FOAK - Broken legs

The SO broke her leg a while ago. Her surgeon described it as
an impact akin to being hit with a baseball bat (1) The result was the
wear surface of the centre of the tibia collapsing down by 2 cms resulting
in the surrounding bone fracturing, this resulted in a bone graft and
bolts and plate.

Anyway, she has just come out of a full length plaster after 8 weeks and
has to learn to walk again, she tells me her leg feels like cement, she
has very little mobility of the knee and at most can only put 15% weight
on the foot, at present she shuffles with the aid of a zimmer frame
which is not good for a 33 year old (2)

So that is the detail, the question is how long does it take to recover
from such an injury (3) We had planned on touring epic later this year
and I am really concerned that it may not be an option now

(1) Exuberant puppy ran into her flat out.
(2) She has a couple of health issues going against her as well.
(3) See newsgroup name.

 

Sorry, but that's just fucking funny

"Here rover! Good boy! Here rover!"
*SNAP*
"Oh ****"

 

The word "puppy" should have been used losely, I feel. That pup is
bigger than most full grown dogs.



--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

I didn't break any bones[1] but did spend just under 7 weeks in an ankle-hip
cast[2] in 1997 then about 8 weeks with a leg brace on. If she's getting
regular, quality physio, the leg mass should build up quite quickly[3].
Strength of the healed leg, however, may be suspect....[4]

Dave

[1] Torn knee ligaments when I was ice-skating and I fell sideways, but the
blade was stuck in a rut holding my leg upright. Knees don't like bending
90 degrees+ sideways....
[2] It's amazing how uncomfortable such simple things as having dump can be
with a cast that makes even sitting down very very difficult.
[3] It took about 3-4 weeks to be able to walk without a funny numb, limp
type gait after the leg brace was removed, but I went to physio 3 times a
week and had to do about an hour's worth of specific exercises each day, in
short bursts, as when the cast went, my right leg looked like a cotton
bud....
[4] I still am not supposed to run on roads etc as the jarring can cause
further damage - if I had had an operation to cut and re-joing the
ligament(s), it'd have been more uncomfortable in the short term but better
in the long term. But I wasn't advised of this and, at the time, was
advised that no operation was the best option. I'm now informed that an
operation this far on may cause more damage than good so no-one will do
it....

 

Sometime around Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:58:51 +0000, JC babbled on about:

The problem was she was out across the fields at the time, so the
ambulance could not get to her, so she sat in the mud for 3 hours whilst
they faffed around trying to get a helicopter, the paramedics admitted
that this sort of thing did not normally happen in Bedfordshire and they
are not geared up for it, in the end they managed to get a 4X4 ambulance
to within a few hundred yards and we carried her out (1) The driver told
me it was the right day to do it as the vehicle was going at midnight due
to spending cuts. Bloody NHS.

(1) For this read through a hedge, over a ditch and under a barbed wire
fence)

 

Sometime around Sun, 03 Apr 2005 19:19:57 +0000, jsp babbled on about:

He is only just 10 months old now. I forgot you had the dubious
privalege of being mugged by Blue last week, he was just happy to see
someone new.

 

what does the doc say? with that sought of injury its gonna be next year at
least

 

Blimey: she deserves a medal!

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

My experience is similar to WavyDavy's - dislocated knee cap resulting in a
hip to knee cast for 6 weeks. came out of with virtually no muscle mass, a
locked joint, not able to bear mass and so forth.

Physio several times a week (gradually increasing the range of motion, along
with strength building) slowly sorted this out until I was (eventually) back
to playing squash again.

In my case though, the biggest single improvement was when I was flat on my
back in hospital for 5 days after needing an emergency appendictomy about 2
weeks after the cast came off - the worst single 6 months of my entire life
that period.

Seriously, take it easy, do what the physio says - it WILL take time but it
should get better.

 

I'm not as pissed as you ya ****.

 

Not at the time as I'd had couple of 1664s... In fact I walked all the way
through Nottingham to a pub afterwards as I was, in SWMBOs words, "being a
puff".

The next day, however my knee was the size of a medium grapefruit and it
made me cry a lot........

 

Did she actually damage the knee ligaments in the accident? If not, her
speed of recovery, although the muscles will be weakened, should be a lot
quicker. Knee injuries are an absolute fucker for healing.

I've no experience of broken legs, but a couple of runs at fucked knees, and
the best advice I was given was to hit the weights as soon as possible, and
build up the supporting muscles (leg extensions / curls etc.). That takes
the weight off the ligaments and helps them heal quicker.

 

Depends on the break. Was she non-weight-bearing at all during the
time in plaster? The longer you don't put weight on the limb means you
aren't exercising the muscles at all, doesn't it. And when you try to
put all the weight back on again it's bloody painful.

I've had a fracture/dislocation of the ankle that resulted in a period
of non-weight bearing, and a broken knee that resulted in partial
weight bearing for the period it was in a cast. It takes time to get
the limb back into full mobility, it certainly isn't an overnight thing.

Has she been transferred to physiotherapy? Because she certainly
should have been and the best person to advise her on how to get back
to normality with the limb is the physiotherapist.

--
Lesley
CBR600FW
SBS#11 (with oak-leaf cluster)
BOTAFOT#101A UKRMHRC#12
BONY#54P BOB#18
Real burds don't take hormones, they rage naturally

 

"mugged" is apt.

This is a 'pup' which was about tall enough to attempt to bite my face.

Nice dog though.


--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

I'll take the one with the hypno-eyes that follow you around the room:
http://bride.ru/ph/htcgi/ladies/291/291463P1.html

 

I broke femur into three pieces, and tib and fib couple of inches above
ankle joint.
Got pinned. No plaster cast at all. I was out of bed after one week.
Released as walking with crutches one week later.

"No physio for 2 weeks then gentlly building up."
Sir has not met any Australian Physical terrorists then.
Their approach is get up and get on with it.
I believe this has validity. I was declared perfectly fit and well after six
months.

I will agree with the pain being a good guide to how hard to continue.

Get a season ticket to the local swimming baths, go and do Tai Chi/Ballet
exercises in the water. My tendons didn't shrink.

This three times per week.
Gym session doing 'step' type aerobics three times per week.
Massage/ultrasound once per week.

Due to her age the bolts/plates will probably be removed, mine came out.
Hospital for three days, four more days off work. Tender for another week.
Now a couple of years on and no 'obvious' problems.

As Veggie said elsewhere practice the 'finishing school' walk, you know the
one
where you balance a book on your head. Learn and practice walking without a
limp.
People rarely realise that my left leg is an inch shorter than the right.

HTH

Dave

 

Physio in French hospitals starts much sooner.

Spot on! Muscle wastage is incredibly fast.