Sorryyyyy to hear! I had a case of AT for a year and a half. I tried everything. When I was told to take yet another two weeks to a month completely off or face bone spurs and eventual surgery, I either had to give up Ironman, or find another solution. What I found is going to sound too simplistic, but it worked for me. The AT occasionally comes back, but I can get rid of it now in a day or two without missing any training. You have done some "catastrophic" damage to cause swelling, so Ice is imperative. And you are going to have to let the tissue heal some. But if you don't relax and lengthen out your calf muscles, you won't get over this.
The following (cut and pasted from the forum on the Julstro sports injury website (
www.julstro.com/18.html) should be useful.
When the two main calf muscles (gastrocneimus and soleus) contract, you stand on your toes. Then to put your foot back flat on the floor the two muscles must stretch fully.
If the muscle doesn't stretch it will pull on the AT, and that is the beginning of your problem. As the muscles pull on the AT they eventually try to pull the muscle from the bone. This will cause and inflammation and swelling. It could also cause your body to send bone cells into the area to hold onto the tendon attachment, and you will get a bone spur.
Stretching is vital, but are you getting the full stretch? Most people only end up stretching the Gastroc Muscle and not the Soleus. Also... What commonly cause tendonitis are muscle spasms. You need to do the basic therapy to your calf muscles. Start with this. Either sit or lie down and cross your "bad" leg over your other knee. You want your kneecap just below the back of your "bad" knee, at the top of your calf muscle. Press in hard, and slowly slide the knee down towards your heel (the movement is actually going to be lifting your bad leg up towards your chest.) You will find some very painful knots or spasms in your calf muscle. Try to cover the entire muscle, from the inside to the outside, but always moving DOWN the calf muscles with the motion. Stop before you get to your injury. Only go down to about four inches above the back of your ankle. Once you find these spasms, you want to press in with your knee on them for 60 seconds at a time. Press in as much as you can handle the pain. See if you get any relief from this.
Another method is done by crossing your leg and putting your injured ankle just above your opposite knee (typical "guy" position for crossed legs) and begin squeezing your calf muscle, just like you were kneading bread dough. Go in a direction from the top of your calf down to your AT. If you feel some points that are especially tender, those are spasms and you need to squeeze them, or press on them, for 60 seconds. This should take the initial pain away. You can then gently stretch the muscles.
I am speaking from experience here. You will initially need to do the self-treatments four or five times a day and stretch as well (only when warm). Start easy, however. You will get over this, but it won't be a quick fix.
Good luck.