how much smaller the right calf is so than the left. Here's a photo:



So after the boot comes off (or maybe before?) I'll have lots of work ahead of me to recondition those muscles. If not I'll be walking in circles for a while :/

Labels: achilles