Wed. 6/24 - Congratulations! You have a tear!

Hobbled on into the orthopedic surgeon's office today, and, after being screened for the umpteenth time for Covid symptoms (no, I do not have any new cough, runny nose, upset stomach, diarrhea...yes, I do have bruising and swelling...look at my leg), I was brought in fairly quickly to see Dr. M. He asked me for the breakdown of what had happened over the past few weeks, and, having already looked at my MRI results, told me "well, here's the thing. It's a complete tear, with maybe a

MRI Results - 4cm wide laceration

strand or two still connected, which might explain why you still had some movement in the foot with the Thompson test. However, given the location of the severed tendon in relation to where you originally cut your ankle, and the fact that it's a completely clean cut instead of a ragged rupture, I'm thinking you actually cut it weeks ago during the original accident."

So this is news. I'd been told up until now that the tendon was intact and had been assuming the fall is what tore it, but as Dr. M showed me the MRI results and talked me through it, it became all the more obvious to me that, at a minimum, I'd had a partial tear - if not complete - from the original incident, which was only further exacerbated by the fall. Apparently typical tendon ruptures from falls would result in a similar look as a rope pulled apart - lose jagged fibers hanging up and down the torn tendon (picture stalagmites and stalactites pointing up and down at each other), but mine was a clean slice across, which was more indicative of an actual cut.

The silver lining here, if I'm looking for one, is that had I NOT fallen, I would have still been operating under the impression that my tendon was fine and would have started running again after the stitches were removed. This could start to build up scar tissue and/or infection, and of course, I would most likely end up rupturing it later. So at least this way I know what's happening and can address it sooner rather than later.

The downside is that Dr. M is concerned it's already gone weeks without repair, and scar tissue and/or infection could already be building up. He usually does surgery on Tues/Thurs but is completely booked up for Tuesday and doesn't think it can wait until Thursday. So he's going to book a "special case surgery" on Monday. This means I have less than 5 days to figure out my plan of care, which Dr. M conveys will look pretty much like bedrest for the first 1-2 weeks and staying off the leg completely, followed by recasting/resplinting the foot at various angles to aid in the tendon's recovery throughout the next couple of months. Once he approves low mobility of the foot, I can start PT, which will last months.

I hesitate to ask the question for which answer I'm dreading, but I do: "How long until I can run again?"

"9-12 months."

That's a tough answer to swallow, and he can see the lump in my throat. "You WILL run again. But I like to be honest in managing my patients' expectations. This is a long-haul game. It's one of the hardest recoveries in terms of surgeries we do. You use your feet, ankle, and achilles to support the entire movement of your body, so you'll need to take it slow. Physical therapy will help, but if you start pushing yourself before you're fully recovered, you risk re-rupturing it. It will be a solid 9 months at a minimum before you can run again."

He schedules me for Monday, but there's a lot to do in just 5 days. I need to get a Covid test and then self-quarantine for the 3 days prior to surgery. If the test comes back positive, they have to cancel surgery. If negative, I'm still on for Monday but this means I'll need some sort of support system in place for the family. We have no relatives nearby and with my husband barely able to get any work done other than chauffeuring me and the kids around like he was Driving Miss Daisy for the last few weeks, and with Covid closing all summer camps, I know we'll need help with the the kids. 

Luckily, my parents are both retired and immediately offer to make the 2-day drive out to us, so they'll be on hand to help me post-op and watch the kids while my husband works. 

Now I just need to wrap my head around my recovery plan...