Comminuted Navicular with some serious consequences

ldbeer

When I was 21 I fell from a ladder at work from a height of about 4-6 feet. Due to some interesting properties of physics, I managed to get a comminuted fracture to the Navicular, as well as some much less serious fractures to the metatarsals.

Well, because I was so young, My rather skilled surgeon decided not to fuse the joints surrounding the Navicular, but repair it. He was able to do an excellent job, and I am left with a full range of motion.

However, I am also left with some rather serious post traumatic arthritis.
I've been living with this for two years, and the only conclusion I've been able to come to is that my present situation isn't something I want to accept.

Simply put, my level of physical activity and fitness level have plummeted, and I struggle with everything I do. Even the relative sedentary live of a student can often prove to be too much. I don't want to make this post too long, but pain levels are high and come on quickly.


My options presented to me thus far are
1) live with it
2) midfoot fusion
3) amputation

I have tried to live with it and simply can't. As part of my recovery I began some martial arts training. It wasn't roughousing kung fu or anything, think Tai Chee, and it was extremely fulfilling. I had to quit, however, when I went back to school, as I couldnt handle that much time on my feet.
I occasionaly get a few steps without pain, but thats it, and while braces, a tens machine, and athletic tape do help, I still pay a heavy price for any level of physical activity.

I've done a little biking since the injury, but an hour of light road biking can mean a lot of extra pain in the following days. And skiing, which I have done religiously since I was 3 is so far out of the question I want to cry.

Now, one of my doctors put it to me this way:
"if you want full range of motion, leave it. If you like your foot, fuse it. If you want functionality, amputate"

Now, I really really want functionality. But I am also rather attached to my feet, I have really nimble toes, and can pick up things on the floor and hand them off to my hands. In short, I like my feet.

I would really really like to hear from people who have gone through midfoot fusions. What kind of functionality are you left with?

Now, I will HAVE to get it fused. I can't leave it like it is, I've gained 25 pounds, and lost probably 15 pounds of muscle. And as much as I'd like to immediately get it amputated, thats a life long choice. So despite the long recovery of a fusion, I have to try it out.

Anyone else have a similar injury/symptoms? I am open to expand my options beyond the three above.

Finally, what about amputees. I would have done it already, except for the heavy psychological burden involved.

thanks for your responses

Lorin Beer