Illness, Injury and Medical Advice from the Internet

What's been the most irritating and confusing aspect of the treatment is the discrepancies between the length of the time between treatment stages and the actual appointments I get.

When I had the first orthopedics appointment, I was told protocol was for three weeks cast, five weeks boot, physio. I'd been in a cast for two weeks, so would get an appointment for the following week.

That appointment (which was today), to cut off the cast, was actually after 4.5 weeks instead of 3. During the appointment I'm told I will actually be in the boot for 6 weeks, rather than 5.

Appointment has just come through, and it is in 8 weeks time. So while their protocol dictates 8 weeks total, my treatment will have taken nearly 13 - with no indication as to why whatsoever (I can guess).

Part of me wants to just make a private physio appointment for 5 weeks time and just give up on the NHS from that point, although not sure exactly what sort of risks I am taking with that.

Congratulations! Are you crutchless?

Cheers! Kinda. I feel like I don't need them at home, but not sure how long/far I can realistically go, so don't think I'd go anywhere without them. It's tight/sore/stiff - not just the Achilles - in fact my ankle more so - seized up. Hopefully that gradually eases over the next days.

54 days in and another 13 in the boot to go. It’s much less painful in my heel now that all the wedges are gone from the boot. Getting around is no less awkward and slow.

Massively looking forward to just reengaging what is left of my calf. I feel like it’s going to be a good few weeks before I can get very far without it getting sore and being very tiring. Not sure what the advice will be from the hospital/physio regarding swimming and cycling - they may advise against for a while longer due to risk of slipping/falling and potentially re-rupturing.

My initial objective is to be able to walk a portion of the coastal path walk in Pembrokeshire towards end of October, something that I wouldn’t have thought twice about doing at any point in the past, and which will be nearly 5 months after the rupture.

Well done, better to be in a boot a bit longer than a rupture and a reset. The singular piece of achilles advice I can give is allow 48 hours between bouts of exercise for the tendon to recover. Back to back days of loading will send it rapidly downhill.

The boot is gone. Felt very good just to drive again. Got to take it easy with walking, and build up over time. Same advice for cycling - which I will probably just leave a couple of weeks or so anyway, while I get back some strength and stamina. Can go swimming again too, so looking forward to getting back in the pool.

Not clear when physio will start, what it will entail or how long that will last. I’ve found some NHS pamphlets online from other hospitals which I may experiment with, like this, but will generally just try and walk around a lot.

Got to learn not to suddenly run for any buses or make any sudden movements in general now.

Reassurance sought. Broke my dominant wrist 4 weeks ago. Colles fracture. Had plate and pins installed a week ago now. Really suffering with pain and crazy fluctuating neurological symptoms, pins and needles etc. Got dihydrocodiene 30mg, ibruprofen 400mg and paracetamol 1000mg. Been inconsistent with taking them in the hope of being better. Feeling more discomfort as days progress.
It will suddenly get loads better right?

Just read your story, it seems different hospitals have a different approach to the same problem.

I tore my Achilles last Friday, was diagnosed and put into a temporary cast the same day then fitted with a boot - same as yours - on Monday, and got an ultrasound on Tuesday that confirmed the tendons were close enough to heal naturally rather than require surgery.

The hospital said they like to use a boot straight away as it makes things easier for the patient with no difference in outcome. I did some reading and research seems to back this up.

Anyway, good luck with your recovery.

1 Attachment

Oh no, sorry to hear that. How did it happen?

Yes, it seems that there is very little consistency and agreement on treatment protocol, other than it’s much of a muchness and you just need to give it plenty of time. I actually never had an ultrasound at any point. Only an Xray to confirm I hadn’t also broken any bones. How long are you in the boot? And when can you start getting rid of the wedges?

Happy for you that you don’t need to endure a non-weight bearing phase. That part really dragged!

Do you want my ‘Even Up’ for your other foot, and a boot cover for the shower?

I’ll drop you a private message but yes that’s very kind of you.

Sorry for the late reply - this sounds slightly concerning. Pain should be improving at a week post surgery and pins and needles / neurological symptoms are a bit of a worry. I would suggest keep taking all your painkillers regularly and contact the hospital - you should have been given a phone number or other way to contact the team that did your operation. Please don’t suffer in silence!

Hey DrDave. Thanks for your reply. I've been up north with my daughter. Home now. Will get onto the team on Tuesday and am now doing the painkillers like clockwork. Appreciate your wisdom

Anyone else have Dermatographia?

1 Attachment

.

1 Attachment

Gastritis

I think I have it - no appetite for a week now, any food feels like it just sits in my stomach for hours, dull ache/burn. The severity fluctuates wildly.

Anyone got or had?

Don't @ yourself Will

Pubalgia?
Athletes Hernia?
Anyone done that to themselves?
I think I have. I should have a scan shortly.
What’s the treatment /recovery time?

Back at A&E in what has been an absolutely horrible year for injury and sickness in the household.

The latest cough that me and the youngest had last week started to develop into a particularly horrendous sore throat on Friday and got worse and worse over the weekend.

Level 11 pain on swallowing. Worst pain ever experienced by some margin.

After the 5th night of worsening pain and a complete inability to sleep by now, and having got prescription pain meds and a spray from a GP telephone consult today - that did nothing at all - I got a cab here at 1:30am.

Hasn’t been mentioned yet, but almost certain that my self-diagnosis of ‘quinsy’ is accurate:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peritonsillar_abscess

Only just had bloods taken so am expecting at least a couple more hours before getting to any sort of treatment, but hopefully an antibiotic drip will sort me out.

You must feel exhausted . Keep us all up to date .

Brutal, hang in there.

I’m so tired, I keep nodding off looking at my phone. No sign of test results…

Currently sat in A&E with my sick daughter, currently been here 11.5 hours and not yet seen a doctor, place is a disaster zone, this is our fourth visit since September and this is the worst but they have all been bad. The system at least in my city does not work anymore.

Years of Tory underfunding or should we just call it 'theft' since they're lining their own pockets with our money.

My last visit was a 17 hours wait so luxury 🙏

Oh god. Hope your kid is alright. They’re about to spear the abscesses in my mouth and I have to stay the night on a antibiotics drip