My Comeback Story: Patrick O.

I have been skiing since high school. I have taught skiing in the past and I have been on ski patrol for 30 years. I lived at Alta, Utah for three years following college. I spend about a month out west skiing and ski in Europe every year. I currently patrol at Plattekill. I also like to hike and have been working on hiking all the Catskill peaks over 3,500 feet in elevation. Approximately two years ago, I began to experience pain in my right heel. Over time, it gradually became worse and affected walking in ski boots, hiking and driving a car. Surprisingly, it did not bother me when I was skiing. Just walking in ski boots. I wore Birkenstock's and flip-flops in the summer and big roomy rubber boots during the winter to lessen the pain. I saw a physician at Bassett Hospital who diagnosed Haglund's deformity. X-rays also revealed a bone spur in the area of my Achilles tendon. I was referred to physical therapy. Physical therapy helped but the pain always returned. I had an MRI in January and met with Dr. Rosenbaum in April of 2025. The MRI revealed Achilles tendinopathy, edema, a small insertional tear of the Achilles and a split tear of the peroneus brevis tendon. Dr. Rosenbaum performed surgery on June 16, 2025, with right Achilles tendon debridement and secondary repair, Haglund's resection of the calcaneus, and excision of retrocalcaneal bursa. Post surgery, I wore a surgical cast, followed by a walking fiberglass cast, and finally a walking boot for approximately two months. I also had physical therapy at Bassett Healtcare. Last month, October, I hiked all five fire tower peaks in the Catskills, Red Hill, Balsam Lake, Hunter MT, Overlook, and Mt. Tremper. I hiked to Overlook on October 27th and Mt. Tremper the following day. Mt. Tremper was a 6.3 mile hike with an elevation gain of 2,031 feet. This month, I will resume hiking the 3,500 foot peaks with friends from the Trail Sweepers Ski Club. For the first time in a few years, I look forward to skiing and patrolling without limitations or pain. I am very happy with my surgery and recovery. Let it snow!