Hello Heelies,
I think working overtime on the political mailings the last 3 weeks helped get me back on my feet walking without the crutches, last night we mailed out the last of them & it was great to sleep in this morning.
I walked with my ankle brace & tennis shoe today instead of my walking boot.
It's been raining cats & dogs all day.
I have not felt the foot lock up that Joe & Ed described.
Sbrew, I'm so sorry to hear about your setback. We broke our heels on the same day. I start weight bearing on Nov 12th, hope your leg or hip isn't serious so you can get back on schedule.
Sounds like everyone else is doing good, Ed, Joe, Phil, Jason, Jeremiah and Carole, hope you all keep progressing well. Can't wait to start my WB. In the meantime it's just ROM exercises for now.
Taysha and mydd hope your husbands kick those infections and get back on their feet soon!
Hi all, I broke both my heels Feb 17 2007, ( fell 30 ft and landed on my feet) Lft no surgery Rft plate 3 screws and 7 threaded rod pins. After my surgery I started to read boards about what to expect. It was very depressing. I stoped reading and focused on getting better.
GO TO PHYSIO AND DO MORE THEN THEY SAY, GO TO THE GYM EVERY DAY, AT HOME MOVE YOUR FEET, PULL YOUR TOES UP AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, WEAR YOUR BOOTS TO BET OR YOU WILL GET PLANTAR FACITUS. I am 95 % normal, you can get better but you have to treat it like your job. Lets face it you have nothing better to do.
P.S As soon as you can, crawl to your car if you can push on the brake you can drive, you just have to put a pillow under your knees to lift your feet of the floor. It is the best therpy you will have.
Good Luck, I promise if you work hard you will be fine, I have no pain exept for my first 10 steps in the morning.
thanks for the good thoughts,iam afraid to even say this out loud ,but my husband has been almost pain free since they took the plate out and is on a 3 times a day antibiotic treatment ,he is in full leg splint and no weight on it of course, is very hard to go back to sitting around again and doing nothing-he also was very acitive,surfing ,bikes ,walks and his job as a shop manager kept him on his feet all day.
carole hope you are better also after your fall.
Sbrew, OMG....I'm sooooo sorry about your fall. I hope you are OK now...this wasn't 2 steps back, but a giant leap. I feel your pain and anguish, I really do. If you need some cheering up you can call me anytime...seriously. 856-217-7684. More importantly, please don't let this get into your head about total recovery. Stay positive and focused. I hooe your husband wil help you with that too. If you need an ear.....don't hesitate. Please let us know how the Xrays go tomorrow too.
Yes Joe, same thing happened last night. Felt great all day, did lots of walking yesterday, 4 mile bike ride, dinner time, things started to lock up. This morning I'm a little sore, but I'll probably back off and take it easy today.
Carole, everything sounds good for your progress. I hope you don't feel the lock up's we have. Keep up the good work...
Nothing from Taysha, so she must be on that boat. LOL Good to hear that.
West 49, thank you for the uplifting spirit of your recovery. I too have trouble with the 1st ten steps in the morning. You hit the nail on the head, treat this like a full time job and it will get better over time. Did you feel the tendon and ligament locks up like Joe and I are getting? Things move well for a while thne get tight again? How long before this went away? My PT told me it's going to be a while.
That is the 1st time I heard about Plantar's Facitusif you don't wear boots. Is there a reason for this?
Hello Heelies,
West49: Welcome to the board!
Recent calcaneus 2008 boards have better results than older ones for sure.
You sure are right about driving, it felt so good to jump in my car & drive to the farmers market 3 days after my injury on my birthday 6/14.
About the 1st 10 steps, guess we have to get warmed up just like old cars HA HA.
Alex: Glad your keeping an eye on us.
Mydd: I'm not the one who fell thank goodness it was Sbrew, but thank you, glad your hubby's feeling better.
Ed: I'm going to try to find a bike to ride today.
Sbrew: Watch your step, be carefull.
so sorry carole for the mistake and am i do hope sbrew is better ,really dont need any setbacks ,thanks for the good thoughts also carole.
trying to keep up with the site on how everyone is doing.
funny statement about the warming up like an old car--hub has to tap his foot on the floor before he could take a step to get going(before this operation).
Joe, Really strange day. I decided to weed wack and edge my lawn today. 1st time since mid July before my injury. Felt great all morning, then it started to tighten on me. (not the achilles but the one that runs down the outside just behind the ankle) It gets painful at times, yet other times it's no bother at all.
Anyway, I tripped on a hole, (hurt like H) but after moving around a bit it wasn't locked up anymore. I finished the yardwork, and put things away...15 minutes later, everything was tight again. I only wish I understood why....
I will see my PT tomorrow too. I know she'll say, Ed...It's all part of the healing..... Yes, OK Laura, you've said that before, but why? LOL Any ideas
West? Thanks for jumping back in....
Carole, did you get to ride your bike today? I took today off.
Hello Heelies,
Joe: How did you know what kind of driver I am?
About 20 years ago I wrecked on a 3 wheeler up in the Boisey Cascades of ID, I saw a V shaped gap in the snow & thought I could plow right through it, nope it was solid tipped over my nefews 3 wheeler on top of my leg ouch.
Ed: I did not find a small bike to ride today but I walked around the farmers market a lot.
Yesterday I was able to jump over wide running water in rain gutter on an uneven surface.
Yes I'm accident prone, never got hurt bad till I shattered my heel, I never forget it could have been worst.
I must have an angel looking over my shoulder.
Hello Everyone:
Joe, thanks for asking. I'm doing well, less and less pain. I went today without any advil, usually I have at least one a day. I figured I would give my liver a break I'm still in a boot and I have resorted to using two pairs of socks to keep my foot warm. I'm not sure if the rest of you have experienced it but when my foot gets cold it hurts like a female dogs son. I've resorted to a crew sock and a hiking sock to help insulate my foot. Yes, 52F is cold to me.
Sorry to hear about those who unfortunately took some backwards slides recently. We're all rooting for you because we all have been there at some point in time.
Keep healing everyone.
Jason
Push it as hard as you can for a day and take 2 days off, then go hard again and repeat.
Here is what I did
Stretch in the morning while still in bed.
walk around for ten minutes in bare feet on hard floor ( this hurts but it gets better fast)
Go to the gym. ride bike, do full body work out ( lots of calve raises on machine) walk around the gym with 25-45 pound plates and focus on your gate, you can do this slowly and work your way up. Also jumping squats work good but they take a year or so to get help full. STRETCH
As far plantar facitus goes it is from not walking properly, you have to when you walk focus on your gate, this means, heel first then going all the way over on to your toes and push off. If you walk like a duck the tendons from your toes attach at the base of your heel and they shrink, causing plantar facitus.
I broke both heels but had surgery on my right only.(three months with no weight baring) Doc told me to start weight baring on left foot and walking with crutches while the pins were still in my rt foot. This sounds okay and I was pumped to get going, but you need a good foot to use crutches.
So after crying and screaming for an hour and falling on my face the first step I took, I found a little contraption that was a lifesaver.
Its called Iwalkfree look it up on google, it acts like a good leg and you can use crutches with it.
Also never ever ever walk with a boot that locks your ankle in place and protects you heel, your body is amazing and it wants to get better and wants to walk like it did before.
Also look into the benifts of injecting IGF1LR3 into your upper ankle, I did and I think it helped a lot.( only do this if YOU are comfortable with it, I'M not telling you to do this, just look into it)
Cheers ( Sorry for the spelling and grammer, that is something that will never get better)
I'm a newbie to the board. I wish I had found it sooner. I had a MVA on July 31st and broke my heel and my femur. I wheeled away from the hospital with a plate & 9 screws in my heel and a rod and 3 screws in my femur.
I am almost 13 weeks out from my heel surgery, and still have no WB. Does this seem like an abnormally long period of time? I don't revisit my ortho for 3 more weeks. On my last visit, he told me my range of movement in both my my leg and ankle looked great, things were healing nicely in my heel, etc, etc, etc and then told me he'd see me in 6 more weeks. It was like he was building me up before he dropped the bomb on me! LOL!
I don't think they are holding off due to my femur injury, because I was told repeatedly in the hospital that if I had only broken my femur, I would've walked out of there. Yeah, yeah....thanks! I needed to keep hearing that!
I guess I just need to hear some affirmations from people who have experienced all of this before. I'm just feeling frustration from not having walked since July.
-tim
P.S. -- Jason, I know exactly how you are feeling with it hurting when it gets cold. My heel and leg both ache when it gets colder, and it doesn't even have to be that cold.
Hello Heelies,
Tim: Had my surgery for totaly shattered heel 7/3, they put in 9 screws, plate did a bone graft, just in the last week have been able to put away the crutches & walk without them, it's been 4 months today.
Paul: I'm going to try my hardest not to walk like a duck & stay away from my walking boot, it locks my ankle.
My bare foot sure does not like the walking on the hard floor at all but I'll do it anyway.
Thank for the advise!
I don't want to look like a duck.
Ed, went to PT today she said the lock up is part of the process and will happen when I do things I haven't been doing. My foot felt great during PT, so I know it does work but it is frustrating when you stop and it starts to swell and lock up.
Paul, I find that what you say about not pushing every day works for me too. I think going to the gym is a very good idea. Thanks for the come back.
Tim, My Doc. told me it looked like corn flakes when I crushed my heel on 7/7. From what I see how everyone else is doing I have to conclude he did a good job. I also think that maybe the stress of having both the femur and heel on the same leg may have something to do with the longer time to WB for you.
Jason, sorry to hear about the cold affecting your foot. I am going to try that Cryroderm Carole suggested. It sounds like it might be a heat inducing type rub, you my want to consider it.
Carole, I kinda get a sence that you are like the little kid Lilly Tommlin plays in that big rocking chair, so I figured you for a trike . I used my boot only for work, which controlled the swelling and let me get around like normal. Other than that, like Paul and TC and many others have said, concentrate on a proper gate / step is the key to recovery from this confounding injury. Well everyone, stay strong, positive and of course
Joe, my PT said the same thing. I woke and my foot felt incredible, I got to PT did eliptical, leg presses 60lbs, no bike, 10 on the treadmill and my usual others. It felt great all day, loose, relaxed, I was able to work on my gait, heel foot, step off..
I managed to cut the lawn too. I have several small hills so I got some lateral movement and all felt good. I iced it for the swelling. After dinner, it started locking on me again. The good news is mild stretching loosens it again.
I agree with Paul, not to push every day. Oh, I also am walking up stairs using my toes like I used to, not the entire foot. Coming down I am almost able to do the same, almost.
Ouch Tim....I'm sorry. It does sound like a long time before WB, but you have to listen to the doc. He has his reasons. I would ask him why so long tho. I'm curious. I don't know if you caught it but I was FWB at 7 weeks post op in a boot. 8 weeks I was FWB in a sneaker....
It is frustrating, but once you start WB it'll come back quickly. You'll be walking in no time. Keep us posted tho....
Jason, so far the cold hasn't become an issue, but when it does, you'll hear the scream from far away....I'll make sure of it. LOL
Carole...wow, you are making some great progress. From the pain you had to what you are doing now is fantastic. I'm really happy for you.
I hope everyone else is doing OK. Sbrew, how is your hip? Any news yet? Mydd and Taysha's hubby I hope are OK too.
I went to the doctor today to get an x-ray. My hip is broken. I am not really sure of a lot the doctor said because honestly I broke down. I just knew that since I could lift my leg since Saturday that it was just a bad bruise. I have to options and one is surgery...I just can't do that again. The other is that since I am not WB I could let the bone heal because I think he said it was an embedded fracture and in line. There was a lot more but frankly it didn't all register ...I have 24 hours to think about it and get with the doctor that did my foot to talk about the options. It will postpone WB for 6-8 weeks but he did say I could go to PT and work on my foot. There was a lot more but that is enough sharing...Thanks Ed for the phone no..I have not been able to talk about this even with my kids. Joe you are doing great...you too Phil..
Alex, it looks like you are going to zoom past me.
Jeremiah, I was using my crutches....I was at work...I was driving and shopping.....just be careful..accidents happen so quickly.
Carole, I am glad you are doing better and your work is slowing down...I am truly keeping up with everyone and glad the infections are better. Welcome to the newbies.
Iam so sorry to hear about your hip being broken,i know how it is with set backs and second operations-as iam typing this my husband is hooked up to his iv drip for the infection, if the dr is positve that the hip will heal without another operation then that may be the way to go physically and mentally ,i would be a little leary of doing pt while healing the hip also,but i know you have to do what you feel is right.
Keep us posted.
Hello Heelies,
Sbrew: Oh heck just when you got back to work.
I'm really sorry you broke another bone, thats really a royal drag, at least hip is in line & you have a choice.
Try to look on the bright side, it could have been worst, at least the injury is treatable.
Joe: The CryoDerm is super good for pain it sinks in down to the nerve & has more of a cooling effect than heating, the label says fast acting, deep penetrating pain relief from: Muscle strain & sprains, Bursitis, Tendonitis, Arthritis, Joint pain, Backache, I notice it works on headache & sinus pain.
About Lilly Tommlin she was on the TV show LaughIn I use to love to watch that show as a kid, the skit she did playing an old lady hitting the old man was funny too.
Ed: Sounds like your doing a lot & I am doing better Thank you.
Heelies: watch out it's winter, slow down don't hurry, things are wet, slippery & icey.
Re: Fractured Calcaneous 6 
have fun. You start PT soon, yes? 
