Anyone have broken leg success stories?

Ive been recovering from my broken leg broken heel I sustained September 4.

I've been mobile on crutches and a wheelchair. Ive worked in a jail for last 16 years and I want to return to my career and my zen mountain biking without doubles.

I sincerely appreciate your replies. I know your out there and I need your encouragement.

I have home healthcare and a strong will. I'm taking 1000 mg a day of vicadin!

 

I broke my leg in 2001. Rt tib fib compound. Had a rod and four pins put in.

My leg is great today and I have no physical holdbacks. Don't get addicted to Vico's. That was the hardest part for me.

You'll be fine. Just relax. Try meditating.

 

Wait, could you please check how much Vicodin? 1000mg is too high, you'll end up ruining your liver Bec of the acetaminophen. Just being a nurse. Heal well.

 

Broke a leg in 1988, not bike related. I was young and was back to work in about 4 weeks.

 

Im recovering from a calcaneous fracture I suffered on june 3 fast forward 3 1/2 months and I still cant put full weight on it, im hoping for two more weeks. Be prepared to be patient and take it one day at a time.

 

I broke my left tibia while playing football 32 years ago. Even though it was set wrong it never prevented me from doing anything I wanted to do. I agree with FlynRide. Get off the Vico.

 

I had a bad motorcycle crash back in September of 2007 and broke my femur, pelvis, ribs and a handful of other things. The doctors told me that it would be 12-16 weeks before I would be able to stand up on my own. I followed every bit of their instructions and was expecting a much quicker recovery. It didn't happen. It was 13 weeks in a wheelchair and another 3 on crutches. I was back to work after 3 weeks and got really good at getting in and out of my vehicle and stashing the wheelchair in my extra-cab.

Being in my mid forties... I healed slow, but I healed well. When I finally got back on the bicycle, it was fantastic. I felt like a kid. I was slow, and lacked balance... but it came back quicker than expected. I actually did a few laps of the 24 hours of the Old Pueblo in mid February and declared myself recovered after that.

My advice: Allow yourself to heal properly, and don't rush it. It will pay dividends in the long run.

 

Mpmffitz, you don't say what part of your leg was broken. So it depends.... I had a fibula compund break near the ankle in '97. Hardware is still in there. Think it was 6 weeks in a hard cast and crutches, another 4 weeks in a soft boot and a crutch. Good 6 months to walk without a limp. PT is critical, it hurts, do it. Mine still gets stiff at times but have 80-90% movement back.

BTW as someone already mentioned, "vicodin" is a mix of narcotic and acetemenophin. The smaller number is the narcotic (usually 5mg or 7.5mg per pill). The acet is 500-1000mg per pill. You need to watch out taking too much as the acet can damage your liver. And the narcotic can really back up your intestines which could be more painful than your leg. Recent first hand experience!
Good luck and good healing!

 

Had a lot of breaks in my life. But, as others have said stay off the drugs. I have had maybe 50 vicodin leff over after an injury. Deal with the pain and you will heal. Does it suck? Yes, but medicating only makes you lazy IMHO.

 

Broke my fibula near the ankle 15 months ago (May 2011). I was out of commission for about 6 weeks and off the bike for about 3 months. I hit the PT pretty hard and I believe it is the reason that I have had no ill effects from the injury. I have a nice scar and a plate with about 10 screws. If you haven't already, check out my broken leg.com. Lots of sob type stories, but also some good info on what people have done to recover and get back to their normal routines.

 

Listen to that advice from others about being patient. Use that strong will to stay away from Vicodin, nothing good comes from that stuff.

 

Broken femur, 1996. Minor fracture at the upper articulation. Four months later, I took my first (road) ride around Yosemite Valley. That simple 20-mile ride was one of the high points of my life! Within a year I was back to serious MTB and backpacking/climbing in the Sierra Nevada. There is hope after the break...keep up your therapy, and EAT ICE CREAM!!!

 

I have broken my left leg many times starting 4yrs old (ran over by a bike)
broke my left knee when i jumped my bmx did a table top and landed positioned doing a table top
i managed to dislocate my left hip and linear fx when i fell on my mtb

fast forwad last week, i cracked a rib.

pain is intense and vicodin's norco's take care of it. (im on tylenol #3 coke), as soon as the pain becomes lesser request for a non narcotic pain reliever or a pseudo narcotic. (tramadol)

Be patient, like what others said, men/boys tend to be impatient-- but non union of FX or complications specially if you have pins/rods will delay your healing.

my other job is in chem dependency, I have seen succesful people (from lawyers, md's to self made millionaire's lost a lot if not everything because of an accident and was prescribed--- narcotic analgesics.

we are not jumping the boat--- str peeps care.

peace

 

Broke mine on New Years 2010:

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/rider-down/46242-happy-f-kin-new-year-palm-canyon.html



Broke the bottom of the tib & fib.....along with a dislocation.

Was officially off work for 5 1/2 months. Was riding around the neighborhood in about 5 months.

Waited nearly 3 weeks to have surgery. Was off the pain meds as soon as I could.

After 2.5 years I have about 95% of ROM back.....that is my fault for not doing PT.

It still gets achey from time to time......but that has more to do with the damage that I caused to the cartilge in the ankle.

 

Best of luck to you, hope you heal quickly and fully.

My story, not a leg but i broke my radius very badly 1 month ago, basically split the end into 4 pieces, kinda like splitting a log but using my wrist bones instead of an axe. I was put in an external fixator for 3 weeks until the swelling went down, then i just had 2 plates and 6 screws installed on Tuesday.

I plan to hit the PT super hard as soon as possible but want to make sure the wrist heals fully, I have a tendency to be too aggressive. I agree about the drugs, too. I limit myself to 2-3 vicodins per day after the surgery; in the morning because that's when it hurts the most and makes the rest of the day crappy, and at night to help me sleep. I'm getting off them asap though, i can already feel how shitty they make me feel. i've been using psyllium husk and that seems to help with the blockage, and i go on a 30-40 minute walk everyday.

i really want to get back on the bike but don't have any idea when that will realistically happen, I have December as my target date for easy xc rides. I think the hardest part is knowing that it will take a year or more to get back to where i was, if at all, prior to the accident.

anyhow, best of luck, know what you're going through, stay positive and you'll be back.

 

I broke my ankle 5.5 years ago and I remember the pain, hating being immobile and searching on line for people going through the same thing. MyBrokenLeg.com was mostly horror stories but the success stories and the funny bloggers were great and cheered me up. My first day of PT, after 6 weeks of being non weight bearing, they asked me to walk without holding on to anything and I was the most frightened I've ever been. I was sure it would break all over again. My lay up time seemed endless but looking back, I was right on schedule. It was easier to ride the bike than walk for a couple of months but I was back on a road bike in 8 weeks and back on dirt in 10.

While I was going through the process, a week felt like a year. Now I barely remember it.

I ended up removing the hardware after a year because it still hurt and would swell up. Removing the hardware made most of the pain go away. It still hurts some now but not enough to get my attention.

In a way, it's good to know what living with a disability is like. I really appreciated the ADA which made ramps a requirement in public areas. If you are able to get around with one of those knee high scooters, rent one. Someone on STR posted a link to them a few months back. Being mobile would have made a huge difference.

 

Bones generally heal nicely. It's the soft tissue that will cause the most problems. Be glad you broke a bone, ditch the immune system suppressants (vikes), and put that strong will to work.

Here's to getting back to 100%...

 

Fitz, 20y/ago I shattered my right hip, and broke the femur off at the lesser trochanter in an atv accident, ( zigged when I should of zagged). I had 9 screws and a steel rod inserted. I went the better part of 2yrs. on crutches and the better part of 2-1/2yrs. wondering if I'd be able to walk again. After three surgeries in 2-1/2 yrs. (one of the surgeries was to repair the rod, it broke in half and pulled out 2 screws when I was walking on a cane), I was able to finally get back to work with a leg that is 1-1/4" shorter then my left leg. Oh well, at least I'm walking and riding again! The point is you will recover but how you do it is up to you. Keep a positive (and I know how hard this can be) attitude. Ditch the vikes, they don't help anyway. Get back into your old daily routine and try to stay there. If you got up and shaved at 6-am, keep doing that. If you walked the dogs in the morning try doing something similar. You get the idea. Fill your schedule and keep yourself busy during the day. I'm sure you have small projects that you can do around the house etc., you know, the small ones that we keep putting off because we're short of time? Well you have the time now. Most of all try to keep your mind off your situation. I remember you writing that you were a Marine, (I was Army)? Well you're going to have bad days, in this case you fall back on your training and adapt, improvise and overcome. One last note, don't dwell on your job just yet. Get the healing going, the body can do some amazing things to heal itself. If you'd like to talk more, pm me and I'll send you my phone number. -Lloyd :wave:

 

Another severe tib/fib double compound fracture in 2001.
My total recovery time was about 22 months. YIKES. Four surgeries later and I still have very limited ROM but can do most things...just in a different way. My right leg is almost 1/2" shorter. (I walk with a slight limp and have hip and back problems because of this leg injury) It sure beats loosing a leg!!#-o
Getting off pain Rx and learning to walk again was the toughest part. PT was brutal!

Stay positive, give PT 100%. And like others said...GET OFF THE PAIN Rx ASAP.
I too wish you a speedy recovery.

 

Not a leg, but I completetly crushed both my heels (calcaneous) into more than 50 pieces each in a bad snow skiing landing 12 years ago. Was told I may not walk again, had two horrible long surgeries with lotsa metal cups, rods and screws (mazing how much crap they can fit in your feet!), was in a wheel chair for 3-4 months, then learned to put pressure on them in a pool, walker, crutches, eventually got on my feet again. I still can't run or jump, but I can ride mountain bikes. Took about 2-3 years before I reached my best condition and could ride and have fun again.