Fractured Tibia and Fibula (Broken Lower Leg Bones) with Fixation Surgery (foods, pill)

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by hopalonginagony

Hello there, Have just broken my tib and fib, had surgery on sunday to add a plate and some screws. Home on Monday. Been put in plaster from below knee to toes, told that it is weight bearing,...I wish! Please could someone reassure me that the tremendous excrutiating feeling of blood rushing to the foot, filling the plaster so tight that I think its going to split, pins and needles, numb toes are all normal when standing up.
When seated just perfectly uncomfortable, and the feeling that the bandage is all ruched up inside the cast
Have a bed and breakfast to run, so have to be standing for quite a few hours in the morning and up and down during the day, finding life difficult.
I never realised how awful a broken leg was.

I'd return to the doc ASAP just to be certain - "...pins and needles, numb toes are all normal when standing up (not sure what this means).

[hopalonginagony]

Hi M Mary, Thank you for your reply
sorry didn.'t scan properly did it, it's meant to be all the same question..is the rushing of blood to feet, pins and needles etc normal, ... are you saying that rushing of blood to foot is not normal.

[CanyonCarver]

Hello all. I'm new to the forum so i'll give you my low down.

May 31st of this year I was riding my motorcycle ( R1 ) in the canyons. I came around a blind left hand turn when another vehicle came into my lane and pushed me into the shoulder. Needless to say, I slowed down as much as possible but I hit the gaurd rail at about 35-40mph, which broke my leg, then I bounced off of the rail, did a flip and landed on my back in the middle of the road. I was wearing full gear and a helmet so overall my injuries weren't as bad as they could have been. However the person that pushed me into the rail did not stop and continued on.

(a nice side note - while i was on the strecher being loaded into the ambulance, a state trooper "CSP" came by and gave me a careless driving ticket! )

I broke my Tib and Fib right above my riding boot on my right leg. I had surgery the next day and had a rod put in my tib with 2 screws @ the ankle and 1 screw below my knee to hold it in place.

I was in the hospital for 3 days, then immediately put in a black/verlcro frankenstein boot and told not to put pressure on it. I had my first post op appointment 8 days after the surgery and was told the usual,,, no pressure, keep it elevated, do leg movement excersises, and so on.

I have been able to move move leg and ankle fairly well, even though my ankle is still swollen. I have even accidentally put some pressure on my foot without any real pain.

I have my 6 week appointment today in about 2 hours and I am hoping that the dr. will let me start putting pressure on it, because I am going crazy not being able to walk and work.

Also, my lovely family oriented employer here in Denver, CO would not give me any light duty work or any support. They didn't even send me a card or call me at the hospital to see how I was doing. I guess working your ass off for 2 years doesn't mean a damn thing to a company that boasts about all of the ethics awards it's recieved.

[greenyes42]

mike,

i looked up the ecoil shoes are they really great, did it take you long to get used to wearing them ???? I am willing to try almost anything to walk with less pain, I will have to see about getting a pair.

margie

[michele53]

I broke my tib/fib which ripped through my skin March 28 - have 2 large plates and 15 screws. Today it has been 15 weeks and I still am not allowed to walk on leg. Started bone stimulator July 3rd for 10 hours each night -- hope it helps because I go back to doc 8/18 and hope xray shows bone growth because I'm tired of hopping around on good foot w/help of walker. This is a lot longer journey than I could have ever imagined! Ankle still swollen, toes numb, leg turns purple and often have some strange sensations in foot (nerves?). Have lost muscle in bad leg and now even good leg because you can only hop so far for so long, therefore losing muscle. Think when I become weight bearing, I have to learn to walk again and climb stairs (currently I go up/down stairs on my butt). This all must be because I am 53!

[1czg]

I had my accident on June 26 when I broke the tib and fib of my left leg. When people ask how it happened and I tell them bowling I always get this wierd and then suprised look from them and then they just say "Bowling"?

I was practicing after a league game and went over the foul line. I hit the oil with my right foot and twisted on my left leg breaking both the tib and fib. When I first went down I thought, ok bad sprain. NOT. My son was with me, so that was a great help (he is the better bowler). The EMT's got me to the hospital where I got the drugs and X-Rays and then "You did it bowling?" started. The next morning I had a rod and 4 screws put in and was able to go home the next day.

I was in bed for two weeks, but I think am lot luckier than most. I was able to get off the pain stuff after about a week and a half.

I went back to the DR thurs and they put a smaller cast on and told me I could do 50% weight bearing. This is great since I do not have to work so hard with the crutches.

MY wife found this forum and I think it is great. Lot's of good info and some of the stories bring a .

From what I read, I have been pretty lucky. After 3 weeks I have no pain, the swelling is way down, I can walk with crutches and need no pain killers. It looks like the PT will start in two weeks, which is good.

I just wanted to say thank you to all who have posted. I has been a great help.

Al

[CanyonCarver]

Appointment went pretty awesome yesterday. Really not very much calcium buildup at all, but my dr. said that that really wont start showing up untill 8 weeks or so.

However, I have been giving the green light on starting to pressure on it and building it up according to my comfort level . The dr. thinks that If i'm carefull and I do things right that I may be able to ditch the cruthes alltogether in 4 weeks. That would mean that i could be waling unassisted only 10 weeks after surgery,,,, SWEET!!!

Hope this gives everyone some motivation and I hope everyone is doing well and progressing.

btw. To help my speedy recovery I have started a daily regimen of :
1500 iu's of calcium
1000 iu's of D3
500 iu's of magnesium
500 iu's of zinc
500

[pearsanta]

hi. broke my fib aand tib in an accident tuesday night. had surgery wednesday afternoon and got out of hospital yesterday. got rod and screws inserted in one of the bones and not the other. they said it heals naturally on its own as it bears no pressure. on crutches now and have been told to put as much weight as possible on it. just looking for any tips in healing. hopeing to be back playing sports in novenber, i no its optimistic (i think) but im only 21 and hopeing will heal quickly. pain is fairly manageable at the minute. only on difene and paracetamol but was on a lot lot lot more when on hospital!! only find it sore when getting up after resting and also when puting the pressure on when walking! also any tips on food and drink?? havent been told anything about alcohol but im a non-smoker. also i know it takes different lengths for everyone but roughly what is the range in healing times for such injuries?

[Nannyof2]

Originally Posted by hopalonginagony

Hello there, Have just broken my tib and fib, had surgery on sunday to add a plate and some screws. Home on Monday. Been put in plaster from below knee to toes, told that it is weight bearing,...I wish! Please could someone reassure me that the tremendous excrutiating feeling of blood rushing to the foot, filling the plaster so tight that I think its going to split, pins and needles, numb toes are all normal when standing up.
When seated just perfectly uncomfortable, and the feeling that the bandage is all ruched up inside the cast
Have a bed and breakfast to run, so have to be standing for quite a few hours in the morning and up and down during the day, finding life difficult.
I never realised how awful a broken leg was.

Welcome hopalong,
So sorry about your injury. To be perfectly honest with you, I am really surprised that you are WB so very soon. The sensations you are feeling is your body telling you to REST and ice and elevate your foot/leg as much as possible. Get some help running your B&B and keep that leg up and rest so your body can heal properly. Don't mean to sound so blunt, but sounds like you are doing way too much way too soon and your body is trying to tell you to slow down. Goodluck and I hope you get some help.
Nanny

[hopalonginagony]

Hello again all.. been trying to navigate about the house on a wheel chair, but I am an absolute menace, gauging out paint where-ever I go.. Yesterday my husband bought me a swivel chair on wheels ( you know the ones..computer/typist chair)... well what a difference, I can whizz all over the place now..it has really brightened up my day.. just thought I would share that , because every little helps....