qwik

First let me say hello and express my sympathy to everyone that has had a heel/talus fracture. I'm really thankful to find an active forum for people that have had this injury so we can share our experiences and obvious knowledge of this debilitating injury.

Anyway, here is a quick synopsis of my injury and my condition currently. I suffered bi-lateral calcaneus fractures and L1/L2 vertebrae fractures in June '08 from a 20 ft fall on to concrete. In addition to the TLSO brace for my spine to heal, I had an ORIF on one foot within one week of the injury, and a "pin" or "rod" in the other foot extending through my calcaneus into my talus bone. The "rod" was then removed approximately 6-8 weeks later which subsequently became infected and required surgery to clean the joint and a PIC line to be placed on 2 separate occasions to clear the recurring infection (Jan. '09 and again in Oct. '09). I am walking with out assistance, however I do have a pronounced limp and fortunately have been infection free for 16 months. In addition to the daily pain and stiffness in my ankle/foot from the initial damage from the fall and the soft tissue damage from the infections, my foot has "collapsed" and became severely pronated causing pain on the outside edge of my foot/ankle. This could of course be repaired with a fusion and a bone block to replace the damaged bone in my talus. Unfortunately I had to resign from my job and do not have insurance to get the fusion. So here I am, bummed out, in pain and at a dead end.

I guess my hopes for this post is once again to say hello and also to reach out to all you "heelies" (great nickname by the way) in the hopes that there is someone here that has had similar complications and is pre-subtalar fusion.

Thanks in advance for any replies and happy limping to all...