dianelev

Hi Chris,
I hope I can be helpful in giving you an idea about what to expect. My story is kind of complicated because I have had many surgeries resulting from my original ankle fracture/sprain. I think it was about 5 years ago that I had surgery to correct a flatfoot deformity which involved fusing two joints: talonavicular and calcaneal-cuboid. My surgeon warned me that the recovery would be 9-12 months and that I would lose side to side motion in my foot. I am not sure if you are going to have that issue with loss of motion. I used to be very active and played tennis, figure skated, did aerobics, etc. and I asked my surgeon about my activity level after my fusion. He said that I probably should stick to sports which didnt involve lateral motion and stick to things like biking, swimming, or the elliptical machine.
After the surgery, I limited myself to these more restricted sports as I found it would have been impossible anyway to play sports the way I used to. Unfortunately, last year I was told I had developed arthritis in the navicular cuneiform joint which is next to the talonavicular (which had been fused). So, as I mentioned in my last post, I had to have that one fused as well!
Anyway, I really hope your recovery goes smoother. My surgeon told me to expect 6-8 weeks on crutches (and in a cast) and then 6-8 weeks walking in a big air boot. After that, he told me I would do physical therapy and then return to previous levels of activity. With the fusion I had 5 years ago, that is exactly how it happened and after a year, I really had no pain at all and was able to move again. It is definitly a long process but hopefully one which will lead to you having less if no pain. A fusion is kind of a trade-off: do you want motion with pain or no motion without pain? It sounds like you dont have a choice and I wish you the best. Feel free to ask questions anytime!