Achilles Tendon Tear Part I

In 2007, Robert ruptured his Achilles tendon at the muscle. The end result was severe trauma on the muscle and the tendon. When Robert woke up from his surgery he noticed that his cast was all the way to his hip! He was in and out of a cast for more than 2 months.



After the cast comes off then comes rehab! Rehab was extremely painful and mentally challenging. Robert's cast restricted his foot at an angle greater than 100 degrees for 2 months! Part of the rehab process was to bring his foot back to 90 degrees and restrict it at that angle with another cast for an extended period of time. The pain of bringing the foot back to 90 degrees was painful to watch. I can't imagine how it felt.

Below is a picture of the little mechanism that Robert had to put his foot on and press with his body weight until he achieved a 90 degree angle. At one point, his body weight wasn't enough to bring his foot to 90 degrees. The physical therapist had to add her body weight with Robert's body weight and together they pushed down! The end result was Robert passing out due to the pain. It took Robert two weeks to bring his foot back to 90 degrees. The first week he was able to bring it to 95 degrees and the following week he was able to bring it to 90 degrees.