You Did What Again? And HOW?

You may have noticed that yesterday broke my self-imposed blog silence since last September.  (Well, not so much self-imposed as forced on me by a crazy work project schedule that left me virtually no free time to do anything but eat and sleep, but that's besides the point.)  My crazy work schedule is over, I'm back home, and that means, in addition to spending lots of time playing with my kids and hanging out with my wife, I should have some time to catch up on some projects here at home (which includes getting back into writing here and elsewhere).

So the good news? I'm back.  The bad news, however, is I came back about two weeks before I had planned, because I hurt myself.  More specifically, I ruptured my Achilles tendon.  And how, pray tell, did I commit such an injury?  Was I snowboarding?  Was I rescuing small children from a raging house fire?  No, it's much more embarrassing – I did it dancing.

Das Boot

Yes, that's right.  I now have to undergo surgery and a long, drawn-out recovery process because I went out dancing with some friends.  I wasn't even doing anything THAT bizarre – much the same stuff I'd do dancing with my kids at home, just a little bit wilder.  But apparently it was enough in just the right combination to tear my Achilles tendon through-and-through, leaving me hobbling to the emergency room.  And me without even a good story to tell about getting hurt! (Although I heard someone might have video of the incident, in which case I might have to get my hands on it to really embarrass myself.)

So I've got surgery scheduled for Thursday of this week, and until then I'm laid-up on the couch wearing this bulky-yet-strangely-comfortable boot.  I've got crutches and can actually get up and help out around the house, so I'm trying not to be too much of an invalid and at least giving my wife breaks from taking care of the kids periodically.  I'm sure it's a downer to her, expecting to get me home healthy in a couple weeks and finally have a break from the full-time stay-at-home-single-parent role and instead, getting the equivalent of a(n older) third child.  I'm trying to do all I can (and not doing too bad a job of it) but it's definitely not the same as having a healthy spouse there to help out…

The doctor says that the Achilles tendon, the biggest and strongest tendon in the body, has virtually no blood vessels amongst it, which means although it is insanely tough, it takes forever to heal.  I'm looking 7 days after the outpatient surgery before stitches come out, then back to the boot for 4-6 weeks.  Near the end of that, I'll start doing early motion and attempt to walk on it.  2-4 months after the surgery, I may be walking without any assistance, although I'll be weak and tentative with my walking.  (I foresee a lot of physical therapy, either structured or on my own, in my near future.)  The chances of a 100% recovery after this kind of injury and surgery are very likely, but it could be up to 12 months after surgery before I get there!  That means no running for a good long time, and the same kibosh on any other strenuous high-impact activities.  I may have to take up swimming at the Y just to stay in shape (and stay sane).

But every cloud has a silver lining – I'll still be working (as soon as I'm recovered from the surgery) but it's unlikely that I'll be back up to the Minnesota plant site any time soon, since it'll be difficult to walk around there in my recovering state.  So back to the office, working 40 hour workweeks, which means plenty of time to hang out with my wife, my kids, and of course, all of my Vox blog buds!  Look out for some new posts from me on stuff I've been meaning to write about, and I'll be cruising around and leaving comments here and there as well.  It's good to be back folks – I missed you all while I was away!

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