3/28/11 - Surgery Day

Michael's Recovery Blog Day 1

So I've decided to create a blog to document my recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon.  I suffered the injury on Tuesday, March 29 while playing volleyball at the Sunnyvale Community Center.  The next day I got the official diagnosis from my Orthopedic Surgeon/Podiatrist, and we scheduled surgery for the following week. 

I spent the next couple of days researching the injury, surgery and recovery and planning as best as possible for what my life will be like for the next few months.  That included everything from ordering a shower bench, renting a knee scooter, creating a grocery delivery account on Safeway.com, fulfilling prescriptions, arranging for travel to and from the surgical center and more.  I'll detail all of those things in more detail in days to come.  The blog starts on March 29th, the day of the surgery.


Enjoy!




I had my Achilles tendon repair surgery on Monday afternoon.  The surgery lasted about 90 minutes, and afterward my surgeon (Dr. Jensen) said everything went as well as could have hoped.  I woke up with  a new fiberglass splint on my leg, which will stay there until I have my first post-surgical appointment and get the stitches removed on April 6.

It's not much to look at, but here's a glimpse of the splint:

Monday night was a bit of a blur.    Lots of painkillers and a few memory blank spots for me.  My mother and aunt were visiting from New York, and my great friend Chris volunteered to pick me up after the surgery and spend the night making sure I was doing OK and not suffering any complications.    We had a yummy dinner from The Bay Fish and Chips (Yelp - The Bay Fish and Chips) and then my friend Whitney stopped by to say hi.  Finally made it into bed right after midnight, and just in time for the post-surgical pain to really kick in.  Ouch...