much ado about nothing...

i have a confession to make. it's not about my internet surfing habits, in case you're waiting for something sordid to go "aha!" to.

three weeks and a few days ago, i had some surgery performed on my right calf.

i was lamely attempting to keep this under wraps from people. probably due to being too self-important. i was legitimately concerned that if word got out about this surgery, my 'hire-ability' would be compromised by rumours of my physical demise as an active drummer/percussionist.

the reader's digest version is this: i was born with severe club-foot (both feet). essentially, feet were turned in such a way that the soles of my feet were practically touching the insides of my ankles. (yes, 'eww', would be an appropriate response) if you need to see pictures, simply google 'club foot' and you'll be 'overwhelmed' with material.

now, club-foot is apparently one of the most common birth defects. many instances are easily corrected by 'binding' casting or bracing the feet into the correct position. babies, being so 'pliable', make this sort of treatment successful most of the time.

unfortunately, i would have to be an exception. and, being born in 1964, meant that there were some things not yet fully understood about the condition and how best to treat it.

fortunately for me, i had a forward-thinking pediatric-orthapaedic doctor.

after spending my first 1.5 yrs essentially in casts, it became apparent that although my feet were technically 'straightened', my heel-cords were so short that it appeared as though i might never be able to walk on a flat-foot. i was a 'toe-walker'

i was one of the first toddlers to ever have had my achilles tendons 'repositioned', essentially lengthening them. thus, after more time in casts and braces, i was essentially able to walk on my feet more or less like everyone else.

the down side was that i had a lifetime of very restricted mobility in my feet to look forward to. you see, the surgeon had to make his 'best-educated-guess' about how tall and big i would be as an adult, and re-attach my achilles tendons to a position that would service me through most of my life.

this restricted mobility meant that i can't walk or run exactly as others do. aside from the usual trials and tribulations of being 'different' from your friends (including those dreaded orthapaedic shoes), my whole body had to adapt to my reality from the ground up.

so, i've been living with back problems from at least my early 20's. my feet, well, i had to adjust right?

how is it that i wound up being a drummer, and actually capable of fulfilling a dream of becoming a professional? well, i don't suppose that i will ever know what my true potential may have been from when i started. i do feel that i adapted quite nicely.

playing bass drum 'heel-down' style was simply never an option. i simply didn't have the range of motion to execute this style without a lot of discomfort. i was, however, quite capable of playing in the 'heel-up' position: essentially using the ball of my foot as a contact and flex-point; a lot of the motion comes from basically 'stepping' with my whole leg, keeping my ankle as loose as i possibly can, and dancing on the balls of my feet.

fortunately, there isn't anything weird about this technique, so nobody ever made fun of me playing the drums... (definitely part of the attraction when you're young). the usual young-canadian-male pursuits like hockey and soccer weren't viable options for me, as i simply couldn't keep up very well.

going back to my first surgery as a toddler: i was made aware at an early age that there was a good chance that i would require further corrective surgery, especially after i finished growing. problem was, there was a lot of scar-tissue built up on my heel-cords. every 'specialist' i had seen didn't want to 'touch' it, so to speak. there would be no guarantee of a successful outcome, given the amount of scar tissue.

so, maybe it took 43 odd years to get a second chance at more improvement, but alas, come it did.

i was referred to a foot and ankle specialist here in vancouver named Dr. Alastair Younger. after examining my feet, and showing them off to his residents (it was a result of a ground-breaking surgery at the time, don't forget), Dr. Younger had a quick solution for me that prior to me seeing him, no one had ever suggested it as an option:

Gastroc Slide, aka Gastrocnemius Release

i wish that there was a lot of information out there on this procedure, unfortunately, there is not. in layman's terms, essentially what is done is that the bundle of tendons (the gastrocenemius tendon, i believe it's called) that form at the upper end of the achilles tendon which connect to our calf muscle is literally cut loose or "released" from its position.

sound painful? it was. trust me.

fortunately, the body is a miraculous machine that seems to know what to do to help itself, often in spite of ourselves. the tendon 'wants' to reattach itself. i believe the term is 'vascular': the principle is quite simple: tendons too-tight, need lengthening - can't lengthen from the bottom up, so lengthen from the top-down by releasing the tendon from its 'purgatory' and allowing it to go where it really wants to go.

so, three weeks later. I've started playing again. i think it's still too soon to say how much improvement there will be, as i still have quite a bit of tenderness, i've only begun physiotherapy, and i can feel and imagine that there is still a good amount of swelling in the tissues around my calf and gastrocenimius. what i can tell for certain is that when i sit and try to tap my feet on the floor from a flat-foot position: i can already raise my right toes higher than my left by a noticeable amount. yay!

i will try to keep updating the progress of my right foot: if all goes well, i'll get the left foot done in about weeks time.

stay tuned...