You sometimes forget how your body is related, or maybe now that I'm 40 everything is just falling apart. Anyway, about a year ago I tore my Achilles. I didn't realize I had injured it and now believe the tear to be caused by tightening of my calf muscle after surgery. Once I understood the tear could be the feeling of a simple pop at the back of your heel I could find a vague memory of the event.
It wasn't the actual pop that sent me to the doctor, but the continuing and increasing pain as I tried to maintain my schedule and routines during the following months. The morning I woke up and couldn't walk to the bathroom I decided to call the doctor. I bypassed my primary and went strait to Dr. W. who fit me in and sent me for a sonogram, put me in a short immobilizing boot and ordered physical therapy.
When the pain did not dissipate, Dr. W. decided I needed a foot and ankle specialist. He recommended a few at HSS. Only one took my insurance and he had a nine month waiting list, which became six when I said Dr. W. had recommended me. That seemed ridiculous in a city like New York, even with my less then amazing health insurance, that it should take longer to see an orthopedic specialist then it does to see my gynecologist.
As the pain began interfering with my ability to take assignments and the PT wasn't working I started scouring lists of top doctors and cross-referencing them with my insurance. I found Dr. Hubbard at Beth Israel and sent an impassioned e-mail through his website.
When I saw Dr. H. in June he changed my brace to a knee high contraption with built-in air pockets that could be inflated and deflated for a perfect fit. He also showed me an x-ray of my heel and pointed out both the spur where the Achilles had tried to reattach and the Haglund's deformity bumps that were making it difficult for my body to repair itself.
The hope was that with rest in the brace and continued physical therapy, my heel would find a way to mend. But, we're talking about me, so simple and easy wasn't an option. After a month in the boot it quieted some, but would periodically flare, especially during photo shoots. and somehow, simply ignoring it didn't really help.
I worried about my knee as my gait changed and began to change my activity level to baby my heel. After one flare Dr. H. sent me for an MRI and shortly after my right knee put it's two cents in and Dr. W. sent me for an MRI as well.
I continued to have low-level heel pain, but figured that was simply part of my life. Everyone I had spoken with talked about how they took over a year to recover from any Achilles issues. As December arrived the pain increased, but I tried to work through it. I certainly knew I couldn't wear the brace to meet with editors to discuss future assignments. The ankle swelled so badly my Primary sent me to the hospital for a Doppler for a blood clot and the pain increased to the point that my heel would throb while I was in bed.
I put the brace back on and called to see Dr. Hubbard. I got to celebrate my birthday in his office, being told that my two options were surgery or coming home from every big assignment and going into the brace for two weeks. Neither sounds particularly appealing, but after much soul searching, discussion and research I've gone with option A.
So the doctor's office works on my insurance and I am tentatively scheduled to get my Achilles cut and the spur and bumps shaved down. Two weeks in a no-weight cast, three in a walking-cast and then a month back in my boot. Nine weeks of severely limited mobility and four to six months before I am fully recovered.
Terrified seems the emotion of the moment. I'm spending my time trying to get any outstanding work done and get the apartment back into a crutches friendly zone. Now if I could just get Lowe's to finish installing my new washer and dryer.
It wasn't the actual pop that sent me to the doctor, but the continuing and increasing pain as I tried to maintain my schedule and routines during the following months. The morning I woke up and couldn't walk to the bathroom I decided to call the doctor. I bypassed my primary and went strait to Dr. W. who fit me in and sent me for a sonogram, put me in a short immobilizing boot and ordered physical therapy.
When the pain did not dissipate, Dr. W. decided I needed a foot and ankle specialist. He recommended a few at HSS. Only one took my insurance and he had a nine month waiting list, which became six when I said Dr. W. had recommended me. That seemed ridiculous in a city like New York, even with my less then amazing health insurance, that it should take longer to see an orthopedic specialist then it does to see my gynecologist.
As the pain began interfering with my ability to take assignments and the PT wasn't working I started scouring lists of top doctors and cross-referencing them with my insurance. I found Dr. Hubbard at Beth Israel and sent an impassioned e-mail through his website.
When I saw Dr. H. in June he changed my brace to a knee high contraption with built-in air pockets that could be inflated and deflated for a perfect fit. He also showed me an x-ray of my heel and pointed out both the spur where the Achilles had tried to reattach and the Haglund's deformity bumps that were making it difficult for my body to repair itself.
The hope was that with rest in the brace and continued physical therapy, my heel would find a way to mend. But, we're talking about me, so simple and easy wasn't an option. After a month in the boot it quieted some, but would periodically flare, especially during photo shoots. and somehow, simply ignoring it didn't really help.
I worried about my knee as my gait changed and began to change my activity level to baby my heel. After one flare Dr. H. sent me for an MRI and shortly after my right knee put it's two cents in and Dr. W. sent me for an MRI as well.
I continued to have low-level heel pain, but figured that was simply part of my life. Everyone I had spoken with talked about how they took over a year to recover from any Achilles issues. As December arrived the pain increased, but I tried to work through it. I certainly knew I couldn't wear the brace to meet with editors to discuss future assignments. The ankle swelled so badly my Primary sent me to the hospital for a Doppler for a blood clot and the pain increased to the point that my heel would throb while I was in bed.
I put the brace back on and called to see Dr. Hubbard. I got to celebrate my birthday in his office, being told that my two options were surgery or coming home from every big assignment and going into the brace for two weeks. Neither sounds particularly appealing, but after much soul searching, discussion and research I've gone with option A.
So the doctor's office works on my insurance and I am tentatively scheduled to get my Achilles cut and the spur and bumps shaved down. Two weeks in a no-weight cast, three in a walking-cast and then a month back in my boot. Nine weeks of severely limited mobility and four to six months before I am fully recovered.
Terrified seems the emotion of the moment. I'm spending my time trying to get any outstanding work done and get the apartment back into a crutches friendly zone. Now if I could just get Lowe's to finish installing my new washer and dryer.
