DH has an unstable ankle fracture - any experiences?

[Intergalactic]

DH fractured his ankle on Thursday night (jumping over a high fence!). We went to A&E first thing Friday morning and he was in hospital from then until yesterday evening. He has an unstable fracture, which means that two out of the three main bones were broken. They operated on Tuesday and put some pins in to hold the bones together. He now has a cast and is using crutches. He can't put any weight on his foot and is in a lot of pain if he accidentally does.

His consultant told him that the operation 'went well' but he hasn't really had any more details. I know he has only been home for one night but at the moment I'm finding it more stressful than when he was in hospital. We have two DC, one nearly 2 and one 6 weeks! Does anyone with experience of a similar injury know what sort of recovery time we can expect? I'm assuming that he'll get more mobile and able to, eg, get himself a drink, as he gets used to his crutches, but am I being over-optimistic?

He has to go back to hospital a week from now, when he thinks they will change his cast and possibly do more x-rays. Hopefully this will give us an idea of how quickly it is healing, but at the moment we just have no idea. He has three weeks worth of injections to stop his blood clotting while the cast is on - does this mean he could be better in three weeks?? I'm guessing not and they'll give him more? At the moment we don't know if this is something that's still going to be bothering him months/years down the line - is this possible?

He's 29 and while he isn't very fit, he's only slightly overweight and has no other health problems, if that helps?

Sorry to ask so many questions but if anyone has any experiences that could give us an idea of how this will pan out, that would be really helpful. Thanks.

So sorry this has happened, what a nightmare.

Can't help with the questions about healing times etc but getting one of these will help with things when he is not in so much pain.

FWIW DS broke his leg when he was 3. He was in pain for about 2 weeks and didn't want to do very much, after that there seemed to be no stopping him The cast protector was brilliant, he even went swimming in it

Make sure YOU have as much help as you can, your DC are tiny and its HARD WORK (physically and emotionaly) looking after someone who is in pain and has become much more dependent again.

Thanks feetheart. At least I've been lucky in that it's half term at the moment so my parents have been off work and have had DS1 overnight a couple of times. Think we will go round there again today!

The hospital actually recommended the cover you linked to and I ordered one before he got home yesterday - hopefully it might turn up tomorrow so he can maybe sit on a stool in the shower.

I think I'm finding it hard at the moment as I expected things to get better when he came home - but as he can't move around, he can't even hold the baby while I cook dinner as he just starts to scream if he isn't being walked around or fed in the evening (DS2, not DH! ). And so I get cross with DH, when he's upset because he feels he's lost his bond with DS2 (which obviously will come back tenfold, but maybe not straight away). But I don't feel too bad at the moment - I've let our going out to groups and things slide quite a bit, but DS1 seems happy. Think next week will be the killer when my parents are back at work - although my brother is around and friends have offered to help too - I will take them up on it if I'm struggling.

Anyone else?

No help, but lots of sympathy.
(and a bump along for you).

I had this injury a cople of years ago. I was in plaster for about 8 weeks and after that lots of physio. I had a second round of physio several months later as mobility wasn't great. He shouldn't try to bear weight whilst in the plaster.

I hired an agency cleaner for three months and although it was £45 a week it was definately worth it.

It is a bit of a nightmare because he will feel helpless.My ignored my garden that summer too which upset me the most.

Where abouts do you live?....I'll help if I can!

Thanks so much scurryfunge, that's just the sort of info I was looking for - although obviously I would have preferred "I was totally back to normal in three weeks"!
Sorry that you've had a bad time of it - DH is feeling pretty crap at the moment (I found him in tears last night after trying to get a frozen pizza out and dropping it on the floor!), I really sympthise.

Hopefully we will be ok house-wise - usually he is at work full time so I've been doing the bulk of the housework anyway, I'll just have to up my game for a few weeks (eek!). We have good support locally with both families around half an hour away - I know my Mam would come and do some cleaning or cook a couple of meals for the freezer if I needed her to. They always have DS1 on a Saturday anyway so I can catch up with things a bit then. We have small yards at the back and front rather than a garden so luckily maintenance is minimal there. We went through a bit of a ready meal phase at the end of my pregnancy and first two or three weeks with DS2, so I think we'll go back to that.

DH was saying last night that he wishes he could fast-forward the next few days so that he's more capable on the crutches and has figured things out more - handy places to leave things and so on.

At least at the end of all this we will be justified in having a nice treat - am thinking Center Parcs in September. And his bloody iPad should arrive this week, which will cheer him up. I just need to make more effort to be good-humoured and nice to him, it isn't as if he did it deliberately after all and I know we both wish it hadn't happened just as much.

I broke my ankle in three places at the beginning of March and had an op to put in a plate and pins. I was in plaster for eight weeks. Plaster has now been off for three weeks and am having physio every week.
My ankle swells alarmingly after standing up for an hour but have been told this is normal. At last visit to hospital, doc said the swelling will take three more months to go down but that in fractures like this it can be a year before the joint is back to normal.
I live alone with my dog, so when I came home from hospital I had no-one to help. Trying to get up the stairs on my bum with crutches was a total nightmare.
I do sympathise and all I can say is that it will pass. When things were at their worst for me I used to sit at the top of the stairs (after spending ten minutes crawling up) and cry my eyes out with frustration.
Anyway, I can now walk short distances and drive again (automatic car) so things are slowly getting better.
Keep looking forward, one day at a time.

I had a little rucksack that I would pack things I needed throughout the day and carried it around the house with me, on my back....making a cup of coffee is the most difficult on crutches unless you drank it where you made it! I found an insulated coffee cup with a lid could just about be carried with crutches. I managed with a bath by putting a plank of wood across the end of the bath and rested my leg on that....the rest of me was pretty much submerged!

I've just come back to this to update and seen the replies - thanks to you both. Redredwhine, sorry to hear you've found things so tough, it must be miserable dealing with it all by yourself.

DH saw his consultant yesterday. He asked about recovery time and apparently they've used a new method of pinning on his, I didn't see the x-ray but DH said there is a massive rod and loads of screws in there in two different sites. They've taken his cast off and replaced it with a bandage/sock thing and a plastic storm trooper-like boot that he has to wear when moving about but takes off when lying around/in bed. And they thought he might be ready to try walking again in four weeks.

So we are both feeling more optimistic after that. It has actually been a bit of a blessing as well as a curse as he can hold the baby while lying on the sofa, which has meant I can give DS1 some much-needed attention. Work want him to try to come back next week, so that will be the next hurdle. He is desk-based so hopefully that'll be ok.

Thanks again for all the advice - hopefully I will be posting in a few weeks to say he is walking again.

And scurryfunge, yes, moving drinks around has been an issue - he tends to stick a can of diet coke in his pocket, but then once it's open can't take it anywhere. I went into our bedroom the day before yesterday to find DS1 standing at the bedside table holding a half-drunk can of pop and looking confused/contrite - he has now learned the word "mess" and the bedsheets have all gone in the wash!