tramping new zealand

Back in Nelson, Monday was a weekend away, but I was seen first thing by a sports physiotherapist.

“Yeah, it’s a calf strain. Take it easy.”

So that was Day 4.

The next Monday, Day 11, I went back, and they recommended an ultrasound that took until Day 15, a Friday, for an appointment.

All of this seemed to go on for a while.

Meanwhile, I was hobbling around town, out and about and cranking out quite a few steps each day.

Then, on Day 18, lunchtime, I received a call from the physio.

“It’s two tears to the Achilles and the Plantaris Tendon has also snapped. Get up to A & E and get a cast on it, immediately!”

I took an Uber post-haste.

The doctor was incredulous that it hadn’t been diagnosed earlier. I could feel a clear notch on the back of my lower calf.

Still, I finally had a cast on.

Just a word about a leg cast and crutches.

Life is really awkward.

You can’t carry anything much around.

Make a cup of coffee, and it’s an issue about getting your cup still at high tide to a seat.

Eventually, I worked out that I could carry stuff in a backpack around the house, with my coffee in a sealed container.

It was slow getting around. I went up to the supermarket and timed my return: an hour and 27 minutes. I could only take three or four hops before needing a rest: the 700 steps usual time – fewer than 10 minutes.

This is the most difficult time in the rehab process. You are pretty helpless, and the journey to come feels the most difficult you may have done.

The only good aspect of a cast is that it is really the way to meet people. People continually stopped me wanting to know my story or tell theirs.