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Thread: Wife broke her ankle

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    Senior Member Tekboy's Avatar
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    Wife broke her ankle

    So now I get to take care of her, as well as take care of her usual list of tasks around here. It is not healing as we had hoped, and there may end up being complications. I have less time to use the computer as a result, as well as less time to play music, and other things. I see at least six more weeks of this in my future.

    The bright side? It is not life threatening like the last adventure was, for sure. Just a speed bump on the road of life, as it were.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Webhead's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear there are complications. Not sure if this helps or not but when I broke my ankle, there were so many ups and downs. You have to make sure to stay positive though. What specifically broke? Is it her fibula? Or tibia? Or something else? Ligament damage? Wounds from surgery not healing? Is there still swelling?

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    Senior Member Tekboy's Avatar
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    Still swollen, and it is a break in the anterior potion of the Distal Talus bone. It still hurts, too. They are going to take x-rays again Tuesday.

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    :-(

    she's not in a hard cast though, right? Do you think that's the next step?

  5. #5
    Senior Member Webhead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tekboy View Post
    Still swollen, and it is a break in the anterior potion of the Distal Talus bone. It still hurts, too. They are going to take x-rays again Tuesday.
    Is she elevating her ankle? Elevating means lying down and raising the foot up for 40 minutes at a time. Toes above the nose. When I first started my injury, I would sit in a chair with my ankle propped up. It wasn't enough and the swelling stayed and even got worse sometimes. It sucks to do that but it is necessary. Once I started doing that type of elevation the swelling began to go down pretty quickly. Also is she eating plenty of protein? When I had my ankle situation they recommended carnation instant breakfast. But I didn't want that so I just ate a sh*t load of eggs. Not very healthy but things started healing right up as soon as I was doing that. Also, I used to wear some compression socks. Nike has some good ones at the sporting goods store. Although docotr might have a different thing he'd rather her wear. But either way, compression and elevation are key to recovering.

    Hopefully the x-rays have some good news. And yeah, it's going to hurt for awhile. Is she on pain medication? For mine they put me on Norco. But after about 3 weeks I felt like I was starting to get a little addicted to them so I stopped using them and switched to Advil. Although Advil is horrible for the kidneys.
    Last edited by Webhead; 08-22-2014 at 06:27 PM.

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    Senior Member Webhead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 74AD View Post
    :-(

    she's not in a hard cast though, right? Do you think that's the next step?
    Good point. If they don't have her in an air boot already, maybe they could fit her in one. That would add the even compression and immobilization she needs. Sucks to sleep in those things though but you get used to it.

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    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
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    My wife broke an ankle when we lived in Northern Virginia. She fell off a porch as we were leaving a Christmas party, and she dropped our 8 month old daughter off the porch, and tossed her about 3 feet down the sidewalk. It was scary. On the one hand there was my wife lying on the grass screaming, and my child lying on the concrete not moving. So I picked up my daughter, who was just fine, though pretty scared once she caught her breath.

    My wife was picked up and carried into the house where she got a lot of first aid attention. About 75% of the folks at the party were Air Force, so there was a lot of competition to be the the first responder. My wife actually got her first aid from the woman who at the time commanded the Air National Guard. Other than being on crutches for a month or so, my wife didn't really get any special medical attention. The most difficult part of her recovery was just getting her to stay on the crutches.

    Right now, she's in the third week of recovering from a fracture of her left tibia. We are putting up a section of fence, and she stepped into a post hole she had just dug. Once again, about the only treatment she's getting is a pair of crutches. She won't take her pain meds, or the anti-inflammatory her orthopedist prescribed. She has a really nice brace, but she won't wear it. In fact, she's already getting sloppy about using the crutches. Texans can be really annoying and hard headed.
    Last edited by slgrieb; 08-22-2014 at 09:40 PM.
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  8. #8
    Senior Member Tekboy's Avatar
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    She is not wearing a hard cast. She has a splint that is wrapped up to her leg with ace bandages, and she is using crutches a whole lot. The elevation and ice packs are doing little to nothing for the swelling. We are likely to finally fill her prescription for pain killers. This sort of sucks, though her attitude, for the most part, is incredibly positive.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Webhead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tekboy View Post
    She is not wearing a hard cast. She has a splint that is wrapped up to her leg with ace bandages, and she is using crutches a whole lot. The elevation and ice packs are doing little to nothing for the swelling. We are likely to finally fill her prescription for pain killers. This sort of sucks, though her attitude, for the most part, is incredibly positive.
    The swelling takes forever to go down. If I remember correctly, it took weeks and weeks before I saw any progress. There was one day I remember specifically. I had started going back to work. I'd sit in my cubicle with my leg up on the desk. But my foot was really starting to concern me because it seemed like the swelling hadn't gone down and was only getting worse. And I was elevating! I was worried that maybe I was going to lose my foot. So I went to the doctor and he just told me to keep elevating. 40 minutes at a time. Then put the leg down for maybe 10 minutes and then do it again. Lay down with "toes above the nose". I watched a lot of Netflix on my laptop during that time. Just have to keep doing that all day every day. Limit use of being upright with crutches. I did that for weeks. For the whole summer. It sucked royally. I was so depressed. I told my dad I felt I was in prison. He told me something I'd never forget. That feeling like I'm in prison will allow me to appreciate my freedom all the more once I'm out. And he was right. Once I could start walking again, I felt like I was reborn. Ankle injury recovery is tough and a long, difficult road. That whole summer I spent on the couch with my leg elevated watching Facebook news feed posts about all the fun everyone was having. No wonder I hike so much these days. Making up for that lost summer in 2010. :-)

    Just make sure she keeps it elevated and compressed per the doctors orders. It's vital to recovery. By the way, even once things start finally healing and getting back to normal, the swelling will still be there. This is a one day at a time mission winning one battle at a time. When I first started bearing weight, I was so excited to get some new shoes and start walking and was so disappointed when my news shoes arrived in the mail and one of them didn't fit because of the swelling. But trust me, it all gets better in time. You'll see. Just have to keep staying positive. Hang in there guys. It'll get better.

    By the way, not sure if this helps or not but I documented all my ankle stuff if you're interested. It's here: http://anklestrong.tumblr.com/page/2

    From that blog. After day 79. Still crazy swelling as you can see.
    Last edited by Webhead; 08-23-2014 at 07:48 PM.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Tekboy's Avatar
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    Thanks, Webby. It takes a lot of encouragement and patience for sure. I appreciate all that you shared about this.

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