sal

On January 3rd, I walked outside to check to see what boots to wear to walk my dog. I slipped and fell like a cartoon character on my icey driveway and broke bones in my ankle. I went to my PCP and he took x rays and sent me home in an air cast to allow the swelling to go down. He could tell my fibula was broke through and a corner of my tibia was broke off on the inside of my ankle. After a week, the swelling persisted and he sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. Surgery was January 15th. I have four screws and a plate in my fibula and two screws in the point of my tibia. I'm now in a splint until January 28th. Then they will remove the splint(torture chamber) and pull staples from both incisions and put me in a cast for 6 weeks. No weight can be put on the ankle at all. I get around the house on a knee scooter. At least it has wheels!!!
BTW I bought a Topstone in September and there it sits waiting for me. I have one road bike on a trainer and there it sits waiting for me. My other road bike sits there waiting for me. I imagine at 65 years old I will have some PT time after the cast comes off. Start the violin music. Oh, and I hope your New Year started off better than mine has.

Cyclist0108

I did mine on Jan 1st, 2013 (also involving ice and dogs). Surgery that evening. I turned 50, still on crutches, 3.5 months later.

Vigorous PT (to the point where you are in agony) is the best way forward. Good luck with the healing. I bought a bike trainer to start using as soon as I was out of the boot.

Cyclist0108

If you permit me one piece of advice, I wish I had purchased this as soon as I was able to put weight on my ankle:




I still have this in my living room and I still need it every day. This, more than any other single thing, helps you to recover range of motion. I realize this is a long way off, but I didn't purchase mine until 10 months after the break, and I should have got it at least six months earlier.

sal

Thanks WG. i havent seen post surgery x rays yet. It looks like you have the same breaks. Is that FitterFirst like a sit and spin for your foot? Or does it have a convex bottom?

Cyclist0108

It has a hemispherical plastic thing on the bottom, with three adjustment settings. Here is what mine looks like, and a photo of what remains of the sticker that describes how to set it up:

Cyclist0108

The other thing I did while I was lying in bed waiting for the bones to heal was to start the process for ordering a custom bike, as a recovery reward and 50th Bday present for myself. I have zero regrets (apart from waiting until 50 and breaking my ankle before doing that).

Another thing I learned along the way is a cast after surgery is an American thing. In Europe, 4 weeks or less after surgery, they have you in PT to recover range of motion. Immobilization was most of what I had to recover from. Once that metal is in there, your bones aren't going to come apart unless you have some fairly major trauma. I was overly cautious. Be more aggressive.

It's called a Bimalleolar ankle fracture, or Pott's fracture, and fairly common. I managed to get that far in life with nothing worse than a crown on a tooth, so it was a big deal for me, but there are far worse fractures...

The mountain bike forum had several ankle break threads going at one point. They seem to enjoy their injuries more.

Mine was inflicted by my two golden retriever puppies.

eja_ bottecchia

donheff

After a busted hip and shoulder from bike crashes I worry about falls. I recently bought a pair of slip on ice crampons for days when the front stirs and sidewalks are icy. My dog doesn't cut me any slack in this weather and it can be close to impossible to avoid slipping on bad ice. I have tried them once so far and they do grip.

jppe

Ugh. Tough deal SAL! My sister in law walked off a concrete patio and slipped and she broke BOTH her ankles!! She couldn't even get up and get into the car. I think that was early August or late July of last year. She had surgery the next day and was in the hospital for several days. She is now walking without any aids.....We had a European River Cruise scheduled with she and her husband in October. After I broke my hip in August we both cancelled the trip! Good luck with the recovery!

Where I worked safety was priority number one. We had daily safety messages, everyone was updated on safety incidents etc. I recall slips, trips and falls being the number one issue. My son, my SIL, my wife and me have all been victims of falls over the past 6 months that required surgeries.......

sal

Thank You WG....I googled the FitterFirst and I will order one to have here at home.

Yeah Eja and DonHeff...I use YakTrax on a pair of low boots when we have little snow and or ice. I use high hunting boots when the snow gets to the mid calf depths. But you know where both of those pairs were when I stepped outside to check to see what to wear to walk the dog. We are in west central Michigan. We get lots of snow blowing in off Lake Michigan(lake effect) all winter. Even when I get out of the cast in mid March we will no doubt still have snow cover on the ground. I wish i could find some sand because the heal toe stepping in sand makes sense.

JanMM

Good luck on a speedy recovery!
Careful on the FitterFirst, of course, but it does look like a device that many of us who are not getting younger could benefit from. Not just those recovering from injury. Can't ever have too much balancing skills.

Cyclist0108

They will likely teach you how to do excersizes in physical therapy. Don't DIY. For this wobble-board, start out with the good leg planted firmly on the ground, and just use it to flex the ankle joint when the time comes. Only when you are at the point where you can walk with putting full weight on the injured side do you want to climb up on this thing. Start with the easiest setting.

Someone mentioned walking in the sand (when the time comes). This is tremendously beneficial. I hardly ever did it, but really should have (I live on the California coast, and wasted this opportunity). Also, if you can re-learn to walk in a pool, it will make things go a lot easier.

Find a good, hands-on, physical therapist who is willing to push you to the point of agony.

scozim 

My wife broke her ankle in Jan 2017 slipping on ice. Ended up with a plate and 8 screws and was laid up for 6 weeks before going back to work. Physical therapy was really good for her but she still had limited range of motion until she got a prescription for medical massage. That really helped break up scar tissue and get better range of motion. She decided to have the plate and screws removed last November (10 months) post fracture and is really happy.

MikeDD

Ice Trekkers, I don't go outside in the winter without them on my shoes. My wife is handicapped and if I go down, she will need a caretaker.