Broken knee. Operation tomorrow. Anyone been through similar?

[Spidermama]

I have two fractures in my femur and tibia a depressed fracture in the top of my tibia. They're going to put a plate in my knee and graft the bone.

It happened a week ago today on holiday in Thailand and it still hurts so much.

I'm on crutches so effectively useless in terms of laundry and cooking. I'm in a full leg cast. I'm really just looking for other stories so I can get an idea of how things might pan out.

Poor dh is up to his eyeballs and cracking under the strain.

OMG - you poor thing. Absolutely nothing helpful to add but wishing you a speedy recovery!

The eagle has landed.

Good old coffee. Thanks for that Norbert.

I think the back pain was related to the fact that I had 7 days of hospital food and pills backing up inside me cos its eased.

Congratulations

(congratulating a 'stranger' on having a poo isn't something I do every day )

Indeed Norbert. And outside Mumsnet not a soul knows about my retention issues this week. (Apart from Dh and my mum).

I love you Mumsnet. (Very unmumsnetty emoting I know but I am from Brighton after all).

What a relief Spider .

Only just catching up. Black Forest tea from South Africa is your friend in bunged up situations.

No need ExitPursued. (Brushes hands with satisfaction)

Spider, if pain gets worse try a tens machine. Although it did nothing for me in labour, I found using it at the highest level and all night ( despite what you are supposed to do) helped, esp when I came off morphine in this accident. I also tuned my radio so that the night watches were easier to put up with.

I obv don't recommend the following, but I found a small glass of red wine went well with morphine and diminished the awful hives. I wouldn't have tried spirits, but a glass of decent wine worked wonders.

Thanks ancientbuchanan. God idea about the tens machine. I used gabapentin (reluctantly) and a hot water bottle and managed a good nights sleep. Long overdue.

I'm dealing with knock on pain from posture issues (being so still for so long) and various strains from using crutches.

Still it's early days.

How are you doing spidermama?

Good days and bad. I had a great couple of days, made it downstairs, felt like part of the family again. But then it was suddenly much worse and more swollen the next day even though I hadn't really done anything differently. I just did my normal very light physio and hobbling to and from the loo.

I'm looking forward to seeing someone at the hospital again and waiting for my clinic appointment to come through. They said ten days after discharge so that would be early next week.

I'm very up and down. I'm mostly off the serious painkillers now and on paracetamol and ibuprofen so I think that's a step forward. I've had aches and pains in other areas because of posture, sitting around all day, and using crutches.

I certainly don't recommend it but it is what it is and there are definitely emerging benefits. I've lost lots of weight, the kids are learning just how much housework I do and I'm getting to watch telly and read a lot. Not to be sniffed at!

I decided to treat it positive

Ffing phone

Positively too. I was able to be there for my family in a way that working full time I have never been before. I finished knitting a disastrous jersey for Ds and it had to be rescued by someone who has become a friend. I got lots of things done that we couldn't DIY and had been waiting for years.

And, I discovered MN.

Glad you're doing ok. As I said earlier it's never a linear recovery, there are many ups and downs. Don't feel afraid to take the painkillers though if you feel they may help.

Sadly my kids didn't realise quite how much I do as my mum came and stayed and did it instead of me!

Just realised I nc'd between some of those posts!

Hi Spidermama, really sorry to hear about your knee, I haven't had the same surgery as you but have had knee surgery twice and know how dreadful knee problems are and how utterly debilitating long-term knee surgery recovery is. I haven't read through all the posts so someone may already have linked to this site, but there is a site called KneeGuru which is run by a British knee surgeon and as well as having lots of useful info re knees in general there is a very active forum of people experiencing knee problems and knee surgery sharing their experiences and asking questions etc. I found it really useful and learned more about knees than anyone could possibly ever need to know!! There are lots of specific forums to look at depending on your knee problem so I have tried to link to a section called Bone breaks around the knee which would include your injury/surgery. You may find out something useful about recovery/rehabilitation etc from someone going through exactly the same thing. Good luck with your recovery. KneeGuru

Hi Spidermama, I hope your knee is having a good day today.

I just wanted to hopefully cheer you up a bit. 6 weeks ago I was unable to even go to the toilet my ankle was so bad post surgery. Today I had my cast taken off, it has healed better & quicker than was expected. I now have a black space boot for 7 weeks.

The change in the last 6 weeks has been immense, I was even unfortunate enough to be mobile enough to take the kids to soft play this afternoon ;)

Hang in there, it will get better & things will get so much easier.

Hope the good days are out weighing the bad days Spidermama and hope your bowels are fully functioning now.

Have you managed to get out at all? I remember being desperate just to see something other than my house. So desperate in fact that I made DP take me to an out of town garden centre (I figured that it was a nice genteel place to go, with nobody hurtling around madly, just lovely folks pottering around looking at plants ! I felt 'safe' there in my post-op state IYSWIM).

Hi Spider, glad to hear to you are on the mend. I am in pretty much the same position as yourself. I broke my femur and shattered my knee 1000s of mile away from home too. I was allowed to fly back home and had the surgery abroad, so I too have a leg full of titanium and what feels like half a ton of screws.

My accident was about 10 weeks ago now and the pain is minimal and the swelling has gone down considerably, although my knee will start to swell if I try to do too much. I am still not allowed to put any weight on that leg and the specialist had kindly given me some sort of Robocop leg brace.

I think you get bad days and good days, there was a week or so when I was so down and blamed myself for being silly enough to fall down some marble stairs, but soon realised (with the help of DP) that only time will sort it out.

I have gone back to work despite my doctor's wishes, but he did eventually sign me off the sick, I simply couldn't be in the house all day, it was making me worse, I am office based, so to me sat in front of a pc all day was hardly putting any further stress on my leg, I am doing fine at work and more importantly my mental health has improved.

I still can't do much around the house, I love to cook but have to take little breaks so I am not stood up too much. I won't be able to drive again for the best part of a year, that's a killer, having to rely on DP for lifts too and from work. Lack of excersie is the other biggy, I used to run a lot and lazing about and being sedentary really dosen't suit me, but there is absolutely nothing I can do about that one, it's even too soon to start physio yet!!

I still use my zimmer frame around the house and have fashioned little 'holsters' for it so I can carry the essentials, travel mug for coffee, phone etc. It funny how quickly we adapt to these things.

I will watch your thread with interest Spider, wishing you a full recovery.

sorry, meant to say that I wasn't allowed to fly back home.

Thanks for the link Jellybelly. I'm ridiculously excited to have a new a. activity I can do in bed. I am getting bored and frustrated here.

We had a little Halloween gathering last night. DH and the kids put it all together and I just sat their in my ghost from the past outfit. It was interesting. I did get bored telling my tale and I was really exhausted after it, but it felt good seeing others. I love Halloween and we had a houseful of kids of all ages. That cheered me up, but I'm a bit flat today.

Reallymustbemad since you wrote about progress not being linear I've had it in my head as a mantra. Thanks. It's really helpful to know it's ok to have bad days and it's still recovery.

1leggedwobbler that's inspiring. I'm glad you're making progress and I hope you're rocking the black boot.

Norbert I haven't been out. We live on a hill which complicates things. However, a friend says she's bringing me her mum's mobility scooter to borrow because her mum never uses it and has offered apparently. If this happens it'll mean I can go on the dog walk. That would be so lovely.

ConfusedDotty I'm interested in the Robocop leg brace. I have one too but I'm not sure exactly what it does and whether I'd be allowed to use crutches without it at this stage. (I haven't dared yet). Mine has about a mile of velcro to contend with and is quite fiddly to get on and off, although I guess its better than a cast.
I'm really looking forward to the swelling going down as that's just scary.

I've finally got an appointment for a wound check and re-dress on Monday so I'll get to see the scar which is all a bit mysterious at the moment.

I'm surprised they told you it's too soon for physio as they had me doing some light exercises the day after the op. I still do knee bending (Robobrace is set at 60 degrees but I'm not there yet.) and heel flexing. They encouraged me to go further and bend it more. It was a bit scary as I thought I'd be in a cast while bones set. I guess they are confident their polyfiller and titanium have done the trick. I'm still non weight bearing for 6 weeks though and the thought of putting my foot down again is terrifying.

Anyway good sharing stories as ever. I'm off to follow Jellybean's link.

It's still swollen and the entire lower leg still hurts a lot. Is that normal 9 days after the op?

My surgeon told me the swelling will take about 3 months to go down, he was right. I still get a lot of fluid around my knee if I am stood up for a while.

My pain seemed to go about 8 weeks after the op. I can still feel the broken bone, but no pain as such.

Take care.

Yes swelling 9 days post OP is normal.

As for getting out, if you can get someone to drive you, you can use shopmobility schemes. The one near me will give you a temporary blue badge so you can park next to it then lend you a wheelchair or mobility scooter for a few hours. It was lovely to go out and have a coffee in the shopping centre although I was very conscious of the scooter so didn't feel entirely comfortable but that was in my head. It was free but donations encouraged.

Take care.

I'll look into the shopmobility idea. Sounds good.

ConfusedDotty, how was it having to be operated on abroad? Where were you? I was in Thailand and keen to get back to my home and kids.

I'm glad you're pain free after ten weeks. I'm also interested in getting back to work (desk based) but can't imagine spending so much time WITHOUT having my leg up.