Learn me living with a broken foot

On Thursday night I did this to myself:

Stepped in a hole in the back yard (thanks, dogs!) and twisted it badly. This pic was taken about 15 minutes after the injury. Went to urgent care and they did an X-ray and found two broken bones in my foot. Specifically, I have a small avulsion fracture of the lateral talar process and an acute fracture of the anterior calcaneal process. There may be more, they recommend I get a CT scan. I have an appointment with the ortho doc on Tuesday morning.

For the moment, it's splinted with ACE bandages. I'm keeping weight off it, using crutches, and icing it. Alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen every 6 hours or so. Pain is pretty minor since it can't really move in the splint.

I've already accepted that my summer is berkeleyed. It's been 3 days and I'm already bored out of my mind, but the worst part is that I can barely do anything on my own. I can get around OK on crutches, but I can't carry anything, so if I want a glass of water, someone has to get it for me. So, I guess I'm looking for some life hacks from folks who have dealt with this kind of thing before.

All I can say is OWCH, and sorry.

How much did it rotate when going down into the hole? I'm shocked that they didn't get you set with additional imaging this afternoon/evening. Yes even on a Sunday and on the holiday. 

I won't compare it to my left foot going into a hole, as mine resulted in an immediate and highly visible compound fib/tub, ACL, MCL, Achilles and 13 breaks in the foot and ankle itself. 

That being said, the way feet are comprised, if you're seeing the Ortho on Tuesday, I expect you'll have a pre op on Thursday or Friday and surgery next week by Wednesday. 

I'm cringing too much to read any more details of everyone's injuries. I hope you have a rapid and full recovery. 

 Heel-toe downshifts are gonna be a bitch for awhile....

 Did your foot roll to one side or the other?

I can commiserate, the weekend before I had my shoulder rebuilt I was doing some last minute "honey do's" outside in the yard.  I was balanced on a retaining wall, then things went sideways. When I landed, I knew something was not right, but things had to get done before my surgery.

I did get into the orthopedic surgeon for my pre-opp on the shoulder, he consented to look at and x-ray my foot, nothing obvious showed up.  My shoulder was going to be an arthroscopic procedure, that needed more work than expected.  Yes, he had more of a mess than was expected but I have no complaints.  Rehab is no fun, but it has paid off.  But after 10 weeks of walking on it and a CT scan, he found that I had in fact broken the "talus" bone of my right foot.

No lie, my shoulder was a source of discomfort.  My broken foot has been a source of pain that I will not sugar coat.  I am 9 months into working with changes that I would not wish on anyone.  My suggestion, get the knee scouter.  I have stopped drinking adult beverages, lots of water. Ice and relief factor.  I did consume lots of Tylenol and Motrin in the begging. But I became concerned with the volume of this stuff my Dr. was suggesting I consume.

There are other meds, I chose to not go down that path.  Give your self some space on this, it takes time to even start feeling better.  Yes, the upside to having your shoulder rebuilt is not having a broken foot. But....

David 

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

... That being said, the way feet are comprised, if you're seeing the Ortho on Tuesday, I expect you'll have a pre op on Thursday or Friday and surgery next week by Wednesday. 

Except it's 2021, foot parts are on back order with at least a three month shipping delay.

I've had similar years ago and I expect that you already know the basics - immobilize, elevate when possible, and no weight on it for now. Recovery from those avulsion breaks takes longer than 'just a bone' fracture. Range of motion PT in a couple weeks to keep things flexible and prevent the wrong parts from sticking together. Probably back to 100% in about three months.

You may be suitable for one of those leg scooters for getting around, rather than dealing with crutches.

https://www.amazon.com/leg-scooter-broken-foot/s?k=leg+scooter+for+broken+foot

+1000x on a knee scooter and ice machine, insurance should cover each and you'll likely go home from surgery with them. 3-4 months sounds accurate as long as there's no Achilles damage, which likely would've reared it's head already. 

The other thing I'll recommend is once you're allowed to bear weight on it and range of motion is unrestricted, is to adapt PT and OT exercises into an aquatic setting. 

AAZCD, it's funny you mention the year aspect. The compound fib tib with ankle injures in the left foot and left knee was back in 2001. My recent compound fib tib with a broken patella and acl was at the end of January, it's much different as the ankle wasn't damaged, but it was 3 surgeries and about 4 months before being mobil-ish again, versus 10 months in a chair and 6 surgeries in 2001. 

I dislocated the first metatarsal on my right foot.  Lots of metal to put it back together.  No weight on it for five months.  After that, a walking boot for a month.  Do not recommend.

As soon as I got home, I ordered a knee scooter.   Rolled as fast (or faster) than I could walk.  Absolutely quiet.  Was able to sneak up on my co-workers and scare the hell out of them.  Thing had a basket to haul stuff. 

That basket seriously saved my sorry butt...

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

How much did it rotate when going down into the hole? I'm shocked that they didn't get you set with additional imaging this afternoon/evening. Yes even on a Sunday and on the holiday. 

I don't know exactly how far it rotated, but I know it rolled inwards and back.

As for the doc, I called them first thing Friday morning. I assume the doc wants to examine me and see the X-rays before deciding on more imaging.

I think I might look into the knee scooter. I did order this thingamabob. It seems a bit... risky, but it would be nice to have both hands free while walking.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm cringing too much to read any more details of everyone's injuries. I hope you have a rapid and full recovery. 

Umm.. Aren't you a vet?

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

I talked to a woman who had one of those.  She seemed to get around OK and she swore could do stairs, something my knee scooter could not.

Just got back from the ortho, and the news was good. No surgery, basically all I need to do is keep the ankle from twisting while it heals. I can even put weight on it. I have a walking boot, and have managed to successfully navigate the house without my crutches. So, while I'm far from 100%, I'm much better off than I feared.

I did something similar to my left foot in college (Don't drink and try snowboarding on a food tray from the dining center).  The walking boot let me get around ok, but it made driving stick a pain.

bgkast said:

I did something similar to my left foot in college (Don't drink and try snowboarding on a food tray from the dining center).  The walking boot let me get around ok, but it made driving stick a pain.

Well, the only manual-transmission car I have is currently in pieces and waiting for it's new transmission to arrive, that won't be an issue for the moment.