After 9 long weeks my appointment to see the consultant came around finally! I went to the hospital on Thursday and had an xray and then had the cast removed, my appointment this time was not with Mr Shah sadly, who was my surgeon and has been my consultant on my 2 previous visits to the Fracture Clinic. I saw a different consultant this time, in fact I don't even know his name! He was very pleasant though and showed me my xrays, which I hadn't seen since being in Plymouth hospital. He explained about the healing and physio and asked if I had any questions, I asked about timescale to get back to normal, but he explained everyone varies. I go back in 3 months time, at which point he explained I should be back to normal activity. But what is normal activity? For me that means running 2-3 times a week, which I doubt! I also wanted to know how often physio would be. Once a week on the NHS unfortunately! Not a lot really!
When I first tried to walk on my newly released leg, I couldn't put my heel down so was walking on the ball of my foot, and was told to use crutches again until I readjusted. As soon as I got home I got straight in the bath to exfoliate and soak off the unbelievable amounts of dry skin which was peeling off in sheets all around my ankle and foot. Not to mention the hair that had grown, in fact I have some ingrowing hair follicles as the hair was obviously struggling to break through with a cast on, horrible!
I went straight to Nuffield Health & Leisure centre from the hospital and booked into their 2 month health & physio programme which gives me 5 physio sessions plus gym membership. The physio may take place in the pool or gym so should be quite varied. It will be interesting to compare NHS to private treatment! I will get a contribution to the Nuffield physio package from my employer health plan, so that's a bit of a bonus.
I am now limping around the house with no crutches and doing the basic exercises that the NHS gave me , 3-4 times a day and trying to walk on it and put it through its full range of movement (with pain!). Its pretty much painful all the time and also swollen all the time, and I also need to keep elevating it as I did in the first 4 weeks.
I am very impatient and want to see instant improvement but I know now that this is going to take time, to repair the soft tissue, stabilise the bone and metal work and reduce the pain and swelling.
I know a few things for sure, no running or heels for a long long time, if ever....
Sunday 24 June 2012
Tuesday 19 June 2012
Nearly time to see my ankle!
I thought it was about time I updated my blog, it was easy to keep up with whilst I was sat on the sofa for the first 5-6 weeks with my leg elevated to find the time, but since I have been more mobile and working from home I just don't find the time!
I am 2 days away from hopefully having my cast removed for good. I visited the fracture clinic approximately 3 weeks ago and the consultant said he could still see a slight fracture line on the inside ankle bone, so thought it best to put it back in a cast to protect it and to be safe. He also said the cast would be slightly different in shape and I would get a boot to wear with it which would allow me to start weight bearing. I asked him about using crutches and he said within 3 weeks I needed to go from 2 crutches to 1 and then to none by the time I returned. I must admit I flinched with pain at the thought of putting weight on it, but within a day I was walking on 2 feet using 2 crutches, and within 3 days using 1 crutch, which actually slowed me down. I was nervous the first time I put weight on it and it was little more than a shuffle. However nearly 3 weeks later I am able to walk well on 2 feet, with the boot over the cast to give me a flat sole to walk on. I still need to take it easy and rest it regularly but I have been able to start working from home full time now.
It was great starting back to work as I had got very bored, even though I enjoyed my coffee mornings and cooked breakfasts with friends, I missed making a contribution to Training for Travel and have managed to agree terms to work from home until I can drive again, so I am now enjoying working on some interesting projects such as designing resources and training material for the new Functional Skills qualifications which start this year as well as assessing learners by telephone.
Its been a long 9 weeks and I like to think I have done everything right. I rested well at the start, and I have also eaten healthily. I have taken Vitamin E supplements to help skin and soft tissue healing, which as worked wonders on my face too! I have also take calcium/magnesium supplements for my bones and also collagen supplements which help with soft tissue growth. I have tried to do some exercise from home both upper and lower body but its no replacement for what I was doing before! I cant wait to swim at the end of this week, in actual fact I am happy to just float around the pool, its the full body immersion in warm water I am looking forward to most!!
Returning to running is bottom of my list at the moment as I have read about metal plates on leg bones causing stress risers above and around the metal work, which can cause stress fractures. Back to square one almost! I will try walking on the treadmill at the gym, but will probably start on the cross trainer as its non impact on joints. First of all though lots of swimming, and pool walking!
The physio will start next week, and am looking forward to the progress, however not so much the pain, as my mum informs me! My mum is now 2 weeks out of her cast/boot and walking on one stick, and having regular physio in Portugal.
I will update the blog once I have been to hospital this week and then put monthly progress as I know other people have read this that have suffered trimalleolar fractures and similar.
Bye for now :-))
I am 2 days away from hopefully having my cast removed for good. I visited the fracture clinic approximately 3 weeks ago and the consultant said he could still see a slight fracture line on the inside ankle bone, so thought it best to put it back in a cast to protect it and to be safe. He also said the cast would be slightly different in shape and I would get a boot to wear with it which would allow me to start weight bearing. I asked him about using crutches and he said within 3 weeks I needed to go from 2 crutches to 1 and then to none by the time I returned. I must admit I flinched with pain at the thought of putting weight on it, but within a day I was walking on 2 feet using 2 crutches, and within 3 days using 1 crutch, which actually slowed me down. I was nervous the first time I put weight on it and it was little more than a shuffle. However nearly 3 weeks later I am able to walk well on 2 feet, with the boot over the cast to give me a flat sole to walk on. I still need to take it easy and rest it regularly but I have been able to start working from home full time now.
It was great starting back to work as I had got very bored, even though I enjoyed my coffee mornings and cooked breakfasts with friends, I missed making a contribution to Training for Travel and have managed to agree terms to work from home until I can drive again, so I am now enjoying working on some interesting projects such as designing resources and training material for the new Functional Skills qualifications which start this year as well as assessing learners by telephone.
Its been a long 9 weeks and I like to think I have done everything right. I rested well at the start, and I have also eaten healthily. I have taken Vitamin E supplements to help skin and soft tissue healing, which as worked wonders on my face too! I have also take calcium/magnesium supplements for my bones and also collagen supplements which help with soft tissue growth. I have tried to do some exercise from home both upper and lower body but its no replacement for what I was doing before! I cant wait to swim at the end of this week, in actual fact I am happy to just float around the pool, its the full body immersion in warm water I am looking forward to most!!
Returning to running is bottom of my list at the moment as I have read about metal plates on leg bones causing stress risers above and around the metal work, which can cause stress fractures. Back to square one almost! I will try walking on the treadmill at the gym, but will probably start on the cross trainer as its non impact on joints. First of all though lots of swimming, and pool walking!
The physio will start next week, and am looking forward to the progress, however not so much the pain, as my mum informs me! My mum is now 2 weeks out of her cast/boot and walking on one stick, and having regular physio in Portugal.
I will update the blog once I have been to hospital this week and then put monthly progress as I know other people have read this that have suffered trimalleolar fractures and similar.
Bye for now :-))
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