Surgery Setback and Road to Recovery

[juspoole]

I thought I'd make a thread to run through a couple things that I have going in my life currently.  Rather than post separate threads on each, I'll recap each one as hopefully someone can use it for takeaways and I can share something valuable.  Also, always love to interact with the forum members for feedback or new ideas!

1) For anyone that has to go through achilles tendon surgery, what the road might look like.  

2) A bit of a workout thread.  Not only to strengthen my calve muscle back, but to get healthier overall.  I liked what @ejgaudettedid in his thread and thought to incorporate some of those ideas.  I tend to be on a constant 6 month roller coaster of diet/exercise vs just some exercise and eating what I want.

3) Swing Speed Training

4) Skytrak information and improvement.  Will also have information on technical side as I've just bought a gaming laptop and plan to have TGC 2019 paired with it.

 

[fixyurdivot]

Man, it would be easy to get really deflated going through stuff like this... high marks for the positive approach!  Hope the recovery is quicker than you expect.

[ejgaudette]

I know with some great hard work you can recover and get back to your strength and mobility in that ankle.

[ejgaudette]

Also I'll note that my workout was. A bit much to handle all together soon have cute back a bit to give time for recovery. Just listen to your body.

[juspoole]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:57 AM, fixyurdivot said:

Man, it would be easy to get really deflated going through stuff like this... high marks for the positive approach!  Hope the recovery is quicker than you expect.

Thanks - so far so good.  Luckily for me this is the first true injury I've ever had.  I did break a finger a few years ago, but not that big of deal.  If it had to happen, I'm glad it happened more in the winter and early spring months.

22 hours ago, ejgaudette said:

Also I'll note that my workout was. A bit much to handle all together soon have cute back a bit to give time for recovery. Just listen to your body.

Yes, definitely agree.  It'll be 12 - 14 weeks until i can actually go jogging.   However, in terms of upper body and abs, I should be able to do quite a bit.  Also, under the timeline I should be able to do the spin bike around week 6-8 at low impact.  So I should be able to at least burn some calories that way.  I've also tweaked the diet so I can hit the ground running once I have approval for other things.  

[juspoole]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:12 AM, juspoole said:

1) For anyone that has to go through achilles tendon surgery, what the road might look like.  

I wanted to give an update on each from my experience.  So far I'm through a little over 4 weeks and really seeing great progress each week.

I'll start off by saying i do not suggest being an idiot like i was.  

January 8th - Played in morning basketball league and another player was cutting behind me and just hit my back right ankle/heel just right.  Immediately feel to the ground, changed shoes and had some intense pain.  I didn't realize how bad it was, but remember telling my wife I think I tore my achilles when I got home.  Scheduled a Dr. appointment same day and had x rays done. Came back negative as my ankle was actually swelling up more so I thought it was more of an ankle injury.  

Over the next week, my ankle swelling subsided, but something was still off with my calve and achilles.  I could walk with a limp and the pain was down unless I overextended my heel.  Think the heel stretch when leaning up against a wall with one foot behind you.

3 weeks later (Yeah I know, should have went sooner) I set up a sports medicine appt. and had MRI which easily showed the complete tear.  However the Dr. told me that since we are still treating within 6 weeks, it should still heal well.  Plus the fact that I'm only 33 helps immensely.  

Surgery was done on February 10th and went very well.  They numbed my leg from the knee down and the overall surgery only lasted an hour I believe.  

Recovery - I was in what felt like a metal splint that was heavily wrapped and kept my foot pointing downward so that I didn't stress the tendon.  I was completely non weight bearing for 2 weeks.  The pain was not too bad overall and the numbness actually lasted almost 2 days to completely wear off.

2 weeks after surgery - They cut the sutures and put me in a boot with 2 heel lifts to still keep stress off tendon.  However, they said to point your toes up while laying down a few times a day to work through some tightness.  At this point, my calve is weak and I am not supposed to flex it.  I can tell some atrophy has happened, but there are still another 4 weeks of minimal weight bearing so it's going to get even worse.   

Today - About 3.5 weeks after surgery.  I am down to 1 heel lift and I have continued with the flexing of toes so my tightness is much less than it was.  My leg feels much stronger and while I know I still have a long way to go, but I can see the improvement.   

I started driving locally at week 3.  We have 3 kids so there are several drop offs and pick ups everyday.  I work from home due to COVID and my wife goes in everyday as shes a nurse manager as a hospital.  It's definitely aggravating for how slow I have to move and trying to get a 6, 4 and 2 year old dressed, lunches made, and breakfast and into car seats in the morning could be considered an Olympic sport at times.  Especially as I'm hobbling like an idiot lol

If there are any questions, please feel free to ask.

[juspoole]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:12 AM, juspoole said:

2) A bit of a workout thread.  Not only to strengthen my calve muscle back, but to get healthier overall.  I liked what @ejgaudettedid in his thread and thought to incorporate some of those ideas.  I tend to be on a constant 6 month roller coaster of diet/exercise vs just some exercise and eating what I want.

Not much I can really put here.  I have started to improve my diet and cut out things that I know I should not have.  Not a difficult transition for me truthfully, just have to hold myself more accountable.  I have began doing pushups and sit ups, but it will be quite a while until I can do any cardio.  I will also start doing pull ups.

Usually I'll do 20 reps of push ups at a time and try to at least hit 100 each day if not more.  For pull ups, I'll likely have to start with reps of 5 and try to complete 25 each day and work my way up.  It's not amazing, but it's a start.

[juspoole]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:12 AM, juspoole said:

4) Skytrak information and improvement.

I did a huge amount of research before purchasing.  It came down to the Mevo+ and the Skytrak, but I did not want to mess with stickers and more importantly, I knew I wouldn't have enough room for the Mevo.  I was lucky to purchase from TGW in early January and find that they had stock of them.  It got to me in about a week. 

Netting and Sim Screen:  This is probably the area that I wish I could redo.  I bought a Net Pro Home series and sim screen as I knew I needed something I could put up and down easily.  I will say it's not as easy as a Rukket, but I can get the whole set up in about 10 - 12 minutes and be golfing.  Downfall is that it's a 4:3 ratio which is more square.  I also did not realize there was a Spornia net that has a white screen, which would have saved me a lot of money. 

A 16:9 gives a much better widescreen experience and I wish I would have possibly did a pull down screen and then placed mattress padding or something behind it.  The goal is to bring everything indoors as I have 9 foot ceilings and the room is 13 x 11, which may work but will be close.  I'm just not handy by any means so I don't always have unique solutions on this type of stuff.  All in, I believe this was $815 after some discount codes.

Projector: I knew I wanted to go the pre-owned/refurbished route as I did not want to sink another 850 on this item.  I researched throw ratio, lumens, etc...and found a BenQ MW824ST that works very well and is bright and clear.   Also, to project my image, it only needs to be around 4 feet from the screen.  I found this from a certified reseller that includes a warranty for $275 on eBay.

Simulator Packages: I tried WGT, which is free for about 10 courses with the purchase of the Game Improvement package.  It's decent for a start to get you the actual course view.  And since it's photos of the course, the graphics are clear and look great.  The downside is that it's not truly a golf simulator game.  It's golfing into pictures and many times the view is at an angle and there are limited courses.  I tried E6, but thought it wasn't user friendly and the graphics did not suit my eye.  I'm sure this would be much better with the laptop as opposed to the iPad graphics.  With that in mind, I'll be purchasing the lifetime TGC 2019 package for $895.   

Laptop/PC: Again after doing a ton of research, I just purchased a refurbished laptop from a certified reseller that includes a warranty and free returns.  I know a PC makes it easier to update components, I needed the portability at this time.  Even though you only need a GPU comparable to a GTX 960, I wanted to get something a bit faster to improve the experience.  Also, if they come out with a new version of the game in a couple years, I have a laptop that can still hold up.  That is why I went with a Legion 5 that has a 10th gen i7, with an RTX 2060, 16G ddr4 Ram, 1TB SSD.  This should get me all that I need for at least 5 years if not more.  Based on pricing that i see now, I should get around 75% of my money back even in a few years after use.   Found this for $715.

Golf Mat: Went with the Country Club Elite 3 x 5 that I found at Costco.  I previously had a hitting stripe of this mat and liked it well enough.  A little pricey, but I think it's fairly well made.  The fiberbuilt is another choice many have, but i do not like the soft "grass" and much prefer the CCE over that one.  I would probably do a 4 x 5 size if I were to do it again, but I am trying to keep costs down as much as I can with all of the components. $249

I definitely was surprised by the actual cost of everything, but I feel like I will use most of these items for years to come.  Both for my own enjoyment and with the family.  My other thought may be to upgrade to a GC Quad once they have a new model out and prices may drop down to where the GC2 is currently.  It will be quite some time, but until then I've got the Skytrak.  And there are also other brands coming into the fold in the $5K - $7K market. (Uneekor and a new Flightscope)  There are definitely ways to do this much more budget than I did, but I'm happy with just about everything except the net/sim screen.

[juspoole]

On 3/8/2021 at 10:21 AM, juspoole said:

1) For anyone that has to go through achilles tendon surgery, what the road might look like

I had my 6 week follow up appointment yesterday with the Doctor.  Their plan from the 2 - 6 week point was very slow and I decided to listen to my body while still remaining extremely cautious.   Basically I got a boot with two heel lifts.  I was to take out one after two weeks and then I had the appointment yesterday to review how it looked with next steps.  Also, during all of this was to be basically no weight bearing or to 25 lbs, which basically means you can put your foot on the ground when standing.  

I believe this is the standard timeline for any patient with the surgery.  I would consider myself an athletic and fairly in shape 33 year old so I did things a bit differently and I'm glad I did.  The first couple weeks I tried to continue the non weight bearing for the most part.  I also took the first heel lift out at 1 week 2 days (3 weeks post surgery) instead of 2 weeks.  I started to bear weight a little bit at a time and walk small distances.  I took the second lift out around the 3 week point from appt. (5 week post surgery) and started walking much more, but still staying off as much as I could.  

I feel more strength every day and hope that I might be able to hit some chips/pitches next week (with boot still on) and maybe full clubs around 3 weeks from now without boot (8-9 weeks post surgery).  I probably will not be able to get to a full driver swing for a bit longer, but hard to tell as there is a lot of progression each week.  Time will tell as I am not going to risk anything for a golf round a little bit early. It's just not worth it.  I'm extremely cognizant of any pain or tightness and will (un)happily just sit back and rest more if i have to.

I also start physical therapy so I will be able to start strengthening the leg and doing more exercises to gain flexibility back.

 

[ejgaudette]

8 minutes ago, juspoole said:

I had my 6 week follow up appointment yesterday with the Doctor.  Their plan from the 2 - 6 week point was very slow and I decided to listen to my body while still remaining extremely cautious.   Basically I got a boot with two heel lifts.  I was to take out one after two weeks and then I had the appointment yesterday to review how it looked with next steps.  Also, during all of this was to be basically no weight bearing or to 25 lbs, which basically means you can put your foot on the ground when standing.  

I believe this is the standard timeline for any patient with the surgery.  I would consider myself an athletic and fairly in shape 33 year old so I did things a bit differently and I'm glad I did.  The first couple weeks I tried to continue the non weight bearing for the most part.  I also took the first heel lift out at 1 week 2 days (3 weeks post surgery) instead of 2 weeks.  I started to bear weight a little bit at a time and walk small distances.  I took the second lift out around the 3 week point from appt. (5 week post surgery) and started walking much more, but still staying off as much as I could.  

I feel more strength every day and hope that I might be able to hit some chips/pitches next week (with boot still on) and maybe full clubs around 3 weeks from now without boot (8-9 weeks post surgery).  I probably will not be able to get to a full driver swing for a bit longer, but hard to tell as there is a lot of progression each week.  Time will tell as I am not going to risk anything for a golf round a little bit early. It's just not worth it.  I'm extremely cognizant of any pain or tightness and will (un)happily just sit back and rest more if i have to.

I also start physical therapy so I will be able to start strengthening the leg and doing more exercises to gain flexibility back.

 

Glad to hear the recovery is progressing and starting to get some mobility back. Smart to take it slow and make sure you are playing golf for a while and not back on the shelf.

[juspoole]

First physical therapy appointment coming up on Friday and also getting my COVID vaccine (Johnson and Johnson single shot). 

I actually went to the course today and chipped/putted for a bit.  Tried to hit an 8 iron but it was basically a one legged shot so not very good.  It was great to at least get out there and do something.

[juspoole]

Today was a big day.  2nd Physical Therapy Appointment and I've been in shoes all week.  Hit a bucket of balls for the first time after surgery and for the year.  Not terrible.  I think I may be able to play golf in a few weeks!

 

[juspoole]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:12 AM, juspoole said:

1) For anyone that has to go through achilles tendon surgery, what the road might look like.  

2) A bit of a workout thread.  Not only to strengthen my calve muscle back, but to get healthier overall.   I tend to be on a constant 6 month roller coaster of diet/exercise vs just some exercise and eating what I want.

A few updates on both my achilles and diet/workout.

I'm now 12 weeks post surgery and still have a ways to go, but it's always improving.  I've been doing Physical Therapy from week 7 - 11 and it really helped me gain more confidence in my leg.  I've been a bit lackluster the past 2 weeks on doing the exercises, so I need to recommit.  I went to shoes around the 7 week point for good and haven't looked back.  I started hitting golf balls mid April here and there and played for the first time around week 11.  The doctor also said that I could slowly begin to incorporate jogging into the routine.

For diet/exercise it's been going very well.  I'm 24 days straight on the peloton bike and finding that I can handle fairly high resistance levels and longer workouts.  I'm down around 6-8 pounds and feeling much better.  Need to try and lift weights or at least do push ups/pull ups more often than I'm doing now.

[ejgaudette]

That's some great progress and glad to hear it is going well. I hear you on the push up and weights too, should be doing more of that as well. Keep up the work.

8 hours ago, juspoole said:

A few updates on both my achilles and diet/workout.

I'm now 12 weeks post surgery and still have a ways to go, but it's always improving.  I've been doing Physical Therapy from week 7 - 11 and it really helped me gain more confidence in my leg.  I've been a bit lackluster the past 2 weeks on doing the exercises, so I need to recommit.  I went to shoes around the 7 week point for good and haven't looked back.  I started hitting golf balls mid April here and there and played for the first time around week 11.  The doctor also said that I could slowly begin to incorporate jogging into the routine.

For diet/exercise it's been going very well.  I'm 24 days straight on the peloton bike and finding that I can handle fairly high resistance levels and longer workouts.  I'm down around 6-8 pounds and feeling much better.  Need to try and lift weights or at least do push ups/pull ups more often than I'm doing now.

 

[juspoole]

On 5/8/2021 at 6:57 AM, ejgaudette said:

That's some great progress and glad to hear it is going well. I hear you on the push up and weights too, should be doing more of that as well. Keep up the work.

Thanks!

Absolutely, it seems like it should be so easy to knock out 100 - 150 push ups a day while I work from home.  Need to set a timer or something.

[juspoole]

Long way to go - but I've been jogging the past couple weeks and beginning to notice more confidence and strength while running.