Achillies Tendon Surgery - RunOther


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New Haven, Connecticut
United States
Yale New-Haven Hospital
Total Time = 2h 30m
Overall Rank = 1/1
Age Group = Me
Age Group Rank = 1/1
Pre-race routine:

None. No nutrition or hydration allowed after midnight the prior day.
Event warmup:

Susan and I woke up at 4:00AM to leave by 5:00. I was supposed to arrive at 6:30AM to check into the hospital and you can never be certain of I-95 traffic. No problems getting there. Checked in (no race number, did get a bracelet, but no timing chip), went upstairs, got my chart and changed into the ass-flapper hospital gown.
Run
  • 2h 30m
  • 0 kms
  • 8333h 20m  min/km
Comments:

There was some morning confusion about anasthesia choices. We eventually decided for fully out with assisted breathing, etc. instead of twilight sedation. A BRIEF thought to fully awake was quickly over-ruled by me! A bit rough on me, but I wanted no chance that I'd remember anything. Went into the OR right on time at 7:30. After my surgeon marked which heel he was operating on, they put me down. In speaking with him post-op, he was correct in his assesment. My tendon was about 50% ruined and 50% detached. He says it's just a combination of chronic debilitation, lifestyle damage, predispositions, etc and nothing I could have done to avoid the problems. He cleaned out the calcium deposits, the "mucoid dengenerated" tendon bits, removed the heel bone deformity which contributed to the problem and sutured the detached portion to the heel bone.
What would you do differently?:

Go to the specialist first instead of screwing aroung with non-action doctors who "watch and wait"
Post race
Warm down:

I woke up shortly after returning to recovery. The anasthesiologists did a nerve block by injecting my leg nerve in the hamstring. It numbed me from ass to toe and held for better than 24 hours. Made it really difficult to pee because the signals from my brain telling those muscles to contract was blocked. Wicked sore throat from the gas and am now starting to feel the pain from the operation.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Oxycontin

Event comments:

I hope the year rehab goes by quick. The doctor tells me I'll be able to swim in January depending on how things go through the next 8 weeks. I haven't yet filed for a refund from Timberman, but likely will have to put off my long term goal of IM to 2010 instead of 2009 as planned.




Last updated: 2007-11-06 12:00 AM
Running
02:30:00 | 00 kms | 8333h 20m  min/km
Age Group: 1/1
Overall: 1/1
Performance: Good
HR hovered around 48-50BPM. My low resting HR kind of made the nurses a bit nervous until I explained my athletic lifestyle.
Course: Same day surgery unit. You arrive and get an area curtained off and a recliner to relax in.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 5