Just before I had the op, I bought a copy of Lore of Running by Tim Noakes. The book needs no introduction as it is regarded by most runners as the “Running Bible.” Every time I have a question about any running related topic, I simply turn to the book. It’s a bit old fashioned, but I like it.
The book has a chapter called, “Training the Mind” and within the chapter, Prof. Noakes discusses the typical responses to injury that a runner might go through. Just reading this makes me realise that I’m not alone in feeling these thoughts, and had I known this before I got injured, it would certainly have helped me in dealing with the injury.
An Athlete’s Typical Response to Injury by Tim Noakes:
- Denial: At first, the athlete refuses to accept that the injury has occurred and simply denies its possibility.
- Anger (rage): When the injury can no longer be denied, the athlete becomes enraged an blames either the doctor, a spouse, or some third party for the injury. Occasionally, athletes will blame their bodies for this betrayal and may even subject it to further abuse, for example, by continuing to run.
- Depression: When denial and rage no longer work, the athlete moves on to the (penultimate) stage of depression.
- Acceptance: Finally, the athlete learns to accept the injury and to modify ambition to accommodate the inadequacies of the mortal body. When this occurs, the athlete is likely to be over the injury.
I definitely went through all these stages, but instead of rage I experienced a large amount of frustration. It probably took nearly a month from when I realised I had an injury to me actually reaching the acceptance stage, when I adjusted my goal of running Comrades and posting on this blog. Could I have saved a month? Perhaps, but as they say, hindsight is a perfect science.
I’ve been having pain in my shoulder and arm during the past last week. It’s been causing me some discomfort, and after spending this weekend carefully studying all the sport on TV, it has forced me to go and see a physio. Once I get the cast off, (see countdown timer) I have to go to a physio, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to get the shoulder checked out, and see what the physio’s like etc.
Turns out that pain has got nothing to do with my arm or shoulder, the pain was coming form my neck and back, referring the pain. It was most likely caused by use of the crutches, as I have to climb 3 stories to get into my flat. So a bit of massage, some exercises, and the pain in my shoulder went away almost immediately. The pain in my upper right arm however has hung around. I’ve found that it’s almost directly linked to my posture, if I slouch in a chair, the pain sets in straight away. Lying on my back - no pain. Standing with curved back - pain. Sitting straight - no pain. Slightly worrying, thought I guess it’s my body’s way of sounding like my mother,”Sit up straight!”
Over half way now, I have just over 19 days left in the cast. The foot is feeling great, pain has almost gone completely so it’s simply an inconvenience. It’s weird, I can remember walking, just can’t remember what it feels like to be able to walk. It’s like when you’re sick, you know you’ve been healthy before, you just can’t remember what it feels like to be healthy. Well that’s how I feel about it anyway.
I’ve been meaning to post an update on my recovery after the operation for a while now, but never got round to it, so here’s my rather belated update.
After getting home, it didn’t take me long to get settled into the couch. I was told I had to spend a week on my back, that’s exactly what I did. My foot remained elevated for 90% of the time, except when I hobbled to the bathroom. I didn’t move outside of the lounge and bedroom in a week. It did help that every time I got up off the couch, the blood rushing to my foot cause me so much pain that it was difficult to think. So it was best just not to move.
Then last week Wednesday, I went back to the doctor, to have the heavy cast removed, and a lighter, fibreglass cast replaced it. Much better. The doctor was happy with my progress, and even commented that the swelling looked good. So now with the lighter cast, I could go back to work.
Then on Thursday, I headed into the back into the office. I wasn’t very capable on the crutches yet, but I was getting used to them. The pain for most of the day was unbearable, as my foot was only slightly elevated. I even had my feet on the desk at one stage! It did improve very quickly though, and by Friday, all was much better.
I have to say that I’m missing running terribly. Every time I needed to discuss something with myself, the road was there gladly waiting. Saying it’s my personal therapist would be going too far, but you know what I mean. All this means is that I can’t wait to get back on the road, you never realise how much you miss something, until it’s gone.
So I got out of hospital today, and completed my “goal” of walking out of there on crutches. Let me first say this, having your ankle operated on, is not that great of an experience. I was finally wheeled into the theatre at five yesterday evening, feeling rather jovial for some reason. The anaesthetist asked me for the fifth time which ankle to operate on, I joked and suggested he draw a big red arrow on my shin pointing to the ankle. Apparently it wasn’t necessary.
They did a quick explanation of what they planned to do. This part freaked me out: they were going to graft some of my hamstring tendon, onto my worn ankle ligament. That didn’t sound good to me, I didn’t want 2 sets of pain, in my ankle and my hamstring. And I like my hamstrings, I’m rather attached to them you see. Anyway, I was put to sleep, and woke up just over 2 hours later. My first instinct was to grab my hamstring, and then I looked up at the doctor, all groggy, and saw him smiling. He said that the op went very well, and didn’t use any of my hamstring tendon. He used a frozen tendon, and attached it to my lateral ankle ligament, and they should bond together, or something. In other words, I HAVE SOMEONE ELSE’S BODY PART IN MY ANKLE. All I can hope is that I’ve got some Kenyan dude’s tendon…
So I learnt how to use the crutches and was given some exercises to do. So I’m feeling fairly positive about the whole thing. The recovery plan is as follows:
- I’ll be in the current cast /bandages until Wednesday, 3 March. I can’t wait as thing is very heavy, and I have to keep my foot above my heart. This means on my back for a week.
- When the cast goes off, I’ll be going into a plastic “boot” which is lighter and will allow me to be mobile. I’ll be in that for 6 weeks, so that means no driving and crutches for 6 weeks.
- From the boot, I’ll go into an ankle brace, the Aircast A60, which I bought a few months back. I can then start cyclin, swimming, and physiotherapy. This will the crucial stage, and strengthening the ankle is very important.
- It will be about 4 weeks in the brace, then I can start running again!
Obviously things can change, and it will most likely take longer to recover. I’m very goal focused, and I believe this trait will help me through this stage, as it will keep me motivated.
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