Fractured Tibia and Fibula (Broken Lower Leg Bones) with Fixation Surgery (Part 2) (cause, stress)

[Mingybear]

Being a cripple is no fun at all. I absolutely hated the wheel chair but I found a bunch of things to do which helped pass the time. Still I was so happy to get rid of the chair!

I'm surprised at the clot - did you not have to take daily anti-clotting injections? I did - for something like 6 weeks. Probably the thing I looked forwward to least each day. The doctor said it was better than the alternative (a clot and/or stroke) ...

Why do you say 5 months? I thought non-weight bearing was usually 6 to 12 weeks(?).

[RubiconFL]

Oh I was taking the injections, they didn't work. I am now on 6mg of coumadin a day, which will be going up since I'm somehow immune to coumadin. I just got back from the surgeon, its been a month and the bone looks exactly the same as before, hasn't started to heal yet. I said 5 months going by their initial speculation of 3 months of bone heal time then 3 months of PT until I was "done."

[2Crutches/Will Travel]

Hi, Rubicon. Boy, do I know how you feel. "Breaking your leg sucks, plain and simple." Oh, yeah. It's as tough psychologically as physically. My sister told me it would teach me patience. I said it was doing just the opposite - it was draining every last ounce of patience I have. I've been taking it in stages, 20% to weight bearing, 55% to weight bearing, etc. Hang in there. Legos aren't so bad.

[AnonChick]

Breaking your leg is painful, inconvenient, and altogether unpleasant. However, you're not a cripple. There are worse things than having a broken leg. You are also capable of movement, and I'm guessing your OTHER leg is working just fine. Are you using crutches? Are you doing any exercises to keep your UPPER body strengthened? Just because you have metal in your leg doesn't mean you can't get up off your butt and do something. You can make your bed with one leg. You can cook an egg with one leg. You can wash dishes with one leg, and if you grab a desk chair with wheels, you can even sweep the kitchen floor with one leg.

I had a broken femur (thigh bone) AND a broken radius and ulna (the two bones in the forearm) and I managed to attend my last year of college, do my homework, and run around Boston and Cambridge via the subway, with a steel rod through my legbone and plates on each of the two bones in my arm.

Surely you can find the mental fortitude to get past your feeling of helplessness and do something in addition to Leggo. Which, by the way, is not a bad thing to do.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Definitely know the feeling of being a cripple when you have a broken leg. I sure couldn't make the bed with one leg...I couldn't even get into my bathroom and had to use the kids' bathroom. I did manage to cook though. I couldn't go months without eating decent food. Legos would have been a good idea...I tried crochet but I was on so much medication that I couldn't even count to three to do granny squares

Anyhow, RubiconFL, if your bone hasn't healed at all yet, that doesn't sound too great. Do you smoke or drink tons of cola?

[2Crutches/Will Travel]

Mingybear, my fiberglass cast was removed at 6 weeks post-op, and I was put in a walking boot, but told not to go weight bearing for another 2 weeks. My doctor said I could take off the boot to bathe and do exercises he prescribed. Some of the exercises sound like what you described. They definitely help, especially using a towel to stretch my leg and spelling the alphabet with my ankle (you sit on a bed with your leg hanging over the side and pretend you're holding a pen in your toes). I came up with one of my own exercises - tapping my foot into a pillow to the beat of a song. My next appointment is coming up. Based on the doctor's previous comments, I'm hoping to lose the boot. Beyond that, I don't know what to expect. Will he put me in a stirrup, as you call it? Will he prescribe PT? I'm on a cane and definitely feeling stronger. Improvement is coming in small steps, but it's coming.

[Mingybear]

2Crutches

I didn't get the walking boot treatment, I went straight from cast to 'stirrup'.

(Man - itsn't it great to be able to clean your foot and leg once you get the cast off? Gross, but great! )

Perhaps it depends on where you broke it, how bade the break is and so on. I don't know. I suspect he will prescribe physio. My ankle was very weak and stiff, so it didn't want to move and had little strength in balance. The physio was to work of both issues: losening it up and getting it stronger.

The exercises you are describing we the ones which came with the stirrup gizmo. The ones I described are from the physiotherapist.

I go to physio tomorrow, but last time she added an exercise: basically you stand on a balance board, which is basically a disk about 18" diameter with a half ball on the bottom. I hand on to something and wobble around on this. It seems to have a good effect so I bought one at a fitness store for $20.

[Mingybear]

Anonchick

Good you adapted well, but you sound a lot younger than me. I'm probably twice your age and a big guy. I was told to stay in a wheelchair as much as possible so I did. No fun.

I couldn't do much physical stuff, but I did clear out a room, get my kids to move a couple of desks in their, and resurrected my electronics lab. I also sorted all my electronics components into little labeled compartments, designed a few things, wrote some software, and build myself a new computer (web ordering in the best!)

Plus I worked from home.

However, for me, this is running at low idle.

I may not be an athelete, but I'm not a sitting around in a chair kinda guy!

[2Crutches/Will Travel]

Had last post-op appointment today. My bones are healed, and the hardware looks good - thank God!! Now it's about continuing to strengthen my ankle. The doctor prescribed a splint for 2 months and physical therapy for 1 month. I know it's going to be a challenge, but I can't wait to start PT!

[Mingybear]

2Crutches
It may be that what you call a splint is what I was told was a stirrup.

You really have to strive for these milestones.

I saw the surgeon the other day and he told me he was plenty impressed with how things as turned out. In fact, I overheard him telling another guy how back a break he had, then he came to see me and said to that guy "the only guy with a worse break than you this season was this guy" and asked if he could should him my x-rays. I live in infamy!

The surgeon seemed pretty pleased that I was walking a few kilometers most days. Today I'm going to try to go 4km during lunch.

Good luck - remember to do exactly the exercises they tell you to do, but do them more often than they tell you!