How long were you in a cast?

I dislocated my ankle and broke my tibia, fibula and talus. I have plates and screws in.

This is really just a general update after my triple fusion ankle operation on June l9th.   I was seven weeks in a fibreglass cast which I didn't remove.  Then I was given the dreaded pneumatic boot which very quickly rubbished my pelvis from the uneven gait, the surgeon having done nothing to warn me.  I got the Evenup overshoe which helped but, because my other ankle is so weak (it needs a triple fusion too)it slipped around and  I was still crippled in my lower back.  Yesterday I managed to see a nice, bright young physiotherapist who confirmed that my sacroiliac joint and gluteus maximus were very sore….. That is the bad news, the good being that the fused ankle is brilliant, swollen but not painful and feels as solid as a rock..    So I walked out in big supporting sandals and promised to take it steady but not to wear the boot!  Lots of exercises to do to try to rectify the pelvic damage.

I have a whole lot of exercises to try to put my pelvis back into some sort of shape.  

Hi Penny, your story is so similar to mine. I had a double ankle fusion & need my other one done also. The wear & tear of hobbling around on one leg had made that ankle even worse & my knees are a mess. They also did an arch reconstruction which my other foot needs that also. I'm only at 5 1/2 weeks so you're  way ahead of me. I really hope mine is as successful as yours without all the problems you incurred from the boot. I'm still non weight baring but thank God for this forum which is where I learned about the even up shoe which I've purchased for when I start partial weight baring. Are you at full weight baring yet? I'd like to follow your progress to gauge where I'm at. Good luck with the rest of this journey. 

Barb

Hi, Barb,

I am indeed fully weight bearing and the operated ankle feels 'normal' really in comparison to the other one which is creaky.  It was always slightly better than the operated on one but, because it has taken more weight all these weeks, I guess, is going to be more sore.   I just have to wait a year before it can be done.   I promised the physio that I would take no risks, i.e behave as though I had the boot on, with no driving and no risky surfaces.  I see the surgeon again on September 5th, to be signed off… so not long!   Meantime I have to try to get my pelvis back into some sort of shape because it has been so stiff and rigid since wearing the boot that I don't walk as well as I should be able to do - but I won't take any painkillers so as not to mask any problem with the ankle.  My decision - the medics are really not very good about pain management.  I somehow feel that we will all get totally addicted if they had their way!

I'm kind of getting really concerned. Up until Tuesday , I was still having a lot of pain in my subtaler joint & Wednesday afternoon was the first time in five weeks it died down some. It came back today with a vengeance. I woke up this morning with pain all around my ankle & my ankle was so swollen, especially on top of my foot. I shouldn't be having pain at this stage. I will have six weeks in on Wednesday. I'm scared thinking I may have to have more surgery to get the screws out. I don't see the surgeon again until September 19th as he's on vacation. Oh how I pray it goes away. 

Ouch ... such a long recovery. What Happened to you? 

Yes seems like a life time. really bad yesterday and again today as ive done more walking than normal, but not that much....  I have been waiting to go in for operation on m knee. The morning of my fallI had received the letter for me to go for my pre assessment appt. Then had my fall. I stepped over a barrier about 1 1/2 ft high, and didnt lift my bad leg high enough and caught my foot on the barrier. Went down on my knee and my foot was still on top of the barrier. No cuts or marks to my knee, but when i lifted my foot off could see it was dislocated, pushed it back into shape myself, not really thinking about what i was doing.  waited for ambulance for over 3 hrs while all the time laying on the car park floor.  In the end i phoned for my daughters to come and get me They live 22 miles away and still got there before the ambulance. total nightmare. Had to wait 9 days before they would operate because of swelling. But each day i was in hospital they told me that i would be going to theatre. so washed and gowned every morning only to get told by the afternoon that they wouldnt be doing the op!!!  Its been one hell of a journey and still going through it. Now have to have the knee operated on as its got really bad and painful so  now have to start it all over again.....pass me the gun!!  sx

Thanks for all your replies. Sounds like at least hollaween before I can think of walking. 😞 Right now I have no real ankle pain but the cast rubbing on the incisions hurts. My biggest concern is I am diabetic and I can't see or inspect the incision sight to make sure it isn't getting infected from the rubbing.

The biggest thing I found as far as discomfort and being able to remove the fixed boot to bath and see what was going on was the incisions. As they start to scab up they got really uncomfortable as they started to chunk off and rub. Also the sterile strips as they started to come off would bunch up and rub on the wound.

I don't know how your surgeons office is but mine (when I got the cast in) said that if I had discomfort or concern they would be happy to remove, air out clean up and redo it every week if I wanted. After checking with my insurance it would of all been covered as post op so I would definitely check I to that.