I had a fusion of the first and second tarametatarsal on my left foot along with a plate and screws to hold everything in place 4 weeks ago. I was doing wonderful however during week 3 I fell and was not wearing the protective boot.
I contacted the doctor's office and was advised to watch it for a few days for pain and swelling. Of course it was very painful at first and slowly subsided but I still have tenderness/pain. The nurse indicated that I probably didn't do any harm since it had been 3 weeks and because of the hardware.
Has anyone taken a fall when they were non-weight bearing and what were the results.
Hi! Welcome to the boards! There's a wealth of knowledge on here and lots of friendly people so I hope get all the help and support you need!! I fell on my ankle 3 wks (I think?) after having 3 ligaments reconstructed, a tendon repaired, and the bone broken and drilled on 2/22/12. Granted I was still in a cast so it didn't hurt it surgery wise, but I had lots of pain and swelling. Then 4 days after I got my,cast off and boot on (so 6 wks out from surgery), the stool I was kneeling on with my injured foot slipped throwing me forward and on instinct I put my foot down and landed right on it (was still NWB at this point) NO BOOT and ALL my weight on it because other foot was in the air. I screamed and jumped back jerking my injured foot up not because it was THAT bad of pain, but because I was scared it was going to twist which I wasn't allow to do yet or that I had messed it up. Well, it didn't twist, it felt stable and I didn't hurt it structurally. It did swell and hurt more and that took a few days to go away. Now all that to say, I dont have hardware so I'm sure it's a little different ball game, but thought I'd offer up my experience anyway. If you continue to have pain/tenderness/swelling, I'd probably call your doctor again to see if they want to X-ray it. Good luck and let us know how it goes!!
Hollywood, Thank you for your input. It does help to know of other's experiences. I go to the doctor on June 1st and he will be taking an x-ray with weight bearing for the first time. The swelling has decreased considerably however I still have sensiitivity near my great toe which is different than the surgery site. Hopefully, I didn't injure a different part of my foot.
I went to the doctor yesterday am 12 weeks post op. I did have a slip or two with my boot on, but any additional pain subsided. We have a toddler, so I was pretty careful to always have the shield on. Once she got to something hard heavy and solid, and threw it and of course it landed right on my operated foot. It hurt quite bad, so I had it x-rayed to see if there was any damage. You might want to go to the emergency room and let them do an x-ray. It could probably be faxed to your surgeon if they are not close. In my case the emergency room doc was confident there was no damage.
Loretta, I hope you are still doing well. It has to be hard caring for a toddler while recouperating. When I first contacted the doctor's office after the fall I asked about their ability to fax a rx for an x-ray since we live 2 1/2 hours from doctor. I was told that a local x-ray would not do any good because the doctors here don't know what was done. They also told me that they wouldn't do anything at this point, I think because of the swelling, etc. They offered to get me in with another doctor the next week since mine was out of the office but I hesitated doing that. Anyway, at this point I am a week away from seeing the doctor. I still have soreness by my big toe (where many people get bunions). The actual surgery site appears okay. I was wondering is it possible to bruise a bone?
Hi, I wanted to update everyone on my progress. I am now at 6 weeks post surgery and I had the nasty fall at 3 weeks post op. I still have pain where the side of my foot hit the tile and I rescheduled my doctor appointment because of the pain. I am happy to share that the x-rays showed that I didn't damage the fusion/hardware/surgery in any way. The doctor kept looking at the x-ray and asked me if I have gout. He thinks I have gout in the painful area which was brought on from the fall. This isn't the first time doctors have thought I have gout (in other joints) however, the tests show no gout .... pseudo-gout. Anyway, the doctor thinks when I return for my next visit in 4 weeks that I will not have any pain. I am suppose to start weight bearing this weekend and he said to start off with 20% weight and build up to full weight bearing over the week.
Any insight into starting to walk again would be appreciated.
