Recovering from ankle surgery: Month 3....still a few questions

[axebiker]

You must not have fucked your ankle up good enough.

The Bears are out down low in the park, up round the Dark Side they will still be asleep. If the wife wants to borrow some Bear Spray, let me know.

I'm allergic to plaster and confinement! All I have to say is THANK GOD I don't have to get the cast. I lasted two days in the last one I had. Never again...

Thanks for the offer on the bear-away. I think we have a can in the camping cabinet, and I'll have her wear the jingling boob tassels... Both she and the dog will have bear bells in tow... I'll give you a shout if we come up empty on the spray though - appreciate it!

[Bunion 2020]

Started PT today. My ankle really doesn't want to move very much but its going to. S L O W L Y.

[axebiker]

Started PT today. My ankle really doesn't want to move very much but its going to. S L O W L Y.

Good luck! I met a guy who had that surgery - he said things were very TIGHT starting out.

I'm up next... I think it's ready, too -- my last few days were pretty bad for me all things considered. Very painful.

[Bunion 2020]

PT is helping out quite a bit. Still lacking some ROM but everyday it gets better. Walking around the house now out of the aircast and that helps a lot. Was cleared for stationary bike and that is good as well. Still lots of swelling after periods of sitting/driving/standing. I will be 60 days post op on the 1st. Good luck with yours.

[Bunion 2020]

Got out yesterday for the 1st time on the Mtn Bike. Friends and I went to Lewis & Clark State Park and they rode the trails while I stuck to the pavement. Got in 1200' of vertical and it felt great. I will need to regress into using a vintage pair of XT pedals with clips for a while until I trust the ankle to make the twisting motion to release but I can live with it.

Good to be outside in the sun!

[axebiker]

Awesome! Keep healing!

A little over 48 hours to go before I go under...

[axebiker]

Got to the surgery center at 5:40 am. Phone rang at 5:52. Canceled. Doctor's father died. Shooting for the 27th now.

[mee85e]

[QUOTE=heather1981;4267180]so glad i just found this thread!

i broke my ankle in 3 places 10 weeks ago and i have a plate and 8/9 screws. cast for 6 weeks no weight bear and walking boot til now. partial weight 2 weeks and since then full weight. Still very tight and havent started pt yet. i have hospital next week for xray and check up. but today ankle has been hurting more so where the plate is and if i rub my hand ovr where plate it i can feel plate unskin.

my question is: can anyone else feel this? Yes, I can feel it. It is literally right under your skin, so that's normal.

[yeahman]

Got to the surgery center at 5:40 am. Phone rang at 5:52. Canceled. Doctor's father died. Shooting for the 27th now.

What happened Axe? How's recovery going?

Good luck Mee85e.

[axebiker]

What happened Axe? How's recovery going?

Good luck Mee85e.

Hey! Well, I'm coming up on 3 months post-op now. Started PT last week after finally ditching the boot. First thing I did - bike ride! Next - stand up paddling. I'm feeling very good. I can feel the weakness, but...my therapist is hot, so I'll be going! Stability feels good, and the only thing I notice right now is somewhat limited range of motion, along with some general fear of not "over-doing it".

If things progress as well as they have so far, I should be back on Tele next season! That's a life-saver in MN...

[yeahman]

Hey! Well, I'm coming up on 3 months post-op now. Started PT last week after finally ditching the boot. First thing I did - bike ride! Next - stand up paddling. I'm feeling very good. I can feel the weakness, but...my therapist is hot, so I'll be going! Stability feels good, and the only thing I notice right now is somewhat limited range of motion, along with some general fear of not "over-doing it".

If things progress as well as they have so far, I should be back on Tele next season! That's a life-saver in MN...

Sounds good man. Just got back from a week of lake life at the cabin near Brainerd. I found stand up paddling to be excellent therapy for my ACL (still rehabbing). The only reason I could determine why it made my weaker leg muscles so tired is because those paddleboards are so balancy that it's virtually impossible to favor one leg over the other.

[ma4fd4]

So happy to find this forum! I broke my Talus into 9 pieces on July 30th. I fell while bouldering at our gym, probably from about 10-15 ft straight onto the floor. (Clumsy me missed the mat). Had surgery on the 3rd, two screws put in. I've been in a cast now for about 7or 8 weeks. Still non weight bearing, Dr. Appt. On Tuesday, hoping the bone has healed up enough for a walking boot. Going crazy being stuck inside all day with limited movement! Using a knee scooter is a blessing for shopping but not in a small apartment. Hoping I can go back to work soon!

[LightRanger]

Ouch. Rehab the everliving shit out of it for ROM purposes when they let you.

[Bunion 2020]

Update: I skied on Saturday at Big Sky for the first time in about 17 Months. I took it easy and stuck to the more packed out areas.

The ankle felt good but was a bit sore after, mainly the scar tissue along the incision.

Worked yesterday at BB hauling tower pads and doing set up in challenging conditions and was in ski boots for 7+ hours.

I was worked at the end and the ankle was a tad sore but it performed well.

Thanks again Dr. D!

[mfe2a3]

Quick update on my progress. Now early March and I'm down to using one crutch...................YIPPEE!

I broke my ankle in 3 place too the start of December Jst over a month in boot now,, so disheartened after reading your story! Was it 5 months and you still need 1 crutch,, wow can't believe tat this might drag out that long! How long were u out of work all together?

[md708c]

Fractured my fib tib on New Year's Day in Mammoth. The amount of snow they've gotten since then hasn't made this easier. I have 15 screws and two plates in my leg. Will I be ready to go by start of next season ?

[Bunion 2020]

^^^ Totally up to you.

PT and more PT.

I am at 365 days as of Saturday.

After 9 hours in ski boots on hardpack snow, rocks and brush I still swell a bit and every work morning before I leave the locker room I drop one Ibuprofen.

I would rather break bones than tear ligaments.

Best of luck.

[m2cdd3]

Hey guys! Just wanted to share my story.. I am 20 years old and about 2 months ago, I broke all 3 bones of my right ankle. I was walking down my apartment complex's stairs and there was a broken strip on one of the stairs and I tripped over it, falling down all 12 steps and had my ankle and foot going one direction and my leg the opposite direction.. I went to the ER where they put me to sleep so they they could put my bones somewhat in place temporarily and they put me in a splint/cast. The next day, I went to see a pediatrist where I was told I need surgery ASAP. Unfortunately, the ER had wrapped my ankle wayyy to tightly in the splint where my skin was covered in blisters which also caused more swelling! My pediatrist unfortunately had me wait an extra week for the blisters to disappear and the swelling to go down, as it would be hurtful to the skin if she operated on that kind of skin. The next week I went back for a checkup and the swelling had gone down, but the blisters were still there. She decided to do surgery in 2 days from that appointment. During surgery, they put 2 plates and 9 screws in my ankle. They did a nerve block as well as general anesthesia. The nerve block may be the worst things I have ever experienced when it wore off... it felt like my entire leg was in flames! Recovering from surgery did not go as planned. The stitches came out after 2 weeks and my skin was not healing!! At the 4 weeks after surgery, since my skin was not healing, she had me change the wound dressings and put an antibiotic cream on the incisions. It helped the right side of my ankle's incisions, but not the left side. The left side was in fact getting worse. internal sutures were spitting out of the incision. My doctor realized I was allergic to the suture material and clipped out the ones that were spitting out, hoping to solve the issue. It did not solve the issue and once again got worse. One of the screws on the bad incision side, was very close to the surface since i have a pretty boney ankle. 2 days later, there was a hole forming in my ankle. I called my doctor immediately and decided to have an emergency surgery the next day (yesterday on sunday). My doctor says they normally don't remove any screws till at least 6 months- a year. They removed the internal sutures as well as the screw that was close to the surface. I am now 6 weeks post op from surgery #1 and my doctor says if the incisions look good in a couple of days that I can walk soon! My doctor also said that I am going to have some more screws removed in about a year! I am so ready for this bs to be over.. I really hope for the best as I am a college student and this injury has been really hard for me to get to my classes on campus. If anyone has had a similar experience, please share!

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

I am so ready for this bs to be over.. I really hope for the best as I am a college student and this injury has been really hard for me to get to my classes on campus. If anyone has had a similar experience, please share!

I Opted out of having my plates and screws removed. I wish I got them out. 10 years later and my ankle kills me skiing in shit conditions. I have bone spurs and scar tissue and my leg hurts most days. Get that scar tissue massaged out if you can tolerate the pain.

I agree, when they put the nerve block in its pretty weird but I've hit way higher pain thresholds than that from other stupid things.... Watching my exploded leg flop like a fish from the electrode was pretty weird though :-D

Your overall experience with the allergies and poor treatment from ER sounds worse than mine.

Best of luck amigo

[XXX-er]

I had the plate taken out for a spiral fractured Tib/fib after about 10 months and getting the plates and screws taken out is nowhere near as traumatic as when I broke the ankle and needed them put in.

So I broke the leg in Feb, had the plate put in, they took it out the next december, I walked out of post Op and i was skiing that season

[Schemeboat]

Maisonneuve fx on the 29th. Funky fall while skiing. All the right ingredients, blind corner, compression, twisting.
Surgery yesterday. Couple pins and doc had to take out some bone fragments. I opted for the nerve block, and wow was that ever a wake up call when the block wore off last night at around 3 am. At times PAIN. So naturally, a steady dose of pain management was thrown at it and even that had its shortcomings. This was as well my first surgery, so I'm all new to it.
Sucks as I am FT patrol, so not only am I off skis for fun, but i'm out of the best job ever for quite some time. I guess on the positive, no more plastic coffins for a couple months... I know, lemonade.

[el hefe]

Maisonneuve fx on the 29th. Funky fall while skiing. All the right ingredients, blind corner, compression, twisting.
Surgery yesterday. Couple pins and doc had to take out some bone fragments. I opted for the nerve block, and wow was that ever a wake up call when the block wore off last night at around 3 am. At times PAIN. So naturally, a steady dose of pain management was thrown at it and even that had its shortcomings. This was as well my first surgery, so I'm all new to it.
Sucks as I am FT patrol, so not only am I off skis for fun, but i'm out of the best job ever for quite some time. I guess on the positive, no more plastic coffins for a couple months... I know, lemonade.

How are you making out? Fubared my ankle at the pennywise concert 3 weeks ago, got taken out from behind, don't even know what happened exactly. Extremely bummed. Dislocated, fib broken ( weber C) some other breaks and major ligament damage. Right now just hoping to be skiing by november.

[Schemeboat]

^^ Bummer, Hefe, heal up quick. Hope it wasn't at the beginning of the show. Do you know if you need surgery?
My injury was a maisonneuve fracture, which is a spiral fib that tears the ligament between the tib/fib and the ankle ligaments at the talus/fib, thus displacing the fib laterally. Everything was all loose and initially it felt like a badly sprained ankle.
I had a medium sized hole drilled and what is called an Arthrex cable fasted by two buttons put on either side of my Tib/Fib. This tightened up the ankle joint.
I was completely flattened for 6 weeks post op, but with minimal to no pain after 15 days or so. The only pain would come with major movement i.e slip/fall. I was 100% off pain meds (incl over the counter) by week 4.
I started Physio 8 weeks post op, and that consisted of no resistance stationary bikes and very minor plyometrics. Weekly increases in reps. Also started doing some leg presses on the shuttle. Still lots of swelling up to this point. At the 8 week mark I also started taking CBD to help with the swelling (works like a charm). At this point of my recovery, I was hoping I could ski this year. It became very clear after my first physio appointment that doing a fully weighted squat would be a measurable success at the 12 week mark (a prompt season ender realization)
8 weeks post to today - 100% weight bearing however I am in the air cast pretty much every day, but I have it off at home and when I'm doing exercises/ yoga class. Yoga has helped. I can bend my knee in a squat so my knee is infront of (forward of) my big toe. I'm cleared to ride my road bike on flat surfaces.

Ice is amazing, best painkiller around. Physio is great, although very humbling. Yoga has been fantastic, but I have had to be very careful and clear about what I can and can't do and having a teacher who is good at hands on assists/modifications has been crucial. A physio recovery that has been dynamite is the very hot bath (110 degF) for 1 minute followed by 15-20 sec of icing, repeat 5-6 sets (~ 6 mins). I was a skeptic of the CBD, but I can say it has been working very well for my recovery.
Obviously the atrophy of your calf and thigh/hammy are a pain to watch. What I did not expect was the effect/strain on my ligaments (the ones I didn't tear). The lack of movement really caused issued with my knee. Keep your knee moving and don't let it get stiff.

[el hefe]

^^ Bummer, Hefe, heal up quick. Hope it wasn't at the beginning of the show. Do you know if you need surgery?
My injury was a maisonneuve fracture, which is a spiral fib that tears the ligament between the tib/fib and the ankle ligaments at the talus/fib, thus displacing the fib laterally. Everything was all loose and initially it felt like a badly sprained ankle.
I had a medium sized hole drilled and what is called an Arthrex cable fasted by two buttons put on either side of my Tib/Fib. This tightened up the ankle joint.
I was completely flattened for 6 weeks post op, but with minimal to no pain after 15 days or so. The only pain would come with major movement i.e slip/fall. I was 100% off pain meds (incl over the counter) by week 4.
I started Physio 8 weeks post op, and that consisted of no resistance stationary bikes and very minor plyometrics. Weekly increases in reps. Also started doing some leg presses on the shuttle. Still lots of swelling up to this point. At the 8 week mark I also started taking CBD to help with the swelling (works like a charm). At this point of my recovery, I was hoping I could ski this year. It became very clear after my first physio appointment that doing a fully weighted squat would be a measurable success at the 12 week mark (a prompt season ender realization)
8 weeks post to today - 100% weight bearing however I am in the air cast pretty much every day, but I have it off at home and when I'm doing exercises/ yoga class. Yoga has helped. I can bend my knee in a squat so my knee is infront of (forward of) my big toe. I'm cleared to ride my road bike on flat surfaces.

Ice is amazing, best painkiller around. Physio is great, although very humbling. Yoga has been fantastic, but I have had to be very careful and clear about what I can and can't do and having a teacher who is good at hands on assists/modifications has been crucial. A physio recovery that has been dynamite is the very hot bath (110 degF) for 1 minute followed by 15-20 sec of icing, repeat 5-6 sets (~ 6 mins). I was a skeptic of the CBD, but I can say it has been working very well for my recovery.
Obviously the atrophy of your calf and thigh/hammy are a pain to watch. What I did not expect was the effect/strain on my ligaments (the ones I didn't tear). The lack of movement really caused issued with my knee. Keep your knee moving and don't let it get stiff.

It was last song, I behaved all night until Bro Hymn came on..... FML. So not worth it.

Yes, had surgery 2 days after it happened. Fibia "orif" Syndesmosis "orif" and deltoid ligament repair.

Swelling is way down now, been hitting the cryo machine non stop. Foot is almost normal size now. Got the go ahead to start minor R.O.M. exercises today, pretty humbling is right! Can't drive either, wife won't let me with my left foot.

Will get on the CBD. Been using my vape instead of taking pain meds and it helps. The worst part is sleeping, always seem to wake up in pain around 3am and have a hard time falling back asleep afterwards. Have been taking the odd sleeping pill but don't want to get hooked.

Hoping to be able to wakesurf this summer, could be good for the ankle I think.

Pics from when they took the hard cast off. In a walking boot now.

[el hefe]

What form of CBD were you using? Cream? Oil? edible?