Looking ahead....

I broke 3 bones and dislocated my ankle on December 17th. I had surgery on December 22 and ended up with one plate and a total of 10 screws. I was in a splint for 2 weeks and a cast for 4 weeks. Just got the cast off and put in a boot last week. It sucks, but it does get better. I did a lot of reflection, watched lots of documentaries and shows, like in the Animal Planet Channel, that didn't require constant attention. I slept A LOT on the first couple of weeks. My husband has been amazing. Once I started having slightly more energy I'd move around and help with dishes or laundry or just sit in a different part of the house for a change of scenery.

Best advice I have: sleep when your body wants to sleep, keep your leg elevated as much as possible, elevate the other leg too to help ward off an hip pain, and take your pain meds. After surgery I took the prescribed pain meds every 4 hours as the directions said, whether or not I actually felt pain. I did this for the first 4 days or so and then started weaning off, taking it every 5 hours then every 6 hours, etc. At some point I just got tired of the how fuzzy it made my head feel and switched to Tylenol. And then I did the same thing with the Tylenol... Every 4 hours at first and then after several days every 5 hours etc. If you don't stay on top of the pain it'll take over.

I'm just now able to start moving my big toe by itself. My littlest toe and the top of my foot are still a little numb. Throughout all of this I've had frequent weird feelings in my foot. As long as I could wiggle my toes overall and didn't have extreme pain, I figured it was a part of the healing process. It'll get better.

Just stick it out a little while the first month is a b***h!!! It’s a slow slow process in the beginning and you are correct, you can’t do anything so you have to accept it. I broke tib fib on Dec. 3 I’m just starting to think of walking. I was up doing it then went to PT and it set me back a few days of pain.  But basically have done very little since Dec. 3 because you really cannot. Just been reading, painting from a chair, crochet, walking in my walker around the property.  ( Florida) . Nausea came and went due to various reasons.  It just sucks!!!

Broke my ankle in 3 places back July 21st, understand exactly what you dealing with.. listen to your doctor and try not to do anything that’s going to cause a setback.. it’s a long process but you will be okay... I had orif ankle surgery in July and man I’m running and walking 3 miles 4 days a week.. but I had to allow my bones to heal properly and listen to my doctor 

This is the hardest part that you are in, the first 2-3 weeks. When I had my first postop at almost 2 weeks, I complained most about the nausea. Dr gave me new naisea medicine and it helped a lot. Its hard as heck to sleep in the cast, didn't do much night sleeping but slept a lot in the daytime. I'm at almost 5 weeks postop now and  its a lot better. NO nausea, no real pain. A bit of pulling feeling but that's it. 

?The biggest suggestion I can give you is do exactly what your dr tells you. Keep your foot elevated most of the time. I started driving this last week and getting out gives you a great perspective. 

?Sounds like we have the same injury. It sucks. But it'll get better.  Being 3 weeks ahead of you ,hopefully I can encourage you by my progress. When you get out of the cast and into the boot, its better.

Hi there, no advice here but I know exactly what you’re going through. 

I fractured my tibia and fibula 3 Friday’s ago - had surgery nearly 2 weeks ago for a plate and some screws (it looks like 7 down the plate and 1 that connects the bones). 

My surgery was on a Tuesday and I was sent home in a splint. The following Monday I was back there for a hard cast and have had nothing but issues since the cast went on. I was back there Tuesday and Wednesday when they finally removed and re-applied a cast. My toes are numb, I was feeling tingling in my big toe and fat pad. My pinky toe is the most numb and I feel the numbness goes down to my ankle. In another thread, someone has mentioned that was pretty normal. Surgeon didn’t raise any concern.

Over the weekend, my heel began to feel like it’s on fire. Extremely uncomfortable, I think some of the padding must have fallen, but it felt like I had a major blister. Overnight the burning set in and I had to take a norco for the first time in over a week. My scheduled 2 week post op appointment is a few days away still. 

I hope my situation is helpful - reading that others have similar pains have helped give me some peace of mind. It’s still infuriating and the pain is scary. 

Really sorry to hear of your accident. I had a triple ankle fusion last October and although out of cast and air boot I still have quite a way to go. I really empathize with your frustration and I found that I needed two essentials, a supportive partner and a lot of patience. It sounds like you have the first and the second comes when you realised you have no choice but to settle back and do some for the things you never stayed still long enough to do. You can only watch so much tv but there are on line study courses, I learned about aromatherapy, books to read and above all rest to be taken. Your body is your best guide, sleep when you need it, stop doing things that hurt unless it's exercises specifically given to you, and........relax. Best of luck Jenna

Thank you guys. This cast is driving me crazy! It's feeling so loose but Dr says it's fine as long as it's snugish around my ankle, it's fine if my heel doesn't touch the bottom of the cast and it's fine I have space on my calf. I'm the kind of person that likes snug stuff so it's infuriating. And I'm only comfortable in bed, I go downstairs and there's no way I sit that doesn't my my ankle feel hurt or stretchy or weird. Anyone else have those feelings in ur cast? I'm just so paranoid it's not gonna heal right. But it's only three weeks since surgery, I guess I'm not super woman lol.

You will feel like you're hiking when you climb into the shower!! Being in this position STINKS!! Totally disruptive....but this too shall pass! Keep positive, rest, grow that bone, become friends with your healing foot, massage it, love on it, send it good vibes, push that swelling up and out of your leg, wiggle your big toe as much as possible ( have to desensatize it to get feeling back) and you'll be on your feet in no time at all!