Crutches part ll

I had my cast taken off on Wednesday and had physio straight away.  I'm still on crutches, but now doing lots of exercises and walking with partial weigh bearing which means that I don't have to put all my weight onto my wrists, which helps a lot.

I'm six weeks post fracture today.  It's still painful and swollen but the consultant said that the bone has fixed, he said this even without taking another x-ray.  I saw physio again yesterday and I'll be back again in two weeks.  

Glad we're all making progress...:-)

Denise

You really don't appreciate how difficult it is until you have to go through it, and if you were like me, you were left to cope on your own with no advice on how to do anything.  This is embarrassing, but I even needed my husband to help me to go to the loo,  Fortuantely he was also able to  help me in and out of the bath with my leg hanging over the side.  I have no idea what I would have done if I couldn't have had my baths, and I wouldn't have been able to without his help. We bought one of those plastic cast covers which helped keep the water out, but still had to keep my leg hanging out of the bath.   

My consultant said I could do partial weight bearing after 2 weeks, but also said that if it was too painful to stop and rest for a couple of days before trying again.  It was the fourth week before I was able to put any weight on it whatsoever.  It seems that consultants vary in their advice for this.  

I had no idea the bone was healed, I was still in pain, and still am, but he say's that is stiffness due to wearing a cast, but I am guessing that there is also some soft tissue damage as there usually is with a break.  I had a weber b fracture extending to the joint, he said it's healed but never gave me an x-ray. He did say that if there were any problems I should see my GP, or ask the physio who will re-refer me back to trauma.

I am managing one crutch around the house now which means I can make a cup of coffee and carry it back into the living room to drink in comfort.  Things have improved immensely over the past couple of weeks.  

What happened to you Teri?  I just went over on my ankle, as simple as that, crazy isn't it?

Denise

I wrote in my new discussion what happened, but I lost my balance trying to do a nature hike on the huge rocks. I was halfway back from the 2 hour return walk when I fell. Two men that I had never met had to help me. It was so embarrassing and took us over an hour to manuever those rocks. The pain was beyond describing as I still needed to keep my balance.

But okay, I feel better now that you say that you put some weight on yours after two weeks. Because I'm alone all the time, it gets too quiet after a while. My biggest problem is that I live upstairs so it's one step at a time. Aghhhhh....Also, I ordered one those cast covers today online so I'm sure glad you said it worked for you.

Curious too, were you able to get comfortable sleeping with the cast? I've tried pillows and you name it, to no avail. I now just sleep in my recliner with my feet elevated.

And what do you mean, "you just went over on your ankle" ?? Tripped over something? Were you in heels?

Thanks again for responding. Not that I'm glad others have gone thru this, but I'm glad I'm not the only one....hugs!

Teri

I found your other message after I responded on here, it must be very difficult for you on your own.  I mentioned that my hairdresser was given a bath seat.  Have you thought about contacting your ortho?  You could speak to his secretary and let her know that you're on your own and have trouble bathing etc etc.  They may be able to provide some aids for you.  Fortunately I had my husband to help me, but bathing would have been impossible without him.  It was fortunate that it happened when it did because he was able to take some time off work then it was the Christmas break (he gets two weeks off), so I consider myself lucky in that respect.  

No, I wasn't wearing heels Teri, I was out walking like you, we were on a walking holiday in La Palma, we had done 13 miles, on our way back to the hotel when I went over on my ankle, I've done it a thousand times before, it often hurts with swelling, but this time, it broke.  This was the second day of our holiday, can you believe it?  So we spent most of the week either at the hospital or at the pharmacy, both one hour away from the hotel.  It was a bank holiday weekend so everything was closed nearby.  

I have no idea how you manage on your own Teri, I would ask to speakto your consultant about weightbearing and some aids to help you get around, it's crazy how they leave you to cope on your own without any help.  Did they even ask you if you had someone to help you?  They didn't ask me either but my husband was with me at all of our apts so I am guessing that they just assumed that he would be there for me.  

We only have one loo upstairs, so there was a lot of going up and down staris which would have been a nightmare on my own.  When he went back to work, I stayed in bed because I was afraid of hopping up and downstairs on my own..........haha

Let me know how you get on Teri, I would be interested to know what help there is out there for people living on their own.  It was a question I kept asking myself during the first two or three weeks.  

Denise

I find on my back is the most comfortable, but if you're like me you can't stay on your back all night. I toss and turn in bed anyway, but it does become difficult with a cast on, I would often use the cast as a rest for my other leg, which I can't do now that the cast is off because it hurts.  I'm sure that I'll find another way to get comfortable after a few nights.   

Denise

The hospital knew I lived alone because I drove myself there - and I told them. Luckily, my brother showed up after a bit because I wasn't able to take any pain meds without a driver. My parents do stop over and brought food and then I asked my daughter to come by and empty the trash & get the mail. And then finally, to help me get in/out of the shower. I was so afraid I'd eat it again....But you're right, sometimes I just need someone to get me a something to eat or drink where it doesn't take me literally 20 minutes to do it. I did get a walker/chair delivered to me Friday, and what a difference this has made...wow. I was using a computer chair to slide over the floors and was using a barstool as a walker. But the walker is too heavy for me to carry downstairs though so I'm limited as to where I can go with it. So, the lack of having someone to help does hamper what I can do. You're very appreciative of your husband and that's nice to hear. It can't be easy to always be at anothers beck and call and it sounds like he really loves you. But to have had that happen after just two days on vacation must have sure been a disappointment. Not sure if you had flown here or live locally, but either way, not good.

So, what help is out here? Well, we're really on our own. I do have friends that come by, but they all work during the day. I did go online yesterday and ordered one of those drycast shower aids and a toy tub tray (to put my shampoos/soap into). Once I got in the shower, I forgot that I wouldn't be able to twist around to get everything I needed. It's just the little things that you don't think about until it's too late. But man, that water felt so soooooooo good...

Teri

I just sleep on my back in my recliner. It's too much work to move from this chair to the bed. Tried it the first few nights and I finally gave up...

But that concerns me when you say you still have pain. What do they attribute it to? Normal healing? Hmmm.

Teri

It was La Palma in the Canary Islands, it's just a big huge mountainous rock in the middle of the sea..LOL

Yeah, twisting around is impossible, my husband would pass things to me as I needed them, I can do it all on my own now that the cast is off, even get in and out of the bath as long as I put the good foot forward first and hold onto the sink and bath side, fortunately we have handles at the side of the bath anyway, so that was a huge plus.  

I couldn't have coped without my baths....LOL

I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but you can get pain and swelling up to 12 months after the injury.  

I've only just started physio so it's early days, it's really helping thoughm, each day that I get up I can feel a difference and I can do more.  It's still quite painful in bed though, it's difficult to get comfortable, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.  

I have read some messages on here from people have are months post fracture and are still having pain and swelling.  It's a very long slow progress I believe.

I hope you are able to get more aids around the house, you have to be able to feed yourself, bath etc etc, after all they're the basics of life.  

Keep us informed on your progress

Denise  

I was up and down on my bum to begin with until I plucked up enough courage to go up on crutches, then I used only one whilst holding onto the rail and hubby would carry the other crutch up or down for me.  Then I learned to use both crutches, it's so much easier now that I can put my bad foot down.  It takes a great deal of skill....haha

They probably wouldn't let you out of hospital because of your other conditions Eileen, I'm sure it must have been really difficult for you, I can't even imagine, it was pretty much impossible for me....haha

I never knew that they gave out underarm crutches anymore in the UK.  Was this NT or Wansbeck?  I was at NT, it's just down the road to me.  

Denise