Just call me "Gimpy"

For a rather long time now, the Achilles tendon on my right, or good leg, has been bothering me a lot. I finally went to my orthopaedic surgeon to have it looked at and he recommended physical therapy, which I just completed 6 weeks of. However, that didn't seem to calm down the pain that I was experiencing, so when I went back to him for a 6 week check up, he told me that the tendon was, in places, feeling as if it had experienced some deterioration and also had some microtears along it, meaning that it was still in danger of rupture. So I have been put in an air cast for what may possibly be the entire summer, or it could only be 6 weeks. Either way, I am stuck in a cast until at least July 3rd. It's hard to discipline myself to keeping it on, especially on these warmer days. But if I had been put in a plaster cast, I wouldn't have been able to drive, so instead, he recommended this removable one that will still allow me to be able to take it off to do so. It's exhausting trying to walk around in this heavy thing, which is another reason I don't particularly like wearing it. But I know I have to, so I do try to keep it on as much as possible, from the time I wake up until bedtime. It's going to significantly slow me down this summer, to be sure, but I can still do some things that I like to do. I can take walks while wearing it, for example. I can still pretty much do my job with no real limitations. Jason has already modified my workouts to compensate for this injury, so I will be in a "transitional training program" just like I was all last summer due to a knee injury last year. So I can still workout, albeit in a much modified and far gentler program than the one that I have been in for so long now. But since I've already been in Jason's "transitional training" once before, I know what to expect, so there are never any surprises there. What a way to spend the summer, stuck in a cast. Great. I just hope that I won't end up needing surgery on my ankle, because my doctor did mention that there is still a possibility of my having to do this as a next step. So we'll see if that is down the road for me, but I hope not, because if he does operate, it will more than likely be in late summer/early fall, just in time for the Summit MetroParks Fall Hiking Spree. And I do not want to miss that!

NOT YET........
I thought that by the time I saw the hand surgeon this past Tuesday, that I'd be done and overwith as far as this whole surgical procedure thing was concerned, but apparently, I still have a long road to full recovery ahead. It's going to be another month before the whole thing is entirely healed, so the whole thing will have taken 6 weeks from surgery to recovery. I'm still going to have to undergo either occupational or physical therapy on it to regain lost range of motion, and that's probably going to take several weeks before I can move it normally. I am still keeping it fairly immobilized because several times, I have mashed my finger on things and the doctor was very specific about my protecting it because of the nature of the surgery on it. So I still have to take very delicate care of it until my 6 weeks are up, putting me through late June before I can really return to full normal activity with it. Between that and my right ankle, I'd say it's going to be one long summer. I almost feel like my body's 50 year warranty gave out! Suddenly, the many miles I've put on this body are beginning to catch up to it and I am beginning to feel a bit like my old VW, slowly falling apart piece by piece. As they say, it ain't the age, it's the miles, and I guess in my case, that's very true! I'm going to spend my summer all banged up and bandaged up and looking like I've been in a bad accident or something, when in fact, it's just two parts of me needing repair that happened to come at the same time. And that's not the first time that's happened. I had tennis elbow and tendonitis of the knee at the same time in late 2006 and had to wear braces on both joints at the same time. Well, that's what I get for being a tad hard on my middle aged body, but oh, well, by Labor Day, I expect to be back to full strength again. In fact, that's my summer goal, to be mended, healed and back to myself again in time for the Fall Hiking Spree!