Okay, so the photo is Mike hamming it up, but he's had a hard time for the past month or so after tearing his Achilles. Mike was at the YMCA at lunch in October playing wallyball (volleyball in a racquetball court) - he took a step forward and tore his Achilles tendon in half. He says he immediately dropped like a stone and couldn't put any weight on the leg at all. They moved him to the floor of the locker room where two coworkerks happened by and said "if you were a horse, they would have shot you by now!"
One trip to the emergency room and one trip to the orthopedic surgeon later, it was confirmed that the tendon completely separated - half of it rolling up into his calf. After 7 days in a splint, he had surgery to suture the tendon back together. They put him in a larger splint, then the orthopedic boot he has been in for a week or so. The boot will gradually stretch the tendon back out to normal length. Over a period of weeks they will reset the boot to different angles and at some point he will start physical therapy. This will keep him on crutches through the new year and let's just say Mike is NOT happy about it.
Since the accident, he has luckily been able to work from home via a laptop his boss brought over and via phone. Mike is used to being very active so sitting around is really annoying and boring for him. Despite the pain, he has kept a stiff upper lip - you would never know he had been hurt, which was really reassuring to the kids as they sat with him at the ER. We must admit, it is nice having him home with us (though we're sure he's ready to get out of the house!)
