(3/3/08) I had heel surgery on Jan 30th by Dr. Dana Verch, orthopedic surgeon in Auburn, to fix some issues in the back of my left heel.
For 9 yrs I've had pain back there and Dr. Verch estimated that there was a bone spur, a calcified part of the achilles tendon, and a degenerated bursa sac. He went in and removed all of that, including a part of my heel bone behind the bursa sac. He only removed 10% of my achilles at the attachment and said the rest of my achilles looked very good.The first 2 weeks I was on crunches. Then I used a special boot to get around real well and could swim a little with pull-buoys. After a month now I can almost walk normally (slowly) and I can ride my bike 20 miles. It seems that every day I get a little more strength and mobility back into my achilles. Maybe I can try running in a couple more weeks...
No, I haven't been going crazy without the running. I got in a few good runs before the surgery so it's been nice reflecting back on those. I've been really busy with work so haven't really thought about training.
There's still pain in the heel from the surgery so I don't know if my original problem is cured or not. But either way, I'm glad I had the procedure done and everything's gone very well. And the Lord has made it really easy, giving me a lot of help in Robin and a job that I can do from home. Spring is coming, looking forward to getting out more :)