Anyone Rupture Their Achilles Tendon? (specialists, legs, feet, medical)

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

UPDATE #4

As of yesterday, 10/24, I've completed all 3 types of x-rays:

- regular x-ray
- MRI (for ankle not fully flexing for some reason due to old injury)
- ultrasound (for swelling aka edema)


So I told TV dr (podiatrist) so far & her office will inform me of the next step (by giving the phone call to me) when they get all the CD-ROMs & their reports along w/ them. My GP will get all those results soon too.

I don't think an ultrasound or MRI are x rays but that being said, glad you had those done. Keep us posted.

[Forever Blue]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I don't think an ultrasound or MRI are x rays but that being said, glad you had those done. Keep us posted.

Thanks, will do! The ultrasound wasn't too fun...moderately uncomfortable & glad 2 females did the procedure! The reports say several things that I Googled to try to find out. The most concerning & severe-sounding to me are:

- Peripheral vascular disease
- Near full-thickness interstitial tearing

So far, the TV dr's been informed that the results are on the way & my reg dr should be getting all results soon too, so I'll be getting 2 opinions on next-step recommendations. Thank God I've been in zero pain & currently, I don't walk too badly, but w/ a little worse limp than all along. All these yrs, I very barely notice it, so hope/don't think I'll need surgery.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

Thanks, will do! The ultrasound wasn't too fun...moderately uncomfortable & glad 2 females did the procedure! The reports say several things that I Googled to try to find out. The most concerning & severe-sounding to me are:

- Peripheral vascular disease
- Near full-thickness interstitial tearing

So far, the TV dr's been informed that the results are on the way & my reg dr should be getting all results soon too, so I'll be getting 2 opinions on next-step recommendations. Thank God I've been in zero pain & currently, I don't walk too badly, but w/ a little worse limp than all along. All these yrs, I very barely notice it, so hope/don't think I'll need surgery.

Sounds like Dr Ebony was right that you needed a vascular consult. According to what google says, you have a classic symptom of it.

I'm not really getting the hits on google for the tearing but it sounds obvious that something is not right. It will be interesting to hear how she suggests you deal with it to heal as I'm seeing surgery and no surgery as it can heal on it's own which may not be the case if this is your old injury flaring up.

I'm glad you're in decent hands, or what I think are decent hands. I've been watching the show since the first episode, she's had some pretty tough cases, your injury should be a piece of cake for her.

Hopefully it doesn't take her a long time to get back to you. I'll be surprised if your GP even calls you.

[Forever Blue]

Originally Posted by Roselvr

Sounds like Dr Ebony was right that you needed a vascular consult. According to what google says, you have a classic symptom of it.

I'm not really getting the hits on google for the tearing but it sounds obvious that something is not right. It will be interesting to hear how she suggests you deal with it to heal as I'm seeing surgery and no surgery as it can heal on it's own which may not be the case if this is your old injury flaring up.

I'm glad you're in decent hands, or what I think are decent hands. I've been watching the show since the first episode, she's had some pretty tough cases, your injury should be a piece of cake for her.

Hopefully it doesn't take her a long time to get back to you. I'll be surprised if your GP even calls you.

The report for my ultrasound will tk 3-5 days from this past Mon when I did it. I can view it online myself, but it seems it will be more extensive & complete in 3-5 days, so that's the only thing I'm still waiting on to send things off to TV dr. Who knows what my GP will do next. If I never mk another appt w/ her, will she even call or do anything? Who knows.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

The report for my ultrasound will tk 3-5 days from this past Mon when I did it. I can view it online myself, but it seems it will be more extensive & complete in 3-5 days, so that's the only thing I'm still waiting on to send things off to TV dr. Who knows what my GP will do next. If I never mk another appt w/ her, will she even call or do anything? Who knows.

The radiology place should be sending reports directly to her. You shouldn't have to do anything or that's how it works here plus my doctors can log into their system if I use the biggest local place that has the latest imaging technology.

I'm happy that you should know what's going on within the next week or two. Hopefully it is nothing serious, but if it is, you did everything in your power to resolve it.

[Forever Blue]

Originally Posted by Roselvr

The radiology place should be sending reports directly to her. You shouldn't have to do anything or that's how it works here plus my doctors can log into their system if I use the biggest local place that has the latest imaging technology.

I'm happy that you should know what's going on within the next week or two. Hopefully it is nothing serious, but if it is, you did everything in your power to resolve it.

Thanks a lot! Yes I'm doing all I can & seem to be doing everyone else's jobs in these offices! Can't believe these incompetent facilities where I got MRI & ultrasound! I told them when I was there in-person I want CD-ROMs & reports sent to 2 drs. They said sure. Later after leaving the facilities, I find out they don't send the CD-ROM part, just the report. Why don't they say so when I was there? Fortunately, I was smart enough to get a CD-ROM the day I was there for the MRI place...an out-of-way drive, but the ultrasound place wasn't ready the day I went...also not exactly around the corner. I was able to get 3 copies of CD-ROMs the other day for the ultrasound, but was able to drive to a closer location from where I had it done, thank God!

People can't seem to do ___ right anymore at any place, so since I was sending TV dr the CD-ROM & report for my regular x-rays I had at urgent care, I figured I'd go ahead & send her as much of everything else ALL AT ONCE as possible. My GP had said she'll contact urgent care herself & req the results & I later sent the office staff a VERY thorough email of how she can request results from my MRI & ultrasound facilites. They never replied back saying they got the email even though I titled it IMPORTANT.

[Forever Blue]

Update #5

Both my GP & TV podiatrist foot/ankle surgeon have looked over same results (regular x-ray, MRI, & ultrasound) & here's what they said:


GP - Wants to refer me to a vascular surgeon, which I'll definitely see. (My GP never knew I was working w/ the TV dr too. I paid out of pocket to see TV dr.)

TV Dr - 6 wks of physical therapy, which she said will help w/ swelling too, then see if continue w/ physical therapy OR if something else needs to be done. No surgery advised (yet). I'll definitely do that too


My thoughts - I saw my foot/ankle issue as 2 different issues:

- L ankle swelling 15-yr-old achilles tendon injury that gets swollen from time to time, but this time causing swelling AND limping more than ever has

- top/sides so pretty much whole L foot swollen also & even R foot had started getting a little swollen here & there

So I pretty much got 2 opinions at the same time on each end. I was able to see all my results also & although I'm not a dr able to interpret images, I read the words of the results. So, the vascular system is aka the circulatory system, so that has to do w/ circulation, blood flow, blood vessels, etc.

When I first saw the TV dr, there was a point when she pressed into my R foot & it did make an indentation & after seeing one of the diagnoses (from the person who performed the ultrasound) stating, "Peripheral vascular disease", which is concerning me the most, I don't really know how just some physical therapy will help w/ that too. Now, yes, my achilles tendon has some tearing too, but not torn all the way.

(When I had gone to urgent care quite early into all this, that dr said to be referred to a podiatrist. My foot wasn't that swollen back at the time & he didn't examine me that thoroughly. He did just regular x-rays & said he didn't see anything.)

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

Update #5

Both my GP & TV podiatrist foot/ankle surgeon have looked over same results (regular x-ray, MRI, & ultrasound) & here's what they said:


GP - Wants to refer me to a vascular surgeon, which I'll definitely see. (My GP never knew I was working w/ the TV dr too. I paid out of pocket to see TV dr.)

TV Dr - 6 wks of physical therapy, which she said will help w/ swelling too, then see if continue w/ physical therapy OR if something else needs to be done. No surgery advised (yet). I'll definitely do that too


My thoughts - I saw my foot/ankle issue as 2 different issues:

- L ankle swelling 15-yr-old achilles tendon injury that gets swollen from time to time, but this time causing swelling AND limping more than ever has

- top/sides so pretty much whole L foot swollen also & even R foot had started getting a little swollen here & there

So I pretty much got 2 opinions at the same time on each end. I was able to see all my results also & although I'm not a dr able to interpret images, I read the words of the results. So, the vascular system is aka the circulatory system, so that has to do w/ circulation, blood flow, blood vessels, etc.

When I first saw the TV dr, there was a point when she pressed into my R foot & it did make an indentation & after seeing one of the diagnoses (from the person who performed the ultrasound) stating, "Peripheral vascular disease", which is concerning me the most, I don't really know how just some physical therapy will help w/ that too. Now, yes, my achilles tendon has some tearing too, but not torn all the way.

(When I had gone to urgent care quite early into all this, that dr said to be referred to a podiatrist. My foot wasn't that swollen back at the time & he didn't examine me that thoroughly. He did just regular x-rays & said he didn't see anything.)

Some how I missed your update. So it sounds like they think it is a vascular issue causing all of your symptoms? Has your GP actually written the referral to the vascular doctor yet or you're still waiting?

I'm disappointed in the TV doctor that she's not saying why she thinks that is your only issue. I guess that now it is on the vascular doctor to explain it? I have no experience with vascular issues so am clueless.

Are you going to try PT? Have you gotten a referral for one yet?

[Forever Blue]

Originally Posted by Roselvr

Some how I missed your update. So it sounds like they think it is a vascular issue causing all of your symptoms? Has your GP actually written the referral to the vascular doctor yet or you're still waiting?

I'm disappointed in the TV doctor that she's not saying why she thinks that is your only issue. I guess that now it is on the vascular doctor to explain it? I have no experience with vascular issues so am clueless.

Are you going to try PT? Have you gotten a referral for one yet?

Roselvr, after more waiting for the referral doc to come through, I finally saw the vascular dr today. He said to try compression socks for the next month, then if that doesn't work, they said I'd need a vein ablation, which is a 1-day procedure where he burns the vein &/or injects foam in it. Oh yes, I'll do the physical therapy too as I said above.

Do you or anyone know which brand of compression socks are good for the money? (I need knee-high in 20-30 mmHg.)

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

Roselvr, after more waiting for the referral doc to come through, I finally saw the vascular dr today. He said to try compression socks for the next month, then if that doesn't work, they said I'd need a vein ablation, which is a 1-day procedure where he burns the vein &/or injects foam in it. Oh yes, I'll do the physical therapy too as I said above.

Do you or anyone know which brand of compression socks are good for the money? (I need knee-high in 20-30 mmHg.)

I don't have experience with compression socks. Wish I did.

I wonder if you could get insurance to pay for them using a medical supply store?

I guess we'll see if this is all that is wrong with your feet. I hope it will be something easy like buying compression socks