Tendon Trouble...

       To the left is an anatomy picture of the human lower leg. The extreme lower portion in white is the Achilles Tendon. In Greek mythology, Achilles was a warrior who was nearly invulnerable due to being dipped in the River Styx as a babe, except for the heel that his mother held him by. Achilles was left vulnerable by that heel and in the legend's ending he was struck by a poison arrow in that same vulnerable heel and died of the wound.
     The achilles tendon has a fame now that goes beyond the myth. In fact, to rupture the achilles tendon has been said to be the most common injury to middle-aged men "who think they are still 21". I guess if the shoe fits, I will wear it - in December - after therapy is over. I have a walking boot for the next few weeks. On July 16th, the day I started my Doctorate of Ministry in Expository Preaching, I was playing basketball - a game I rarely play - and was chasing down a loose ball when I felt and heard a POP! and down I went.
     There was no poison arrow in the wound, but the gelatinous feel and the inability to stand made most everyone sure what had happened. It felt like someone hit me in the back of the leg with a bat. I ended up in a UK Blue cast for a week, and then another splint for a second week as I finished my seminars, (taking notes in a pool lounge chair with my foot elevated all week) on crutches. Below are the photos of the post op and beginning of recovery. The surgeon said looking at the first that it was "BEAUTIFUL!" Jessica and I both thought of words like grisly, nasty, gross. You decide. He did a beautiful job in surgery, and I am putting weight on it just days after the surgery. I am walking in the boot without crutches a week after surgery, almost a month after my Achilles heel kicked back at me. Thank God for faithful prayer warriors and the technological, medical world we live in.

Un-Stapled and Un-Stitched

Stapled and Stitched