Help!
Broken leg skiing. clean break of both bones and being operated on tommrow to put metalwork in to bolt bones together.just wondering from others experiencce how long for the following.
Assumming discharge from hospital say monday how long till:
- moving about on public transport and stairs on crutches.
- driving
- walking without crutches
- back doing the stuff that broke it in the first place!
reason i'm having a good flap is i'm due to start a new job on monday and this couldn't come at a worse time. anyone know if this could affect job prospects given probationary periods etc?
Cheers, Rich
Can't see how it could possibly (legally) affect your job unless you work up ladders or climb/carry stuff.
Mate of mine was walking within days, but has hampered his recovery.
Depends on a lot such as type of repair. You going to have a plaster on it?
- moving about on public transport and stairs on crutches.
Days
- driving
Weeks to months
- walking without crutches
Weeks to months
- back doing the stuff that broke it in the first place!
Months
Driving depends but check witho your insurance company but if you have a plaster on it you probably won't be allowed to drive until the plaster comes off
When I did mine in may 2006, including messing up the tendons & ligaments in my ankle, it went like this:
May 2006 - fracture dislocation of left ankle/fibula
+4 days - on crutches
July - cast off, limping. Went on holiday to Cannes without crutches. Still limping due to stiff ankle
Sept - physio. 1 session later, no limp
Oct - back on bike, flat pedals. End of physio
I can't offer advice. Just to say healing vibes your way.
nice 😀
update:
new employer = spot on.
working from home on laptop for first few weeks. there even going to deliver the hardware to home. cant say fairer than that! actually looking forward to getting stuck in now!
I feel part of your pain, i broke my collarbone 2 weeks ago skiing, gutted is an understatement.
Where were you skiing, it wasnt a first day injury was it, that would be double bad luck....
Depends a little on age.
Mother broke hers in 3 places in May.
It'll possibly never be quite right.
Almost a year on she'd still hobbling and can't manage more than 3-500m without some assistance.
it's a good way to start your new job I reckon
creates a memorable entry point into the company, immediately starts to build your employee brand, creates interest in you for colleagues and requires that you test the efficiency of the company's home-working/ sickness policy and process
and other such corporate bullcrap
Broke tib and fib down by my ankle many years ago after a coming together with a VW Passat... 😳
Very nearly a compound fracture, but after an operation the doc's manipulated the bones into place and then i was in plaster for 12 weeks (cut down to knee after 6). About 3 weeks after the plaster came off i could put full pressure on the leg, and few more weeks back to walking properly. The physio hurt more than the break!!
Sorry if that doesnt help, but that was my experience. If you are having it pinned AFAIK it heals quicker.
my spirally fractured tib and fib, (or perhaps rather the operation to plate the tibia back together again) took about 13 weeks after the operation to start walking on. I came home from hospital 3 or 4 days after the operation, but I was:
a) quite spaced out on codeine/co-codamol for a week or so afterwards (as in 'oh, its half past four. Where did that last hour just go?')
b) stuck keeping my leg elevated most of the time for a good 2 weeks or so as the swelling and operation meant it swelled up like it felt it would explode if I left it below tummy height for too long. That said, as long as you have a few days to get over the drugs, provided you can get an able bodied helper to collect some stuff for you and organise a workspace around the sofa you might do pretty well working from home, in fact the thing that got me the most was that I got soooooooo booooooored!
You get used to stairs and stuff: a 'satchel' type bag on a shoulder strap that you kan keep the top open on is ery helpful just for moving staff around as obviously its hard to carry it in your hand. And put lots of little 'occasional tables' or similar around the house so you can take big hops and hove your cuppa round the house with you as you go. Unfortunately you will discover that after a couple of weeks you will be perfectly able to hoover, do the dishes and hang the washing out again. 🙁
Oh and get one of [url= http://www.limboproducts.co.uk/prod1.htm ]these things[/url]: they are not breathable so you can't soak away for hours but ace nevertheless.
Happy mending!
[EDIT] oh, and if you do, for goodness' sake stop smoking: it slows up your bone mending (can't remember why, something to do with calcium).
Your bones won't heal until you start putting weight on them. My surgeon gave me a week by week guide of how much weight to apply (check on scales to get the feel). I had a spiral fracture of the lower tibia which couldn't be pinned, so that made it more tricky.
You must keep the leg raised and wiggle your toes a lot to prevent clotting.
12 years on I still have to wear a compression stocking because of a DVT I developed when in plaster for 12 weeks.