(Reposted from the blog, Get Kyle Back on His Feet!)
For English-speaking folks, here's a trailer:
Follow-up Visit
I went to the doc's office this morning for a follow-up and got my bandages and splint taken off for the first time since the surgery! Don't worry I got new bandages put on again and a hard splint on the bottom to maintain plantar flexion.
(Turns out the doc is going to recycle this for the hard cast...I found that rather distasteful but then he assured me just the cast part in the back, not all the soiled, bloody bandages as well.)
My cell phone doesn't have flash and Samantha has an iPhone 4s so she offered to take some photos and send them to me as e-mail attachments but I decided to go with my own photos after all. They are more close-up and you can see more details like that weird blood pustule and the weird black grooves.
Also, there's an odd growth at the bottom of my foot that was never there before (see that bright white spot on my sole?). The surgeon said it was probably just a "maceration" (maybe he meant laceration?) but later said it's probably a tumor. I said I'll cut that out myself and he said he would watch.
He said I would get a cast put on, on Tuesday since the staples aren't ready to come out yet. He said if he tried yanking them out today they would "hiss" and "squirt"— nasty!
The doc said, "Don't worry. I'll make it all pretty again for the ladies. I could see the stress in your eyes." What a joker.
I asked him if it would be OK for me to return to classes next week and he said, "I want you to. We can cure everything but stupidity. Have you heard that before?"
He also told me that since I waited so long to have surgery, the gap has widened considerably so instead of using 2-4 strands, he needed to use 6. I asked him about the suturing and he said it's super strong sutures. He said those 6 sutures are strong enough to support my whole body if they were hanging from them upside down.
Surgical Staples vs. Sutures
I forgot to ask why staples were used to close the wound instead of sutures though my mom said that black stuff ARE the sutures so she said both were used, only since it was such a large wound both sutures and staples were required.
I'm not so sure but this eHow Health article explains it pretty well. (Note to self: also ask the doc to check my left Achilles because it's been feeling odd. I hope it's not tendonitis.)
I read a study that said in stapling led to 4x the number of infections versus traditional suturing but since I obviously have staples in, I'm going to ignore that study and not post the link. Ignorance is bliss. Anyways, there are plenty of other studies out there that say they are comparatively the same, the only difference being cosmetic (staples leave more scars, but scars are sexy so who cares?).
A preview of what's going to happen to me next week:
__________________________________________
The Nitty Gritty
I found some more interesting videos to post.
This one is just a general video on how one ruptures their achilles tendon or if it's just tendonitis (check this out, B-money!).
\\
This other one talks about the Krakow suturing technique for connecting the two ends of the ruptured tendon. It's a very detailed and informative video. The best one I've seen so far. (FYI: some graphic still images show up after 2 minutes though.)
David Beckham's Ruptured Achilles Tendon (2010)
After seeing that video, I looked it up and apparently soccer star, David Beckham, ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2010; I don't follow soccer/football so I never knew. Read about it here.
After 2 years, David Beckham I guess is still not all healed though and he never went to the World Cup because of it. Now he's doing Bikram yoga to heal his Achilles. Sigh ... I tried to find an article stating that the soccer star was now all healed but even after 2 years, I couldn't find any. Oh well, I'm a lot younger than him...
_____________________
"Plastic Planet"
I know this has nothing to do with my achilles surgery at all, but I also wanted to write a review on a brilliant documentary I started (but didn't finish) last night called "Plastic Planet." It's fascinating and scary how much a completely synthetic product has come to dominate our planet, from clothing, chemicals, fuel, to even cosmetics and food additives.
They assured everyone that plastic is a completely inert material that will not invade the food system but in fact, it has. Fish eat tiny bits of plastic that has broken down from sunlight exposure and the churning of the seas. Cattle and livestock eat petroleum-derived, pesticide-laced grain feed. Even our processed foods are all packaged in various plastic materials and even preserved and colored with petroleum-derived preservatives, food colorings, and other additives. We are assured it's all safe, but we now know (after all the BPA, pthalates, parabens, plasticizers, etc. media blitz) that it's endocrine-disrupting and carcinogenic.
I believe it's a German documentary so I couldn't find the interview I was after with the scientist, Klaus Rhomberg. He talked about how a single PVC diaper takes 200 years to breakdown to its component petroleum materials.
Anyways, for those that comprehend German, enjoy (I didn't see this clip in the documentary (it's probably part of the deleted or extras from the DVD, so I have no clue what he's talking about, can someone translate?):
I went to the doc's office this morning for a follow-up and got my bandages and splint taken off for the first time since the surgery! Don't worry I got new bandages put on again and a hard splint on the bottom to maintain plantar flexion.
(Turns out the doc is going to recycle this for the hard cast...I found that rather distasteful but then he assured me just the cast part in the back, not all the soiled, bloody bandages as well.)
 |
| Soiled Dressings |
It was pretty gnarly looking. I had no clue there were friggin' staples in me haha.
Also, there's an odd growth at the bottom of my foot that was never there before (see that bright white spot on my sole?). The surgeon said it was probably just a "maceration" (maybe he meant laceration?) but later said it's probably a tumor. I said I'll cut that out myself and he said he would watch.
 |
| Metal Gear in Me |
He said I would get a cast put on, on Tuesday since the staples aren't ready to come out yet. He said if he tried yanking them out today they would "hiss" and "squirt"— nasty!
 |
| New Ace Bandage |
The doc said, "Don't worry. I'll make it all pretty again for the ladies. I could see the stress in your eyes." What a joker.
I asked him if it would be OK for me to return to classes next week and he said, "I want you to. We can cure everything but stupidity. Have you heard that before?"
He also told me that since I waited so long to have surgery, the gap has widened considerably so instead of using 2-4 strands, he needed to use 6. I asked him about the suturing and he said it's super strong sutures. He said those 6 sutures are strong enough to support my whole body if they were hanging from them upside down.
Surgical Staples vs. Sutures
I forgot to ask why staples were used to close the wound instead of sutures though my mom said that black stuff ARE the sutures so she said both were used, only since it was such a large wound both sutures and staples were required.
I'm not so sure but this eHow Health article explains it pretty well. (Note to self: also ask the doc to check my left Achilles because it's been feeling odd. I hope it's not tendonitis.)
I read a study that said in stapling led to 4x the number of infections versus traditional suturing but since I obviously have staples in, I'm going to ignore that study and not post the link. Ignorance is bliss. Anyways, there are plenty of other studies out there that say they are comparatively the same, the only difference being cosmetic (staples leave more scars, but scars are sexy so who cares?).
A preview of what's going to happen to me next week:
__________________________________________
The Nitty Gritty
I found some more interesting videos to post.
This one is just a general video on how one ruptures their achilles tendon or if it's just tendonitis (check this out, B-money!).
\\
This other one talks about the Krakow suturing technique for connecting the two ends of the ruptured tendon. It's a very detailed and informative video. The best one I've seen so far. (FYI: some graphic still images show up after 2 minutes though.)
David Beckham's Ruptured Achilles Tendon (2010)
After seeing that video, I looked it up and apparently soccer star, David Beckham, ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2010; I don't follow soccer/football so I never knew. Read about it here.
After 2 years, David Beckham I guess is still not all healed though and he never went to the World Cup because of it. Now he's doing Bikram yoga to heal his Achilles. Sigh ... I tried to find an article stating that the soccer star was now all healed but even after 2 years, I couldn't find any. Oh well, I'm a lot younger than him...
_____________________
"Plastic Planet"
I know this has nothing to do with my achilles surgery at all, but I also wanted to write a review on a brilliant documentary I started (but didn't finish) last night called "Plastic Planet." It's fascinating and scary how much a completely synthetic product has come to dominate our planet, from clothing, chemicals, fuel, to even cosmetics and food additives.
They assured everyone that plastic is a completely inert material that will not invade the food system but in fact, it has. Fish eat tiny bits of plastic that has broken down from sunlight exposure and the churning of the seas. Cattle and livestock eat petroleum-derived, pesticide-laced grain feed. Even our processed foods are all packaged in various plastic materials and even preserved and colored with petroleum-derived preservatives, food colorings, and other additives. We are assured it's all safe, but we now know (after all the BPA, pthalates, parabens, plasticizers, etc. media blitz) that it's endocrine-disrupting and carcinogenic.
I believe it's a German documentary so I couldn't find the interview I was after with the scientist, Klaus Rhomberg. He talked about how a single PVC diaper takes 200 years to breakdown to its component petroleum materials.
Anyways, for those that comprehend German, enjoy (I didn't see this clip in the documentary (it's probably part of the deleted or extras from the DVD, so I have no clue what he's talking about, can someone translate?):
For English-speaking folks, here's a trailer:
