help!

[kristen]

My husband ruptured his achilles almost 2 weeks ago, jumping off a bus. He's 35, a surfer and a sailor and very fit... it was a freak accident. His foot slipped off the curb while he was in forward motion, and pop! He recovered quickly and could hobble around within minutes, so he thought that he had just sprained it. The pain went away after 5 or so days, the swelling went down but he was still struggling to walk normally complaining that he has no power. We made an appoinment with a chiropracter to see if that might help and it was he who discovered that the tendon had ruptured. We went to the emergency room immediately and he met with the surgeon the following morning. We are in Canada visiting- they have social medicine and we have no insurance- the Doctor was obviously irritated with this even though paying is not a problem. We haven't booked the surgery because his office isn't open until Monday, and it will likely take up to 2 weeks before he can get in. The doctor gave us a minute of his time, and no explanation as to whether he will recover fully, and when asked if it will be a problem that it will take 2 weeks before it is repaired the doctor sneered that we've already waited 10 days.
We don't know where to turn as the health care situation here in Canada obivously lacks, so I've been reading up on the internet. I can find lots about the achilles rupture and surgery but nothing about delayed treatment. Obviously we're both FREAKING out. Does anyone know anything??? Will it be reattached successfully???
Please help with any info or experience.
Thanks.

[Rob N]

Kristen:

What province and city are you in here in Canada?
If it helps at all, they reattached and reinforced (hamstring graft) my patellar tendon 5.5 weeks after the initial tear, so I suspect that they can reattach the achilles tendon successfully in the time frame you mentioned. If you are having a problem with getting an MRI, cross the border into the U.S. and you can get one the next day (e.g., buffalomri.com).

Rob (in Canada)

[kjwilkin]

My husband ruptured his achilles almost 2 weeks ago, jumping off a bus. He's 35, a surfer and a sailor and very fit... it was a freak accident. His foot slipped off the curb while he was in forward motion, and pop! He recovered quickly and could hobble around within minutes, so he thought that he had just sprained it. The pain went away after 5 or so days, the swelling went down but he was still struggling to walk normally complaining that he has no power. We made an appoinment with a chiropracter to see if that might help and it was he who discovered that the tendon had ruptured. We went to the emergency room immediately and he met with the surgeon the following morning. We are in Canada visiting- they have social medicine and we have no insurance- the Doctor was obviously irritated with this even though paying is not a problem. We haven't booked the surgery because his office isn't open until Monday, and it will likely take up to 2 weeks before he can get in. The doctor gave us a minute of his time, and no explanation as to whether he will recover fully, and when asked if it will be a problem that it will take 2 weeks before it is repaired the doctor sneered that we've already waited 10 days.
We don't know where to turn as the health care situation here in Canada obivously lacks, so I've been reading up on the internet. I can find lots about the achilles rupture and surgery but nothing about delayed treatment. Obviously we're both FREAKING out. Does anyone know anything??? Will it be reattached successfully???
Please help with any info or experience.
Thanks.

Hi there,

If I was you I'd wait until you return from your holidays. You're better off recovering at home where you know the system.

Suggest that you go and see a sports physician. If you are staying in BC there is a good sports physician called Karim Khan. Let me know if you need his contact details.

After having a bad experience with an emergency department at Box Hill hospital in Melbourne I go straight to my sports physician at Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre for something like that. Just don't want to risk anything. You only get one body and need to look after it. About 12 years ago I badly sprained my ankle when I was getting off the bus when I was on my way home from university. I was taken to Box Hill hospital and given the wrong treatment. As I'd played a lot of sport I knew that I needed to get ice onto the ankle as soon as possible. Three hours later I got the ice, but the damage had already been done. If I'd got the ice a lot earlier it is an injury I would have been able to manage conservatively. However, I ended up having to undergo 2 ankle reconstructions.

Just make sure you get the right treatment. You have every right to know if the operation will be a success and what the recovery entails.

Good luck !

[kristen]

that sounds hopeful. Did you have to have a graft because the tendon shrivelled up or something? We live in the Caribbean(though I'm Canadian) so we would likely fly to Canada anyways in the event of serious injury. We thought about heading over to the states knowing that it would be fast and efficient, but the cost over there is through the roof. In Canada everything is government controlled including costs. It's all such a shock. Time to get health insurance I guess... surely once we have it we'll never get injured again-Murphy's Law?

[Rob N]

Kristen:
Since it sounds like you want the surgery done in Canada, I would recommend that you phone the best sports medicine rehab clinic that you can find and try to get an appointment with reigning orthopod in that shop. Other suggestions would be to see if the local hospital emergency doc will refer you. At a minimum you will need a family doc to write the requisition form and send it to the local MRI facility. The ER doc will do you a great favour if he/she will let you get the MRI done in the local hospital. Otherwise you will have to deal with horrendous waiting periods for private clinic MRI's (Go to the U.S. at least for the MRI under these circumstances and then bring the CD back to Canada). Since you plan to pay privately, you can always try to contact the local professional sports club and talk to their trainer since they have arrangements in place for private services. It is hard to help you since we are all guessing where you are located and services vary greatly across the country. I am guessing that you are in Toronto in which case a Buffalo MRI is feasible and there are a multitude of hospitals to contact. Remember, the orthopods generally won't jump to serve you without an MRI in your hand and the related radiologist report.
Rob N