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Original poster

Broken a limb over Xmas? Metaphorically climbing the walls? Support thread

108 replies

duchesse · 11/01/2011 18:18

Me: broken ankle on Xmas Day, operated on 4th January, now climbing the walls trying to keep DD3 entertained (with help from au pair and lovely friends dropping in), looking forward to being able to walk again some time in February...

Come and join me on my 6 week wait...

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Original poster
duchesse · 14/01/2011 16:26

Oh, and the period! Mine started 5 days early the day after my op (NEVER early usually). Excellent timing.

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SycamoretreeIsVile · 15/01/2011 15:06

Jumping in to mark my place, then will read thread properly.

Thanks for starting it Duchesse. Feeling very sorry for myself. Sad

SycamoretreeIsVile · 15/01/2011 15:24

Ok, I got knocked off my pushbike at the end of November by a naughty car.

I've got a broken tibia, a plate and 7 screws. I have been on crutches since the accident and will be until beg March earliest (sob).

I am now officially bored of it. Not even the codeine is making it worth it.

bishboschone · 15/01/2011 15:38

My mum fell over on the ice on Christmas day and broke her wrist and dislocated her arm. Had op on xmas day. Was all a nightmare as my husband took my mum and dad to hospital and was stuck there all day so Christmas was a write off. :(

Canella · 15/01/2011 16:33

oh duchesse and sycamore - you are definitely worse off than me by a mile! Your thead just came at the end of what felt like a very long week of dh being more than useless at helping me and me trying to do everything even tho it was sore to do it!

How are you all managing the school runs etc when you cant get out and about - my heart really goes out to you all - dc and incapacitated mums dont go well together!

Bishboschone - hope your mum is getting better! but Sad at xmas being a write off!

Original poster
duchesse · 15/01/2011 16:55

Sycamore you poor thing. I hope you get a nice big compensation cheque from said driver's insurance company. I'd be surprised if they hadn't already beaten a path to your door to prevent you from suing... Our neighbour's 16 yo was knocked off his motorbike by a car and had a cheque for £2000 in his largely unscathed hands (severely bruised shoulder is all the injury he got- he was VERY lucky) by the end of the day!

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Original poster
duchesse · 15/01/2011 16:57

canella- luckily the children are all (apart from the baby) at school in town and my husband always drops them off on the way to work. Of course I can't pick them up in the afternoons at the moment so they are taking the bus to their grandmother's instead and having a snack and doing some homework there while they wait for DH to finish work.

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dessen · 15/01/2011 17:09

I can't walk properly or drive following an operation not done properly which the doctor refused to acknowledge.
Have had to find a childminder - expensive & hand over most of what I do. Very hard as stuck at home with childminder. Horrendous as I like my own space.

SycamoretreeIsVile · 15/01/2011 17:17

Ah - you have found us Dessen - just suggested on your other thread that you pop over here Smile

dessen · 15/01/2011 17:18

:)

dessen · 15/01/2011 17:22

Hope everyone is getting better - best wishes to you all.
I've gone from two crutches to one as I can put some weight on my outside heel to get along.
I feel tired out & my other leg feels like it's climbed a monutain.

Original poster
duchesse · 15/01/2011 17:22

dessen you poor thing. Have you spoken to your consultant and told them you're still not right? Can you get a second opinion?

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SycamoretreeIsVile · 15/01/2011 17:23

Yes - are we allowed to ask what the op was? Sounds like something you were expecting to go in for, but that hasn't gone as you had hoped?

You should def get a second opinion, as Duchesse says.

dessen · 15/01/2011 21:44

A varicose vein op with a vein taken out from top of my leg to the ankle & other veins out. On the right leg just veins removed. Should have been a few days of hobble & then ok.
Have now been to another hospital for tests. I'm not in the uk.
Didn't get proper pain relief after op, no crutches (dh had to source some himself), told no drs were available to help, eventually got an appt & told by the surgeon that there was no problem with my leg (wtf). Had to sort out neurological appt myself. Had another appt with surgen to take out stitches & he still denied there was a problem. I had to stage a sit in to get him to call the neurologist for an immediate appt. Total wrongness all round. Totally awful.

mawbroon · 15/01/2011 21:52

Hope you guys are all doing ok.

I was in hospital this very day last year whimpering in pain after my op Sad

Now, my ankle is almost as good as the other one and some days I even forget about it!!!

It seems like a long recovery when you're in the middle of it all, but you'll get there Smile

May I recommend this Ikea stool for in the shower? We only have a shower over the bath and I used to sit on a stool alongside the bath, swing my good leg over the edge of the bath, shuffle my bum over on to the Ikea stool, then lift my bad leg over the side of the bath. It was made harder by being hugely pg, but it worked well for me. I had the stool on the rubber bath mat. To get out, I moved the stool back a bit, turned to face the other way and did the same again. I needed help at first with somebody having to pass me the towel/dressing gown, but I once I was weight bearing, I could do it on my own.

The worst thing about it all IME was injecting myself with blood thinners. Yuk, hated it.

Duchesse, did you get your wound checked out?

mrswishywashy · 15/01/2011 22:25

Is it normal to have an itchy foot inside cast. This is the second day and it's been driving me crazy - it feels wet inside which I suspect is sweat (gross) but then I can feel it rubbing on the skin and I so badly want to itch it. I've ended up taking nurofen and don't want to have to do that for the next seven weeks of been in Fred.

Another boring day housebound although have joined love film and watch Invictus and also got cross stich arrive today but I don't know how I'm going to survive the next few weeks with only seeing flatmate. Must stay positive to aid healing.....

bishboschone · 16/01/2011 12:12

thanks canella, yeah she is ok..just bad timing :(

ohnelly · 16/01/2011 18:22

Wishywashy that is normal - apparently its itchy because its healing, and the wet feeling is normal too - had that a lot when mine was in a cast Smile

sanitywouldbenice · 16/01/2011 18:46

hi all, broke my ankle in the ice 1 week before xmas - did my fib tib and heel and dislocated it :-( 5 days in hospital and no weight bearing for 6 weeks. also laid up on the sofa with leg raised in its boot .... which is a handy as i can take it off for baths. i have screws one side and a plate the other and did wonder whether they stay in or come out. I am catching up with my reading; and facebook and of course here !!!

i do wonder how long it will be before i am really walking again

Original poster
duchesse · 16/01/2011 21:57

Sanity I'm impressed that they haven't put you in a cast. I would love not to be in one! How come you're not? Who do you have to bribe?

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sanitywouldbenice · 16/01/2011 22:15

Just get your leg to swell up so much they have to keep cutting the cast off - they get fed up after the third attempt and put the boot on - although you do have to go thro 3 dislocations and of course having the ankle put back in three times - it's worse than child birth ....

Original poster
duchesse · 16/01/2011 22:24

Ah, they've left me in an open cast since the accident with room for swelling up the front. The foot does swell up very quickly but it hasn't really been much of a problem because I'm spending about 23.5 hours a day on my arse. I did get them to replace the cast two days after the op as the one they put on in theatre looked like the handiwork of a clumsy 7 yo and it was pinching the incision site.

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mawbroon · 17/01/2011 09:32

oooooh, ooooow, sanity re the dislocation. Mine was dislocated too I think, and I also broke the tib and fib and cracked one other bone. Yours does sound more severe than mine (NOT that it's a competition Shock) I was allowed to weight bear 12 days after surgery.

When they plastered it in A&E, I vaguely remember hearing the doctor saying he was just going to manipulate it while "she's out of it". (I was hallucinating on G&A, they wouldn't give me anything stronger because was pg). After they had finished, there were tears streaming down my face and I had vague recollections of swearing multiple times at the doc Blush. You are right, it is not as sore as childbirth!!

duchesse, are you due to get a proper cast soon? I got one 2 days after my surgery and it really made a difference, much lighter.

mawbroon · 17/01/2011 09:36

No, I mean, it's sorer than childbirth!!

Original poster
duchesse · 17/01/2011 09:44

Tomorrow mawbroon. Impressed that you were able to bear weight 12 days after the surgery! I've been told I can't until 4 weeks after surgery. I think that's probably to allow the ligaments to mend.

Your break does indeed sound nasty, sanity. Do you find your foot still swelling very quickly? And have you had your stitches out yet?

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