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Injury report: day 2
Sep. 1st, 2005 12:28 amNote: I am not going to run a daily log of everything that happens, just the interesting stuff. However, most of the interesting stuff is going to be early on, so bear with me -- or just ignore these.
After much chasing around, I got two recommendations from friends for orthopedists. (Orthopedic surgeons? Same thing?) One does work on Achilles tendons, but didn't take my insurance. The other doesn't do Achilles tendons. However, there was another doctor in his office that did, so I made an appointment with him: Dr. Brantley Vitek. Dr. Vitek confirmed that the tendon is entirely severed. However, he told me there are two treatment options, surgery and immobilization.
( Details of each )
I initially am leaning strongly to the immobilization treatment, as the idea of surgery freaks me out. (Never mind I've had four successful surgeries in the past, with nothing bad coming out of any of them. It still freaks me out.) So I now have a bright green cast* on my left leg, starting just below my knee and ending just before the first set of toe joints. It makes my foot point down, and I am supposed to keep all pressure off the bottom of my foot. No driving for me!**
However, after looking into net research, talking to my parents, and thinking more about the doctor's own recommendation for what he'd have done if he had a blown Achilles tendon, I still haven't entirely dismissed the idea of surgery. The idea still freaks me out, but the surgery is likely to have a more predictable, and usually better, result than letting it heal through immobilization.
* The nurse asked me what color cast I would like, as she was gathering the cast-making stuff. I answered "stripes of hot pink, chartreuse, and electric blue". She handed me a ring of cast-material swatches: black, white, purple, green, red, slate gray, sky blue, and I think yellow. I went with green. When I go to my followup appointment in three weeks, I will likely get re-casted in purple.
** No walking, no running, no swimming, no showers (the cast is not waterproof), and, most obviously, no volleyball. Right now I am getting a crash course in how to wear myself out with the crutches; with luck, I'll be less beat up by this time next week.
After much chasing around, I got two recommendations from friends for orthopedists. (Orthopedic surgeons? Same thing?) One does work on Achilles tendons, but didn't take my insurance. The other doesn't do Achilles tendons. However, there was another doctor in his office that did, so I made an appointment with him: Dr. Brantley Vitek. Dr. Vitek confirmed that the tendon is entirely severed. However, he told me there are two treatment options, surgery and immobilization.
( Details of each )I initially am leaning strongly to the immobilization treatment, as the idea of surgery freaks me out. (Never mind I've had four successful surgeries in the past, with nothing bad coming out of any of them. It still freaks me out.) So I now have a bright green cast* on my left leg, starting just below my knee and ending just before the first set of toe joints. It makes my foot point down, and I am supposed to keep all pressure off the bottom of my foot. No driving for me!**
However, after looking into net research, talking to my parents, and thinking more about the doctor's own recommendation for what he'd have done if he had a blown Achilles tendon, I still haven't entirely dismissed the idea of surgery. The idea still freaks me out, but the surgery is likely to have a more predictable, and usually better, result than letting it heal through immobilization.
* The nurse asked me what color cast I would like, as she was gathering the cast-making stuff. I answered "stripes of hot pink, chartreuse, and electric blue". She handed me a ring of cast-material swatches: black, white, purple, green, red, slate gray, sky blue, and I think yellow. I went with green. When I go to my followup appointment in three weeks, I will likely get re-casted in purple.
** No walking, no running, no swimming, no showers (the cast is not waterproof), and, most obviously, no volleyball. Right now I am getting a crash course in how to wear myself out with the crutches; with luck, I'll be less beat up by this time next week.
