A year ago I moved to western Massachusetts & now mostly situated.
I had to stop any significant riding a few years ago because I broke one of my AFO braces, had a few heath problems, and I couldn’t get MediCal to do ANYTHING.
Now w/ Mass-Health & MediCare things are moving along. A week ago I had surgery to lengthen my achilles tendons (being not able to stand w/ my feet flat is what hindered my riding the most IMO) & recovery is coming along well. I probably won’t be able to do much riding till spring (may not even ever be able to ride much again, but I’m optimistic).
After ~15years I’m back to using a walker and my feet will stay in casts for a couple of months. I’ve been doing a ton of rehab & working on those other health issues and hopefully back to Muni intensely in the spring :o
I even made the gamble of buying a new uni, one of those clearance Koxx’s.
Good luck! Hope you recover well enough so you can ejoy riding again. I’ve got a long term health issue myself that stops me riding (or doing anything else) for a few days from time to time, nothing major but quite frustrating when it flares up. Not nearly as bad as what you’re going through though. Stay positive
Glad to hear things are going in the proper direction. Work as hard on your recovery as you would love to ride after and I am sure you will be on the saddle stronger than before.
Hi there. Can you please provide an update how you doing with your Achilles tendon lengthening surgery? I’m thinking about having the same surgery due to mice Reginald putting my Achilies tendon back together too tetley after I completely ruptured it. I’m Curious to know if you felt the surgery went well and if you had any significant complications or regrets. Do you feel the surgery made a big difference? Are you more flexible now in your Achilles tendon where it really matters?
If you wouldn’t mind emailing me at Spruce321@comcast.net that would be greatly appreciated since I’m really struggling whether to have the surgery or not. Is difficult finding somebody who’s had the surgery. Or if you prefer a reply here in this form would be OK too. Thanks!
Still healing well. Totally glad I did the surgery (three pokes in each achilles with a hot rod). I did over do the stretching a bit and now have a bit too much anckle flexability (since I have little control of my lower legs to keep my legs from colapsing, hopefully solved w/ braces)
I’ve had to take laxatives ever since my accident in 1999 but the prep and general anathesia forced me to nearly tripple my already high dosage (almost, but still not quite back to my pre-surgery dosage). They gave me Percocet for the pain but I only took it once (significantly worsened my constipation). I took ibuprofen when I really needed it (usually only to help me sleep) because I was able to spend so much time w/ my feet elevated.
I was in casts for ~ 6 weeks then surgical boots for 4 (broke the top strap on my right, so they replaced the whole boot). Two weeks ago I got these carbon fiber AFO’s.
I’ve had to Macgyver the boots & braces to walk better. These braces seem very good, just not quite stiff enough for me (several ways they can stiffen them), have no arch support, and don’t do anything about the drop-foot on my left (which is worse on that side). I’m meeting them this afternoon to see what they can do about these.
Skilewis! With your determination you will get there! I love the fact that you bought a new uni !!! You were one of my biggest motivators when I was first starting out. THANKS skilewis !! Hang in there!!
That view is great and one of the very few places w/ trails around here from what I’ve heard (WAY less than the 28 miles of single track a ten min drive from my old house)
The CF braces aren’t really working out for me (no toe lift, little rear support, and not stiff enough for me), so I was fitted for new plastic braces. They should be just like my old broken ones but w/ a thicker plastic making them stiffer, stronger, & possibly even harder to find shoes that fit :o. They should arive in ~ two weeks. Now more ankle flexibility seems to be a + so I’m doing lots of stretching.again.
The Koxx uni I ordered (aluminum framed Alien Backflip equivalent) from Amazon I returned. Twice they sent me the steel Devil frame, so I gave up on that.
I’ve been fully rehabbed from the surgery for a month or two and swelling in my feet which was a big problem unless intensely active is way less. I couldn’t really work on squats and stuff until the situation w/ my braces was straightened out. So I mostly worked on stretching & improving my diet. Because of the surgery I had to more than double my amount of laxatives, but now I take a bit less than even before the surgery and still improving
About a month ago I got my custom plastic AFO’s. They are tremendously more comfortable than the carbon fiber ones. They didn’t use the thicker plastic like I asked but after 4 or 5 visits to make adjustments they’re pretty much perfect for walking, etc. One of the rivets broke off (apt to fix next week) so they probably only good enough for basic getting around, and sounds like they aren’t willing to remake them, so no uni or trying to learn to run again (but I have an idea on how to make my own solid AFO’s). Now I’m working my legs a lot (so far I can only do sets of 25 free squats). Before my old brace broke I could do sets of 10 pistol squats w/ one finger on a wall for support.
My diy AFO will be from fiberglass & I think, can be much stronger @ similar weight, using my new AFO’s as a mould. My current idea is using a few sheet metal reinforcing plates for more support and shear strength (thinking steel or titanium). I prob won’t really have time to do that until spring.
The big reason why I wanted the surgery is so I could stand w/ my feet flat and improve my standing balance, esp on one leg. Well I can easily get my feet flat but my balance is virtually the same. The physical therapist thinks it’s more of a skill and muscle memory thing that could improve w/ LOTS of practice. Me learning to stand on one foot will prob be like a normal person getting good at slacklining.
I’ve also been working my core. I think if I got it significantly stronger than it was at my peak (which was already pretty strong) it’ll improve my riding and I could do cool moves like dragon flags (I could do one negative before my brace broke) and the human flag
Glad to hear that the surgery has helped and you are seeing some improvements.
Bummer about the Koxx frame, at least your return shipping was domestic (I assume) I still wonder why longneck frames aren’t the norm on 19/20" unicycles.
It gets REALLY cold here in the winter & I get cold easily, but I’ve found a bunch of insulated ski pants @ good prices :o
I’ve had problems getting the motivation to exercise regularly esp. since working my core stimulates my bowels which is a big problem if not done regularly w/ as little warning as I’ve got right now I’ve been trying to do many small exercise sessions throughout the day which is less problematic if I do one or two more/less than usual.
For years I’ve had issues w/ depression. Now I’ve got regular counseling & Prozac which def. help a bit.
and my feet will stay in casts for a couple of months. I’ve been doing a ton of rehab & working on those other health issues and hopefully back to Muni intensely in the spring :o
(since I have little control of my lower legs to keep my legs from colapsing, hopefully solved w/ braces)
