Bye Bye Glitter Cast, Hello Weight Bearing!
The whole story: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokenankles/comments/1sljqqa/2nd_surgery_surprisingly_alright/
In short, after my first surgery to repair extensive damage (several fractures, cartilage damage and avulsion of the medial and lateral ligament complexes), I hit a plateau and received the following diagnosis:
Post-traumatic damage to cartilage and underlying bone, and the ankle bone started to slightly tilt inward on the left side.
The second surgery to fix the issues were arthroscopy to remove scar tissue and debris from the ankle joint, realignment of the tibia through an osteotomy and bone graft and the repair of the AMIC-membrane with more micro-drilling.
The six weeks NWB ended today and were fairly easy: Except for some awful nerve pain in week 5 for a few nights I was free of pain early on, scar healing nicely, no complications. I‘m religious with thrombosis injections and supplements.
My swelling was always on the lower side, excellent movement of the toes and nerves intact.
Mentally I was a bit down, but no crying or moodiness, and spending hours in the garden helped significantly. I was also more agile than last time, cooking proper meals, doing few more chores. We went to the zoo twice as they lend wheelchairs and changed the cast three times - colourful, green with a picture of my cat and purple with glitter.
Today‘s x-rays were perfectly fine and I‘m out of the cast and stepped into the world of weight-bearing again!
I‘m exclusively using forearm crutches, so going from NWB to FWB is a smooth process.
I‘ve been told I can go directly into a shoe, with crutches, and I‘m even allowed to walk barefoot without support at home.
So, few hours after my x-rays, I can stand independently, walk tiny steps unsupported and one crutch is okay at home. Still a lot of elevation and pauses. As my doctor said: common sense and I have PT again on Wednesday, first time since surgery.
For now, it‘s weight-bearing, exercises, massages and nerve stimulation and sleeping and showering without support! I‘m happy as a clam!
Photo: Skin is a bit irritated from the cast, should be gone within few days. Scar hasn‘t been treated yet, so it should improve too, but fairly happy for 6 weeks.
