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Working through ankle break w/ surgery and need answers

Posted , 6 users are following.

carolyn020218
carolyn020218

I completely shattered my ankle. I think my doctor called it a spiral fracture. It happened the 2nd of February 2018 and I had surgery on the 12th. It’s now March 27th and I have to move almost 900 mikes away. We have two cars and I am still wearing the boot. Is it safe for me to drive? I ?? that I can but the mind tells us all kinds of stupid stuff when we are desperate.

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • RichardKen
    RichardKen carolyn020218

    Posted

    If you have an automatic car and do not need to use the injured foot then it should be OK but would be best to let your insurance company know in writing. If you need your injured foot for driving of course not! Cheers Richard
  • rfoot
    rfoot carolyn020218

    Posted

    You have my sympathy, I had to move house less than a month after BA. (broken ankle!)  There was no way I could drive.  Fortunately the distance wasn't so great so a friend drove my car while my partner drove his own.  I really don't know if you would be safe to drive but I do think you will be very very sore if you drive 900 miles.  I used to drive 450 miles regularly in one go - to visit family.  That was before BA and I found I always had aches and pains after that so with a BA it would be very hard even if you take 2-3 days over it. Problem is that if you take too many painkillers it could affect your judgement while driving.  Is there any way you could get your car shipped out or would that be just too expensive. I would ask the doctor if I were you.  

  • JannyB2018
    JannyB2018 carolyn020218

    Posted

    I had surgery January 5th and just now have been able to start driving again. My surgery was on right ankle which was driving foot, so if yours is right foot also I would definitely recommend that you NOT drive on that trip and don’t even THINK about trying it with a boot on.  Talk to your doctor....every case is different of course, and mine was very difficult. I’m still having pain and swelling even now although I am now in a small fabric brace and a regular shoe. I had to buy 2 pair of shoes...  I got Nike’s...a size 8 for my left foot and a size 9-1/2 for my right!  They are black so actually don’t show the difference too much!  Good luck on your move and recovery...
    • tricia09818
      tricia09818 JannyB2018

      Posted

      I bought a pair of shoes 1 size bigger than my normal ones- I had to , the brace wouldn’t fit well in my normal shoes and the swelling by the end of the day makes it worse. I know exactly what you’re saying. Plus the tenderness in the ankle. Can’t wait for that and the swelling to go away!
    • carolyn020218
      carolyn020218 JannyB2018

      Posted

      Yup

      It was my driving foot. Just saw doctor today and he said I could do short distances to drive but not on the trip. I have to now start to put weight on it and walk in the boot. In 4-5 weeks, I will switch to an ankle brace.

  • tricia09818
    tricia09818 carolyn020218

    Posted

    I broke my left ankle with surgery Jan 2nd. Because it’s my left ankle and I have an automatic, I was allowed to drive once off narcotic pain medicine. I think I started driving about 3 weeks after surgery. 

    If it’s your right ankle I would agree with the others. Your ankle is going to be too painful to put the pressure of the brakes, and if you’re in the boot the whole thing will be impossible.

    Good luck. The healing goes on long after the dr says your bones have healed!

  • kpower
    kpower carolyn020218

    Posted

    Carolyn,

    The others are correct-- if the right foot (driving foot) was broken and you are still in boot and NWB then it is foolhardy to attempt to drive like that. You might wish to take the risk, but then you would need to feel really lucky.

    Your driving foot needs to be able to apply the brake pedal firmly and quickly in a traffic emergency, and a mending broken ankle is too fiddly for such a demanding task. Not only is it possible you may not stop the car effectively, but you may re-break the ankle in such an attempt (or in a subsequent accident). And also the boot is simply to big and unwieldy to wear driving anyway.

    Not to mention what your auto insurance consequences might be if they found out you were driving with a broken ankle and had an accident.

    Best to play it safe and not be sorry. Once you are healed and good to go you can confidently get behind the wheel again.

    • carolyn020218
      carolyn020218 kpower

      Posted

      You all are right. Doc says no long distance driving, only short. I drove yesterday to pick up my son. About three miles. It was okay 👌 

      I had to wait for him and omg I wanted to prop my foot soooo bad, but I couldn’t. Now I see why they say no to the long distance driving. When I got home it was swollen 😖

      One milestone at a time, I have to keep telling myself.

    • RichardKen
      RichardKen carolyn020218

      Posted

      Dear Carolyn

      I'm glad that you got back safely. How quickly can you hit the brake pedal and with how much power ? I do hope that you have let your insurance company know and have their OK in writing....just in case.

      Cheers Richard

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