Recent ORIF am I being a wimp with the pain?

Posted , 3 users are following.

Last week i embarrassingly tripped over a curb and broke my ankle in two places ans dislocated it. on thursday (two days ago) i had ORIF - i have a plate and about 7 screws in total. Im home and i have been given oramorph and paracetomol which i am taking every four hours which is helping with the pain. To get around im having to hop using a walking frame and that movement causes more pain. i have enough oromorph for a couple more days i think. About an hour before my next dose is due it starts to really really hurt! im worried im going to have to ask my gp for more and they are going to tell me i shouldnt need it. Am i being a complete wimp here?

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3 Replies

  • Posted

    I broke my tibia Fibula and 3 Metatarsals on 24th October , although initially it was thought had only broken my Fibula . Consequently I had to have surgery to realign the bones 2 and a half weeks later which unfortunately has put my recovery back

    I read blogs in which people where saying that soon after surgery they were getting about on crutches . Getting up in the morning to get washed and dressed , doing light housework etc .

    For me all I could do was lay in bed and test , I also slept lots in the first week or so and I mean a lot ! Just hobbling to the bathroom with my walker was agony . Crutches were a complete no go , I couldn't balance and was petrified of falling .

    I was given Oramorph whilst in hospital for 3 days but after that just Paracetamol and codeine .

    The pain does ease , in my case I would say by day 8 or 9 I only needed parecatmol first thing in the morning and at night but everyone is different at healing and pain tolerance .

    Just be kind to yourself , accept help and rest is so important .

    • Posted

      you said it was first thought to be only fibula? i've had my fibula broken as well, almost 7 weeks ago, it was said before x ray and stuff that it was just some ligaments torn, and then it was said i'd only need a cast, and then 10 days after the incident, i had surgery, so how did you first think it was just fibula? and how did the doctors discover the 3 metatarsals?

      thanks, and i hope you're doing okay now,

      Shahd

    • Posted

      Hi Shahd , The A&E Doctor misread the X-Ray on the night that I had my fall .I was told that I had only broken my Fibula . I was sent home in a cast and told to take paracetamol The other breaks were not noticed until my follow up appointment two weeks later at the fracture clinic when I was X-rayed again to check the progress of the Fibula break . That X-Ray clearly showed the other serious breaks , my surgeon said he couldn't fathom how the other breaks were missed as the Tibia break especially was a nasty clean through fracture which required emergency surgery as the bones needed to be realigned . I had two plates with 12 screws fitted , the surgery was long and complicated because new bone had already started to form and that had to be chipped away so the old bones could be realigned.

      I am slowing improving thank you day by day, although still non weight bearing for at least two more weeks , possibly longer ? but the delay in surgery has hindered my healing time .

      My next appointment is on 22nd December when i'm hoping the cast will come off and I will be fitted with an air boot ?

      wishing you good luck with your recovery , its such a long and slow process, just got to be patient and try and stay positive .

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