I added this section so I could blog about my injury, surgery and subsequent rehab'/physio.
I would encourage others to do the same regarding their injuries so that we can all learn.
PART 1
On Nov 29, which just happens to be my Birthday, I suffered a complete rupture of my left Achilles tendon while playing. The build-up to the rupture was unremarkable, but typical with these injuries. I was moving backwards with the play coming towards me. The play quickly changed directions, so I lunged forward springing off with my left foot. I heard a sickening "pop" sound (the kind you can mimic by placing your finger in your mouth, sealing with your lips, and quickly withdrawing). As I was falling, I recall my toes flexed forward (plantar flexion). I was carried off the field and helped to my car, but remarkably, there was very little pain.
Within 30 hours of the injury, I had seen both my family doctor and a physiotherapist. I was surprised, but relieved when both of them concluded that it was not a ruptured Achilles, but something minor. "I think you strained your soleus", said the physio. "What about that 'pop'?", I asked. "Maybe that was your ankle cracking", came the reply. The doctor had me move my foot and toes all around and because I could do this with relative ease and very little pain, concluded that it could not be a ruptured Achilles.
LESSON #1: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, NOT YOUR DOCTORS.
I've since learned that there are numerous muscles and tendons responsible for moving your foot. Your Achilles is what allows you to spring off with power. The fact that I could move my foot up and down and all around should not have ruled out a ruptured Achilles. With a ruptured Achilles, you have no functional ability to roll onto your toes. It's not like it's painful to do, IT SIMPLY CANNOT BE DONE. Your brain tells your foot to do it, but it cannot. The only thing I can compare it to would be waking up with your arm asleep. You cannot raise your arm until that feeling returns to it. If I had "strained my soleus" or say sprained my ankle, I would still be able to roll onto my toes, albeit painful. It's too bad that neither the doctor or the physio correctly diagnosed the problem because...
LESSON #2: A RUPTURED ACHILLES IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.
Not because you are going to die from it, but the chances of easily fixing it with less complications and subsequent morbidity are better in the first 2 or 3 days after the rupture. And once 2 or 3 weeks passes, a simple reattachment with sutures is no longer possible as the torn ends drift further apart and begin to scar.
[more later]