What Chuck Does

Affliction - Achilles Tendon

If you’ve read Larry’s post, then you know that his roommate Allen completely tore his Achilles tendon from his heel. My boss had this happen to him during a softball game running from 1st to 2nd base. Anyway so I invited him over to our house over the weekend since Larry’s in New York and he’s basically immobile. The cast is practically up to his knee, he’s still on pain-killers, he needs to have his leg constantly elevated on a pack of ice, and he can’t drive since it’s his right foot. This is all normal since he had his surgery on Thursday morning but basically he’s bed-ridden until the pain goes away and he is farther along in the healing process. I’m guessing at least another week before he can comfortably get around on his crutches because as of right now it hurts to even use the bathroom.

My main consideration for an injury of this magnitude is the psychological damage. Being young (26 years old) and active, this kind of an injury has psychological implications that need to be recognized and dealt with. Doctors estimate the physical healing process takes 4-6 months but don’t say anything about the psychological healing of being bed-ridden, complete change in lifestyle, acknowledgement of mortality, etc. For those reasons I believe the emotional challenges are far greater than the physical recovery. Part of the psychological damage comes from the self-loathing that occurs during the healing process. You start to wonder if this will ever end, why this happened to you, how useless you are, etc. Cultivating a greater sense of compassion particularly for oneself is critical during this period of recovery. Getting mad at oneself for being injured only makes things worse and lengthens the time it takes to recover. This is obviously easier said than done. Keep those spirits up Allen!