Beth's ORIF post surgery one week

by Beth
(Tasmania, Australia)

camping south west tas

Hi all, have been freaking out wondering how I should be going...I am 35 years old never been sick or been in hospital for anything my whole life and suddenly my life has changed completely...I am told I cant drive for 6 weeks, cant put my weight on my feet at all for 6 weeks, prob cant work for 6 weeks and cant run ( I love my running ) for 9 months!

I was in remote sw tassie bushwalking from this amazing lake called Lake Ronan ( breathtaking place!) when I lost my concentration...I put my foot foward and then I just lost balance between this buttress root and my whole body fell the other way when my foot was still planted. Heard the crunch and knew things were not good...
Waited 7 hours to be rescued by helicopter ( luckily our two friends walked the 8 hour track in record time to get help)

Anyway 2 days later I had surgery since xray showed I had a displaced and broken fibula.
The GA was completely fine but this week has been horrid post surgery...
I get pins and needles and this hot burning pain like my flesh from my foot is getting ripped apart and limited sensation to the tops of my last 3 toes. My surgeon didnt want me to go home on endone and has been saying that I should be managing "just fine " on panadol and neurofen. He thinks people my age develop " certain addictive behaviours ". Personally this is crap... all pain killers can be addictive and it is also that indiviual's perception of pain that differs to the next individuals...I got my poor GP into trouble from asking her if she would write me out a script for endone when i went home. The hospital I was at was ready to discharge me under 20 hours and I hadnt even mobilised with crutches yet or had my pain under control!

I guess I have lots of concerns but the main ones at the moment are

1. Is it normal to expect this " hot pain " intermittent pins and needles around the top of my foot and limited sensation to my toes ? ( they are always cold since I have circulatory problem Raynauds )

2. Is it normal to be on quite strong pain killers at this stage of the journey? Its been just over a week since my op.I am taking 4th hourly panadeine forte with neurofen twice daily as well as endone ( once or twice daily ).

3. I have a history of dvts in my family ( my mum and my grandmother both post surgery ) should I be on clexane?
A family friend has said that there are various schools of thought on this one....I have never been asked by my surgeon about dvts in my family and he hasnt really showed any concern...I rang his rooms and his receptionist very begrudgingly relayed the message to ask if I should be on blood thinning tablets. She rang back with his message saying that he reckoned I could take some aspirin!

4. are there any exercises I could be doing whilst lying in bed with my pop backslab? My physio gave me only 2 to do and I am wriggling my toes and flexing them up as much as poss...

I would love any input as i havnt stopped crying with pain and frustration since I had my op...

cheers Beth

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Beth's ORIF post surgery one week

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Feb 26, 2010
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pain and progress thus far
by: Bart - SII

It is pretty normal to have moderate to severe pain after this type of injury / surgery. Make sure to keep your physician updated, no matter how many times you have to call and let them know how you are doing.

At this stage, managing the pain and swelling are the primary goals - as they start to improve, things should get better. The first couple of weeks are usually the worst due to the inflammatory response and the swelling and healing that is starting.

Best advice is to make sure to follow your Doctors recommendations, and to try to keep your spirits up. Read through some of the stories in the ankle questions section - there are a lot of inspirational posts there!

Bart

Oct 17, 2011
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orif
by: Simmo

I had ORIF Surgery on the 24th December 2010 and my job involves walking around 10 to 15 miles a day so this was such a shock having broken my ankle and dislocated it along with chipping part of a bone when going to work in the ice and snow. Christmas day or part of it in hospital.
No pysio until 8 weeks later but I did a form of pysio myself as soon as the plaster had been removed, by drawing the alphabet in the air with my big toe, which seemed to keep the ankle supple. I was back to work part time after 10 weeks returning to full time work another 6 weeks later.
But unfortunately because I have very slim ankles and not fat attached the plate has been rubbing on the inside along with the screws causing quite a bit of pain and swelling. So am due to have the plate and screws removed on the 7th of December. The pain from the plate and screws is relentless but I know in a few weeks things will look brighter and hopefully back to work after Christmas.
When I first had the injury I was devistated with the impact it had on day to day life being an active 56 year old celebrating christmas my birthday and new year in 2010 in plaster I thought it would never end, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and we all react and heal at different speeds so please do not feel to down hearted.
I must admit I shed a few tears and felt quite a lot of pain the cast itched and was very uncomfortable and to top it all on the removal of the plaster I had an infection on the incision area. But I was lucky it was not hot weather as it would have been even more uncomfortable.
You also find out who your friends are.
Five weeks after I broke my ankle my husband broke his foot so we were both fighting over the commode and the wheel chair. on both having cast removed we took a break for two days excuse the punn and my brother in law looked after our dog. We arrived at our destination and thought we would phone to check on the dog. My sister in law said the dogs fine but whilst walking him my brother in law had broken his ankle. You could not make this up I thought I must have really upset some one for this to happen but came home to help look after my brother in law.

So fingers crossed this time when I go to have the plate removed, that the drama does not start again.

Keep your chin up everyone and please dont get to down hearted. Things could be a lot worse.

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