Rupture achilles - sick leave

I would take as long as you can off am takin 9 to 12 months off At least may be more depending on how how I feel i deliver kitchens and bathroom so it's physical work and 14 week after my surgery I partial teared 2cm from were they re attached my Achilles the way I see it you have got to be nearly 100% well in my case because they have said if I re rupture again I have got to have an Achilles transfer and that's major surgery and no sports ever again and possibly a limp for the rest of my life so work is the last thing on my mind at the min am back in a boot for 12 more weeks and start my rehab again the only good thing that came out of this is that I have my surgeon doin my rehab with me now am paying private cause ye will get now were with nhs physio's

Hi Emma

You ought to keep your foot elevated until the swelling starts to lessen. With my r foot, I had swelling for a year!

With my l foot my swelling was much less....5 months.

Everyone varies so my advice would be to stay off yr foot n keep it raised when possible .

As for work sadly for me , being a hairstylist I had to stop working. It's been 2 years since my r foot op n 6 months with my l foot .

Are you having physiotherapy? If not and if possible you ought to . It helps more then you realise.

I cant imagine how hard it must be having to go you work whilst having your condition.

Stay positive and keep it raised! ; like

Nikky

Hi  i was lucky as i took a work lap top home and worked a few hours each day.  When i did come back to work i had stool that fit under my desk and put my leg on there but it was uncomfortable so i got a thin cushion to go under it.   I also moved my office to make it easier to get around on crutches.  I injured mine on 26 Nov and im afraid to say it really can take some months to come right.  It took an age to get rid of my cankle and still swells a little now.    I started back at work doing short hours and built it up.   The other part of the problem is being able to drive and able to suddenly put the brake on.  My husband dropped me in each day and ACC paid for me to get home due to the distance i was from town. Once i started work i stopped each hour to do some small stretches as you can get really stiff and it helps reduce swelling.  I asked ACC if an occupational therapist could help with a return to work plan along with the advise from ortho consultant.   It was a great support as of course it can be a shock to your employer that you may be off for so long and they dont really understand so the occupational therapist met with my manager and tried to explain. Them hearing from a professional helped.

Hi

i have heard it can be less painful and some times less swelling with a full tear so i hope that is your case.  I found it quite an effort hoping around on crutches and i started getting sore at the back of my other leg.  Terrified it was going to decide to snap on me too - i made sure to do the physio exercises on both legs.  Remind your employer the effort to get ready for work on crutches and with the healing factor you can get a bit tired so returning on part time hours and building up does help.  At the begining as soon as i stood up all the blood seemed to rush to my foot and commence swelling and go purple - that was a good visual when i came into work and met my manager to discuss my situation lol.  I think a key thing is getting a very clear medical certificate that states how many hours each day/week along with any duties you may not be able to complete eg things that require walking too far or standing for long periods of time.   Employers have to follow clinical recomendation.  When i attended orth appts they gave me a fact sheet on the general expected recovery process/time which i shared with my manager.   I understood his surprise and disappointment on how long it would take but  It was a surprise to me also that the recovery was going to take so long.   I did as much work as i could from home.  I had patches early on in my recovery where i felt i was never going to make progress but once i started physio every week i improved :-).    

all the best 

Denise

My recovery was non surgical so it may be somewhat different. I was able to work as I sit at a desk all day. I was able to extend my leg straight forward & rest on boxes when i had my cast on then with the boot as well. I. Only missed 2 or 3 half days during that time. I did not have any major swelling in my toes when in cast & boot. They told me to make sure I was moving my toes regularly. My Doctor gave me a letter stating that I would have to be away at times if I became uncomfortable. My employer was totally understanding.

Good luck

Okay, first of all, attitude is EVERYTHING! I am a very blunt person, so please don't take offense; the "drill sergeant" approach is my way of helping...perhaps it's the 15-year navy wife veteran in me talking, ha,ha.

I tore my left Achilles' tendon (a result of an adverse reaction to flouroquinolone antibiotics) and had tendonitis in my right Achilles' tendon (a result of the same cause). My job (newspaper editor) does not allow for any vacation or sick time (unless it's like a day and I can find someone to fill in, but in this case two other employees were out for surgery and two others were gone on vacation), my husband is in the military and I have three small children. Surgery to fix the tear in my left Achilles' tendon was on a Wednesday. I stayed home Thursday and worked from home on my laptop.

On Friday morning, I sucked it up, downed four ibuprofen, tossed 3 ice packs in my briefcase, hobbled in to work on crutches, and worked a 10 hour day with my foot elevated on a stool under my desk.

I came home that afternoon, crutched my way to the bus stop 2 blocks from my house to pick up the kids after school, helped them with their homework, made supper, did dishes and cleaned the house (my husband had duty until 10 p.m.).

On Saturday morning, my husband had to leave for 4 days of training, so I just did what I normally do - worked from home over the weekend, took care of the house, kids and pets and got on with life. Went to work Monday and made the traditional "welcome home" dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green bean casserole and biscuits for my husband when I got home from work Tuesday afternoon.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that recovery is 100% you - it's mental! If you feel like you're only going to be limited and like you can't (or don't want to) do something, then I guarantee you that you won't be able to. I look at challenges as something to overcome as quickly and with as positive an outlook as possible. My life motto is pretty much, "choose joy, suck it up and get on with life." If you act like an invalid and let surgery limit you, then it IS going to limit you and you're going to feel helpless. Don't get me wrong, of course you should be careful and limit your activity (which I did significantly - I sat down more often, iced the awesome 8" incision, etc). Obviously don't go power waking on crutches at the mall...

After 4 weeks, I was walking on my own and felt great. My doctor said it was probably due to my positive outlook and because I took an active role in my recovery and didn't sit around.

Some of THE BEST advice ever given to me was by a fellow military wife when I had to have an emergency c-section when my third child was born and had a two-year-old and four-year-old at home as well. My husband was set to deploy to Afghanistan for a year and a half, 3 days after our daughter's emergency birth and I was trying to figure out how I was going to take care of 3 kids under the age of four after major surgery by myself (I don't have any family that helped out and my husband - as was the case after the c-section and Achilles' tendon surgery - is frequently gone.) Anyway, I looked at my friend while I was on the operating table, before they put me under (she was a L&D nurse at the hospital, so luckily she was able to be with me because my husband was on duty that night - the other kids were with a babysitter) and asked her "What on earth am I going to do?" she told me, "You're just gonna have to pull up your big girl panties and just do it, girl."

And I did. And it felt AWESOME to know that I could. Perspective is EVERYTHING.

Hi Emma, To reply to this is a bit difficult as its has multiple variables on which it depends.... like your age , how active you have been in life,the nature of injury treatment , I suppose its a surgery , but how complex it was.

Also how much you need to walk in office , how far are the facilities like canteen / rest rooms, parking , dist of office from residence,etc..

For me at 50 , and very active through out with surgery of @ 60 stiches .

I had 6 weeks cast , 6 weeks hopping around, i tried week 13 at office which failed as distance to move around with crutches was too long @ 1km from parking to desk and @ 500 mts to other facilities.

I am attempting again now in week 15 and its better , having practised lot of walking.I can walk but with a big limp. You also have problem of swelling every evening and hope it subsides in the morning.Also the fear of re repture, only you would know if you are over streaching and ever person has different response.

Keeping elevated leg will help, but go strictly by docters advice, as for leave I was back after 15 weeks , my drive to office was 1.5hr one way so it was an headache in itself.

I wud say first start with half days and slowly proceed to full day. Also try to sit when at home for long hrs as if in office,hope it helps.