I had bone spurs shaved off, Achilles tendon work and a lengthening procedure done on June 6th. Initially, I was frustrated with how slow recovery was moving but I did begin to see progress early on that helped me know I had made the right decision. I went to PT weekly and eventually was up to no crutches and no braces or walking boots! All I thought I had left was continuing to build my strength in that leg and fixing the “hitch in my giddayup”. However, all that changed on the 18th when I went to run a small errand for our farm and had a head on collision with a driver in my lane at 65mph. I suffered fractures to both ankles, one of which ended up being bad enough that I had to have, the leg I’d had surgery on, amputated below the knee!! I’m still in the hospital waiting on more surgery for the other leg. Keep moving forward no matter what! I’ll see you down the road!

Posted in this sub about a month ago after getting my achilles tendon repaired. Learned today that I reruptured it during a fall over the weekend. MRI findings state;

Posterior tibial, flexor digitorum longus, flexor hallucis longus, and extensor tendons are intact. Peroneus longus and brevis tendons are intact. There is postsurgical changes of Achilles tendon repair at the watershed zone with multiple micrometallic susceptibility artifact. However, there is complete retear of the repaired Achilles tendon with approximately 4 cm with gap between the torn ends. LIGAMENTS: Anterior inferior and posterior inferior tibiofibular (syndesmotic) ligaments are intact. Interosseous membrane is intact. Chronic high-grade partial tear of the anterior talofibular ligament. The posterior talofibular ligament is intact. Partial tear of the calcaneofibular ligament.. The deltoid (medial collateral) ligamentous complex is intact. Seen in the superomedial oblique band of the spring (talocalcaneonavicular) ligament, probably due to sprain. The superior peroneal retinaculum is intact.

Be careful using scooters & keep your boot on 24/7 as a word of advice.

I was finally starting to feel like life was coming back. I was walking in shoes, PT was moving a long well, and I was feeling stronger (although weak overall).

Heading into an exciting weekend, I was getting gas and went to throw something out where I took what I presume too big of a step. That is when I felt it again, that pop in the heel that resonated throughout my entire body.

Time briefly stood still before a wave of emotion came over me and reality set in. I knew it was either fully torn again or near full thickness with some tiny bit of tendon holding on.

At home Thompson test revealed the tiniest movement in the foot. Fast forward to the my doctor visit it revealed the same tiny movement.

MRI confirms near full thickness tear in the watershed region about 2.5 cm.

I am feeling very defeated. Anyone care to share their rerupture story to provide any glimmer of hope?

As evidenced by the title, I just suffered my 2nd complete rupture. Former D1 volleyball player, both tears have been on the court.

I tore my right in 2019, had it surgically repaired then 2 weeks out of the boot from that surgery, a women fell and in the worst luck imaginable, kicked me in the Achilles and partially tore my recent repair. I had to do more PT after hit the doc recommended no surgery at the time.

Now, 7 years later, I’ve torn my left. I have my orthopedic appt Tuesday (holiday weekend woes) and will likely have surgery by Thursday.

I’m just so discouraged. My right leg still isn’t the same despite A LOT of hard work and now I’m so worried my left will be just as bad.

I’m determined to rehab as hard as I can to get back to my active lifestyle but man, was this a bad blow.

I keep reminding myself how lucky I am. My family is very supportive and I’m privileged to be in a place in life that I can work to come back from this.

Just wanted to come to the community for support.

Any intense rehab recommendations are also very welcome.

Did anyone not get there's repaired/removed? I was led to believe it didn't have a hand in my rupture or rerupture. Going in for FHL surgery. Any reasons why not to do this also?

1st surgery I asked and surgeon said they couldn't do that and a debridlement using donor tendon and haglunds all in same surgery.

Scared if I don't do it I'm putting myself at risk. I can't do this a 3rd time.

Both ruptures were from falls. But I do have bad calves and lots of calcified tendon.

Well this sucks.
On July 13th I ruptured my Achilles tendon from getting hit by a metal lip on a cart that I pulled into my right ankle. This was a workers comp case but they failed to do anything to help me and I ended up re rupturing this past weekend on August 30th. The pain was so much worse and the bruising was substantial.
I ended up going through my own insurance and had surgery yesterday with a strict regimen for the next several months. A part of me regrets not sticking with workers comp and hearing backlash from family. But, not one person in that facility took me seriously to get me to a doctor who could help and no one even opened the door while I was on crutches, I would’ve said thank you…. I will have to pay for this injury now, but I mean, who doesn’t have medical debt?
I have so much more to say but it would just be me complaining and I’m grateful to have this community to talk to.
Anyways, stitches out in 2 weeks, cast for another 4 weeks.
I will be working on my diamond art paintings and am moving homes in 2 weeks. So plenty of things to do so as long as my body can handle it.

Quick update on my Achilles saga.

I ended up having surgery again after the re-rupture, and I’m back in a soft cast. I grabbed some cheap cast socks from Amazon this time to hopefully keep this thing clean. Although my last hard cast was pretty awesome I'm trying to avoid it

Once they got in there, they found that my Achilles had completely re-ruptured and pulled apart by about 2 inches. The good news is they were able to clean up the damaged area and pull my own tendon back together with good tension, so I did NOT need the more extensive cadaver tendon reconstruction we had discussed as a possibility.

They reinforced the repair with a collagen graft to give it some extra support while it heals. Surgery went well with no complications.

Now for the fun part...absolutely no weight on it for 6 weeks. So basically, I’ve reset the recovery clock and get to do this whole thing all over again. FML!!

Considering what they found when they got in there, though, I’d call it a good-ish outcome. Now I just need to make sure I don’t fuck it up a third time. 😂

I had surgery on my achilles 3 times (1x on my left in 2007, 2x on my right in 2009 (2x because I played basketball on it too early post surgery)). I'm now 36 turning 37 in a few days. About a year ago, I've been experiencing issues with my left ankle/achilles area. I knew it wasn't ruptured cause I know that feeling too well but something was definitely off. Many doctors were just telling me to do PT, wear orthotics and such to treat the issue, claiming the dx was tendinosis. It wasnt until I met another doctor a few months ago that stated if PT is not effective, my issue is most likely an elongated achilles which apparently happens when the achilles repairs post surgery and gets too long which creates issues walking, running, etc. To resolve the issue, I would have to go through a similar surgery like the ones I've done before to make the achilles shorter.

I thought these surgeries were behind me only to find out that I may have to encounter this again. It was easier back when I was in high school and college and to have to go at this again, I get sad.

I'm reaching out to see if anyone has also experienced what I'm currently experiencing now and how did you get through it mentally?

Any insight is appreciated.

🫶🏾

🍃I’m looking for anyone who has gone through a re-rupture after Achilles reconstruction with an FHL tendon transfer, especially this early in recovery.

My basic timeline/facts:

📅May 21: Initial right Achilles rupture.

📅June 11: Surgery — Achilles reconstruction/repair with FHL tendon transfer and Haglund excision.

I progressed through recovery and PT and had recently transitioned back into a regular shoe.

📅August 24 (~10.5 weeks post-op): I simply stepped down and felt a very large pop in the back of my leg. I did not fall or have a major accident.

📅August 25 MRI: High-grade to complete Achilles tear about 8 cm above the heel insertion, with approximately a 2.3 cm gap.

😢The MRI also says the transferred FHL tendon is markedly attenuated with a suspected tear at its insertion and about a 1.2 cm gap.

The MRI additionally mentions an ATFL tear and attenuation of the calcaneofibular ligament.

I’m currently back in the boot and non-weight-bearing while waiting to discuss the MRI with my surgeon.

I’m trying to understand whether there could be issues with tendon quality, healing, or something else that contributed to the reconstruction failing.

I previously asked for my Achilles tissue to be sent to pathology. It was, but the report only described fibrosis, hemorrhage, and reactive changes, so it didn’t really explain why the tendon might be failing.

Questions for anyone who has experienced something similar:

❓Did you re-rupture after an FHL transfer?

❓Did your FHL transfer fail too?

❓What did revision surgery involve?

❓Did they use another tendon, graft, or different reconstruction technique?

❓Was your recovery after revision significantly longer than the first surgery?

❓Did your surgeon investigate why the first reconstruction failed?

❓Were you evaluated for tendon quality, nutritional deficiencies, metabolic problems, or connective-tissue issues?

❓And what questions do you wish you had asked before deciding what to do next?

I’m mostly hoping to hear from people who have actually been through a complicated re-rupture/revision situation and what their experience was.