when an ankle say uncle - will be riding my couch next few wknds

[Kid A]

here's my (sob) story. total f'n freak accident

riding with a few bro's (incl j-dirt) last week at el moro, i hit a loose section on one of the short climbs that i always clean going up no dogs (think after trail to poles- heading towards deer canyon). To the best of my recollection my back tire spins sideways and as i mash through either my right foot slips out of pedal or i dab/roll ankle and next i hear is this horrible cracking noise. as I fall over I can basically see my foot "hanging" off my ankle. trust me this was a sight that freaked me out way more than the pain. not so much fun at this point.

cutting to the chase at emergency room am told broke both tibia and fibula at ankle and surgery takes place next day to insert plates, pins, screws, etc. Can you say "open reduction internal fixation"...i knew you could.

according to surgeon surgery went well but tomorrow will mark 1 week off of bike as I am rocking my crutches (hey i think there is enough room for str sticker ) and bored out of my f'n mind

pain aside, hardest part is 1) coming to grips with this happening in such a freak way. no tech, no high speed...you could not imagine how pissed I was and remain about this. and 2) even more being off bike. it's only 1 week now and i am starting to loose my mind. dr says 6-8 weeks on crutches. not sure i will be a fun guy to be around over that time period.

in any regard, primarly reason for posting is i believe i have seen a few posts in the past where some have experienced similar injuries. what should i truly expect on recovery and when could i realistically be riding again? any advise, insight is appreciated as goal is merely to heal and ride again asap without doing add'l long term damage. while def encountering some mad pain, a bit less "concerned" on pain - as have taken my lumps before (most recently ripped open shin while boarding @ big bear a season back . caught edge/clipped rail @ kink laying 50/50 to board slide - took a bunch of staples to close - continued to board after spill and was mtn biking following weekend as well.)

[UseItOrLooseIt]

wow, right on

[roadkillross]

lets see some pics

[jruiz]

my bro broke his fib and tib 6 weeks ago after landing on someones foot while playing bball. he's halfway through recovery before he gets to remove the cast. he's been drinking alot of milk and taking calcium pills. i think the hardest part maybe getting rid of the jitters after healing

[dstepper]

Very sorry to hear about your injury. I broke my leg in high school...like nearly forty years ago and was back to normal in a month. Today if that happened to someone my age, it could be life altering.

Anyway healing vibes to you my friend and follow the Doctors directions...don't try to get back to quick.

[FyrFytrRyn]

ouch, sorry to hear... def. follow your dr. directions, ive heard the hardest part is getting that muscle stong again. good luck.

"pain aside, hardest part is 1) coming to grips with this happening in such a freak way. no tech, no high speed...you could not imagine how pissed I was and remain about this."

on a side note:
while working for AMR, we responded to a call of a fallen person. the person fell off a MAYBE 2 foot plastic step ladder (might have even been a milk crate) found them prone not moving. rolled them onto the back board and began assessment. while i was doin vitals the medic had a 16 gauge needle in his hand, sticking it into patients legs, he was para. from the waist down from a two foot fall. talk about a freak accident.

[Pain Freak]

Your biggest problem would be to rush back to soon before you are ready. Trust the doc on this. We are all in the same boat when it comes to this and we all push it. Believe me I know how bad it can be. I can't even get along with myself if I go for more then a week without riding.

From a physical therapy point of view, I did some running in the pool before I got to anything else. That helped a lot and the doc was happy with it.

Good luck and I'm sorry for your accident.

[Schecky]

Sorry to hear about that.
I agree with what they said. Take your time coming back.
You can be frustrated for a few extra weeks, or deal with it constantly when old father time starts shadowing you.

How did you get out? Your own power or did they have to come get you?

[pshloss]

I like the advice of trying to do some other form of exercise when your condition permits. Maybe some upper body stuff. It could take the edge off of your frustration. Good luck.

[Pho'dUp]

tSorry to hear about it Kid A. It sounds stupid but try not to worry about it. Coming from a guy whose had 2 knee surgeries and a ton of hours in therapy getting back, worrying about it just makes it worse. Trust your doc and your physical therapists. They'll get you going again and maybe stronger than before.

Finding another outlet is a great idea. Maybe work on some core or work with real light weights or a spotter. Just be careful since you're on crutches. Plenty of people hurt their other leg hopping around sh1t w/out their crutches.

As far as supplements, having a protein shake when you start strength rehab ain't a bad idea either.

Goodluck man, let us know how you're doing.

[Flat Broke]

And I thought my break was bad. Deffinitely post up some of the initial Xrays if you can get your hands on em.

I busted the bottom 1.5-2" of my fibula clean off last March. I only started feeling like I could handle being out in the dirt again, around Feb/March of this year. Before that freaks you out, I'll go through my particulars. I was 31 when it broke, 240lbs. There was about a week (maybe 5 days at the shortest) between the injury and a successfull surgery. My surgeon told me I'd be in the cast with ABSOLUTELY NO WEIGHT BEARING for 8 weeks. By the time it was all said and done, that turned into more like 10-12. I've already forgotten exactly how long, but I remember being nothing but pissed that it was taking so long and kept getting pushed out. Because of my weight and the added stress it put on my ankle, my surgeon wanted to make absolutely sure that the bone was pretty much 100% healed up before I started PT.

After the cast came the walking boot and the startling discovery that after 10+ weeks, asside from pain, your brain pretty much forgets that your ankle is down there and that leg can actually so stuff. The first day of PT, the threapist articulated my ankle to test my range of motion then immediately put me on a stationary bike. The first time on the bike, I pretty much came to tears as the busted side came to the top of the stroke. Fast forward a week (3 PT sessions per week) and while the bike wasn't a breeze, I could maintain a consistent cadence with minimal/no resistance for 20mins or so. I rocked the walking boot for a month or so to help build strength back up in my quads and give some support while walking around sans crutches (used one crutch then a cane initially as prescribed by my surgeon and threapist). Around the middle of July I was getting around without the cane, but couldn't stand for long periods of time due to swelling in the joint. My surgeon told me it would probably take about 9mos to a year for the area to stop having swelling issues, and he was pretty much right on the money.

I continued regular PT sessions 3x/week for about an hour to hour and a half from July to September. At that juncture I couldn't miss any more work and had to stop going. That is probably the biggest reason it took longer for my recovery, so no matter what, find a way to make your PT appointments as long as you can. I was lucky in the fact that my max out of pocket for ins is $500/year and the PT was quickly covered by my ins, but if it hand't have been, the cost of the PT would have probably put a stop to things.

Outside of PT, I did stretching and band resistance exercises every night, as well as stretching exercises every morning. I was active in my recovery within the limits of what my surgeon and therapist allowed. From my perspective, the hardest part of the ordeal was conceding that I had limitations I was going to have to work through and overcome. My brain still thought that many tasks were attainable just as if the injury had never occured, but the link between the brain and the ankle was the weak link. As an example, one of the later PT exercises was slapping on these booties and basically making skating strides on some slick plastic. I played hockey for years, and the whole time I was working up to that exercise, I watched others struggle with it and thought, "at least I won't have a problem with that". The first time I tried it, I nearly took my therapist out when he tried to help me regain my ballance. The strength and range of motion were there, but the control mechanisms for all the minute changes in body positioning that your ankle does were almost non existant. As a result of this injury, you'll come to notice how much we take for granted the sensory exchange between our feet and our brain. The way our foot feels uneven terrain and the brain takes that info and controls all the small muscles in the foot and ankle to stabilize things is amazing. That is the part that is hardest to sort out in PT.

My advice would be:

1. Get some things going that don't require your feet that will pre-occupy your mind to help pass time. Video games, play a musical instrument if you know how, or ever wanted to learn, so on and so forth. DON'T watch NWD 1-6 over and over again, because it will just bum you that you're not out riding.

2. Follow your doctors instructions - the only thing worse than recovery, is an even longer recovery with poorer results because you rushed things

3. While the bone is healing, get plenty of calcium and vitamin A and D. It couldn't hurt, and may actually help speed things along.

4. Find a GOOD physical therapist when the time comes, and not just whoever is closest to you. Luckily I mentioned the group I was going to use to my surgeon, and he had seen poor results with other patients that used them in the past. I made a change and was happy with my therapist group, though they were a little crowded. I drove from LB to Torrance to go to therapy 3x a week, but in my mind it was worth it.

5. Pay very close attention to swelling once you're up on the foot. As you know right now, that bad boy needs to be elevated, or it starts throbing like a mofo. But in time, it won't throb, but instead collect blood, swell, and greatly decrease mobility and increase discomfort while moving the ankle. Having sat on your ass for a month and a half or so, once you ditch the crutches, you'll want to do nothing more than go hang with your friends, get out and about, etc. Take it easy and do it in small stints, or you'll be hating life for the next couple of days. To that end, see if the therapist you are using has access to Game Ready compression/ice systems. It would be awesome if they could be used at home, but I didn't have the option. Standard icepacks did very little to reduce the swelling in my ankle once I started PT, but the Game Ready system made a noticeable difference in the level of swelling between when I stopped my workout, and when I hobbled out the door 25mins later. In addition to icing at PT, I also did a 20 minute ice down every night right before I went to bed. The ice makes things stiff for the first couple minutes after you do it, so it seems counter-intuitive, but the reduction in swelling is a big asset to your recovery.

Outside of that, just be patient and follow directions. If you have trouble sleeping because of pain in the ankle, and you're limited sleeping position options, ask your doc about Ambien. It worked very well for me, and actually put me in a somewhat better mood the next morning, just because I got a more restful night's sleep. I did have to make a concious effort to stop using it, but nothing like withdrawls or anything like that. Take things one day at a time, and just focus on little milestones throughout the day. Right now is probably the hardest part because your doc probably wants the leg elevated as much as possible. Once they ditch the surgical bandage/cast and get you into a regular fiberglass cast, things get a little easier. Once you're feeling up to it, trips out once in a while, even if its just a dumb car ride can help break the monotany.

Best of luck with your recovery, and welcome to the early storm-weather detection club.

Chris

[Pain Freak]

Wow!

[Pho'dUp]

Man Chris, good post. I remember having to go through so much of the same crap for my knee.

And I hate the stationary bike too. I had the same thing happen. But I couldn't bend my knee. I cried my azz off in PT. Especially the day I pushed myself to make a ONE complete revolution.

[Flat Broke]

Pho'd,

It's funny to look back on now, but when I was in PT, I was always envious of the knee patients because they recovered quicker than I did. There were a couple that came in about the same time I started for pre-surgery PT to get the muscles in better condition, then had the surgery, then a full course of PT all while I was still dicking with my ankle. The key there was that there wasn't 10 weeks of atrophy to overcome. In watching the difference between when my dad had his knee replacement done 10 years ago vs. replacements done today, the mentality of getting that thing moving ASAP is deffinitely well founded.

Hopefully Kid A does well and heals up quick and complete. The one thing I AM happy about with regard to my recovery, is I know that while there are still some sore days, my ankle can do anything it could before. I have a friend that I used to work with who broke his ankle playing rugby years ago. His ankle is a mess to this day, and will never be as good as it was.

So Kid A, rest up, take it easy and don't rush it

Chris

[Kid A]

hey guys - thanks much for feedback and encouragement. will certainly keep you in loop on recovery developments with hopes of hooking up for a ride before too long

also if others have any thoughts on above -always interested in hearing what worked for you.

btw- in regards to q on how i got off trail, since was state park and still on fire road they were able to get a truck to get me down to parking lot -was riding with a few friends so that helped quite a bit as well. will post xrays when in hand

[Geronimo]

Sorry to hear about your ankle Kid. I too broke my tib/fib at the ankle, riding my dirtbike out at dumont dunes. Can you say " Open reduction internal fixation" I knew you could. I got 8 screws a plate, a pin and two crutches. I was on crutches for about 5 months ( non weight bearing about 14-16 weeks) and then on a cane for about 2 months. I agree with what's been said already LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR! let those bones get nice and dense before riding again. I know it's tuff, but be patient. Once you get on the stationary bike, start riding again, but on the street with platform pedals. I think the singletracks would be too tempting if riding a fire road, and as you already know bad things can happen when you would least expect it. If you have any questions about swelling, nerve damage, pain, etc.I can let you know what it was like for me. You will get real good at hopping on one leg, DON'T hop while wearing a flip flop. And avoid getting fall down drunk, I didn't but you should.

For Sale: Two pimp canes exc. cond. if they weren't used they would be new $500.00 OBO. Just kidding. I do have a couple sweet (pimp) canes that your welcome to. Good Luck!