Hello All,
First post here. I was fairly active on Epic for the last two years but as with all good thing that came to an end.
I had started a thread over there on my Tib/Fib fracture giving updates and getting info and support from other so I figured I would do the same here. There was one person on Epic who had done the same thing a couple month earlier who was posting on the thread which was great. I figured this might be good for other people who go through this as well.
Long story short on March 5th I broke my Tib/Fib skiing, it was not a particularly spectacular crash and actually did not hurt all that much at the time. I did not realize that I had done anything bad till I saw my leg, at the top of the boot, moving around like a bell clank. So after 47 years of skiing like a crazy man I got a ride down in a sled. My hat is off to the Ski Safety, Ski Patrol, and all the folks at the Carlos Otis clinic at Stratton, they were all awesome. They set my leg in the clinic and gave the the A OK to head home to CT to have a nail put in. That night I found myself in Greenwich hospital being poked and prodded and got ready for the surgery the following day. The surgery took just under 3 hours I am told and the surgeon said it went well.... After two days in the hospital I was sent home to find the brand new ski I ordered the previous week sitting in the dining room.
The first 6 weeks were not so great. I could not drive, getting around was a PIA and it hurt a lot, simple everyday chores were just not possible. Because of an issue I had with the painkillers, I never knew being constipated could hurt so much, I ditched the hard stuff after 8 days. Weekends were also rough, we have a 9 year old who qualified for the USASA Nationals out in Copper and I did not want him to miss practicing with the team so my wife and son would head out up to VT Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening.......over the weekends I was bored out of my mind.....thank heavens for beer and Apple TV.
I have found that the first 12 weeks is as mentally challenging as physically. I do a lot of sailboat racing and I could not do that, I could not take care of a number of projects I had on our cruising boat, I could not play ball with the little punk, I could not ride my bike.....I could not do a lot of the things I really enjoy. There were also the set backs, one day it would be feeling pretty good and then I would take a bad step and it would take two weeks to get back to where I was but on the bright side there was always progress even though at times it does not feel like it. PT works wonders, especially early on, so if you do go through this keep up with the PT and do your assigned homework.
At week 14 I had a surgeons appointment and he asked how I was doing. I was still experiencing pretty significant pain most of the time in my tibia and told him about that. The x-ray came back OK but he prescribed a bone growth stimulator. I won't get started into the politics but if you do the slightest amount of research on bone stimulators you get a much clearer understanding why our health insurance system is so broken. With that said I was not completely sold on them but figured it would not hurt so had the poor sales lady, who had to deal with my ranting on the gross greed of her company, order one up for me. I did a bunch of reading and I am still not sure I buy the whole thing but the number seem to indicate that they do help in a very large majority nonunioning fractures not that my break showed as being nonunioning (is that a word?) but it still really hurt at 14 weeks.Maybe I was just pushing it to hard?
Here we are at week 18 I believe. I have made REALLY good progress in the last two weeks, the pain is mostly from my Fibula and muscles now. I can walk about 90% limp free and have gotten on the bike a couple times. I have also been cruising our boat the last 4 weekends and while I am still not comfortable about leaving the cockpit while sailing I am getting around MUCH better and feeling more comfortable moving around the boat while under way.
While I have always had my eye on getting back on the boards from day one I can now actually imagine that happening come December. For anyone who as done this, especially if you are a bit older ( I turned 50 last October) it takes time, it is frustrating, it hurts, it sucks and it is just a PIA, or PIL, as the case may be.
As we get closer to the start of the season I will give a couple more updates on my progress.
I also would love to hear from others that have experienced this and there thoughts on the whole thing.
Cheers,
Jim
First post here. I was fairly active on Epic for the last two years but as with all good thing that came to an end.
I had started a thread over there on my Tib/Fib fracture giving updates and getting info and support from other so I figured I would do the same here. There was one person on Epic who had done the same thing a couple month earlier who was posting on the thread which was great. I figured this might be good for other people who go through this as well.
Long story short on March 5th I broke my Tib/Fib skiing, it was not a particularly spectacular crash and actually did not hurt all that much at the time. I did not realize that I had done anything bad till I saw my leg, at the top of the boot, moving around like a bell clank. So after 47 years of skiing like a crazy man I got a ride down in a sled. My hat is off to the Ski Safety, Ski Patrol, and all the folks at the Carlos Otis clinic at Stratton, they were all awesome. They set my leg in the clinic and gave the the A OK to head home to CT to have a nail put in. That night I found myself in Greenwich hospital being poked and prodded and got ready for the surgery the following day. The surgery took just under 3 hours I am told and the surgeon said it went well.... After two days in the hospital I was sent home to find the brand new ski I ordered the previous week sitting in the dining room.
The first 6 weeks were not so great. I could not drive, getting around was a PIA and it hurt a lot, simple everyday chores were just not possible. Because of an issue I had with the painkillers, I never knew being constipated could hurt so much, I ditched the hard stuff after 8 days. Weekends were also rough, we have a 9 year old who qualified for the USASA Nationals out in Copper and I did not want him to miss practicing with the team so my wife and son would head out up to VT Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening.......over the weekends I was bored out of my mind.....thank heavens for beer and Apple TV.
I have found that the first 12 weeks is as mentally challenging as physically. I do a lot of sailboat racing and I could not do that, I could not take care of a number of projects I had on our cruising boat, I could not play ball with the little punk, I could not ride my bike.....I could not do a lot of the things I really enjoy. There were also the set backs, one day it would be feeling pretty good and then I would take a bad step and it would take two weeks to get back to where I was but on the bright side there was always progress even though at times it does not feel like it. PT works wonders, especially early on, so if you do go through this keep up with the PT and do your assigned homework.
At week 14 I had a surgeons appointment and he asked how I was doing. I was still experiencing pretty significant pain most of the time in my tibia and told him about that. The x-ray came back OK but he prescribed a bone growth stimulator. I won't get started into the politics but if you do the slightest amount of research on bone stimulators you get a much clearer understanding why our health insurance system is so broken. With that said I was not completely sold on them but figured it would not hurt so had the poor sales lady, who had to deal with my ranting on the gross greed of her company, order one up for me. I did a bunch of reading and I am still not sure I buy the whole thing but the number seem to indicate that they do help in a very large majority nonunioning fractures not that my break showed as being nonunioning (is that a word?) but it still really hurt at 14 weeks.Maybe I was just pushing it to hard?
Here we are at week 18 I believe. I have made REALLY good progress in the last two weeks, the pain is mostly from my Fibula and muscles now. I can walk about 90% limp free and have gotten on the bike a couple times. I have also been cruising our boat the last 4 weekends and while I am still not comfortable about leaving the cockpit while sailing I am getting around MUCH better and feeling more comfortable moving around the boat while under way.
While I have always had my eye on getting back on the boards from day one I can now actually imagine that happening come December. For anyone who as done this, especially if you are a bit older ( I turned 50 last October) it takes time, it is frustrating, it hurts, it sucks and it is just a PIA, or PIL, as the case may be.
As we get closer to the start of the season I will give a couple more updates on my progress.
I also would love to hear from others that have experienced this and there thoughts on the whole thing.
Cheers,
Jim
