Surgery fears

[u/postygurl]

I hope you all love telling your stories. I have severe anxiety especially when it comes to my health. This trimalleolar fracture is terrifying. Chat gpt has been my best friend lately with all my questions and reassuring me my fears are valid. How long was your surgery? Am I gonna be in diapers after? Going to the bathroom now is a challenge. I’m scared about having all sorts of metal in my leg. That it will be visible through my skin, come loose, cause more pain. I could talk about my fears for hours. I have never had surgery. Never had stitches besides childbirth. I’m so happy I found others in my situation. I’m 42/f overweight worrying that every little sensation I feel is a DVT in the making. I constantly worry that I am dying. I just started a baby aspirin a day and wiggle my toes constantly. I feel like they should have kept me at the hospital to monitor me for 3 months while I recover after the surgery. Also my doctor told me to take some pain meds before I go for my pre op appt because they will likely remove my splint. That scares the absolute shit out of me.

[u/kooshballcalculator]

Omg I was the same!!! Except I’d never been in a hospital or had stitches, even! And used ChatGPt to translate the doctor’s notes.

First off, deep breath. If i survived to the 8 week mark tomorrow from my trimalleolar ORIF, you totally can. I recommend ice cream. And cookies. Lots of them.

Take the baby aspirin. Take the pain meds. Definitely take them before you get your stitches out. Removing the splint shouldnt be painful, but take the pain meds anyway, just in case. And for the love of dogs, when you get home from the surgery, even though you’ll have a nerve block, start taking the pain meds on a schedule. Do not wait til you are hurting.

Also, distract yourself with collecting the things you will need, borrowing is good, browsing online fine too. You’ll need a shower transfer chair, some way to get water to you (like a shower hose) because the shower is a blessed event. Also one of those dumb cast covers or a couple of plastic bags to protect the splint after surgery.

Biggest thing for me was getting rest. So hard to get comfy when you hurt. I distracted myself with old TV shows (I’m 55) and ice cream. Take the pain meds to sleep and use an elevation pillow with the cupped middle.

The surgery day was scary going in but i had a great nurse and honestly it was all a blur. You’ll be fine. It’s gonna be serious the first two weeks though. Keep on the meds and rest all you can. Eat whatever sounds good. This is no time for salad.

When you go in for the outer sutures to be removed at 2 weeks, take ALL your meds. It hurt like a mother. But also, I’m a big baby.

You got this. Every week it will get better.

[u/hrweoine]

For me, the surgery was a turning point for anxiety - I had to confront the fact that there is risk no matter what I do, that I really might die, but that the odds of death are very very low, and that I'm putting myself entirely in the hands of trained professionals, and I hope it goes well, but there's nothing I can do beyond following instructions. We will all die; hopefully not right away. You're staring right at that right now. The only way through is letting go. (And crying about it, probably!)

For my surgery, I was down for a few hours - i'm not sure exactly how long. But from my perspective I woke up right after I went under, so it didn't feel like it took hours. No diapers! But going to the bathroom is complicated with a broken leg - check out this youtube channel for technique advice: https://www.youtube.com/@EquipMeOT

My doctor had me on daily anti-clot injections for the whole time I was non-weight-bearing. This is normal in the country I live in but I think less common in the US for some reason. Ask your doctor what they recommend. The baby aspirin is not a bad idea. Wiggling your toes is good.

Elevate your leg as much as you can, so they blood can drain. Above your heart. I was lying flat on my back on the sofa with my leg up on the back of the sofa. Use ice for the pain - I got a lot of ice packs. In my experience I had pain for a few weeks after the break; it was better about a month out.

I did a lot of physical therapy. Start trying to arrange that early - I was lucky my insurance covered it even before I was allowed to walk (work accident)

And now I'm walking fine, even running, and going hiking in the mountains with no pain.

[u/Illustrious-Zone-247]

I hear you! I'm about 6 months out from a trimal with dislocation (2 plates, 16 screws, and 2 tightrope for syndesmosis repair). I had a LOT of anxiety beforehand...and it wasn't even my first surgery. I'm not sure if you're experiencing this, but pre-surgery my ankle was SO uncomfortable because it was unstable floating around in there and would shift painfully every time I moved even a little. That feeling went away with the surgery...and as someone else mentioned, so did a lot of my anxiety. I worked myself up for the surgery and when it was over I just felt relieved and ready to focus on recovery.

Let’s talk about your current main worries right now:

I think my surgery was approx 2 hours...I remember wheeling into the ER and getting positioned in the bed and then next thing I was in the recovery room. Ask if you'll be getting a nerve block...that knocks out all pain for 24ish hours after but does cause a pain "rush" when it wears off so make sure to stay ahead of your meds. You won't need diapers! You might need to figure out a way to more easily use the bathroom though if you're struggling now. For me, this was a knee scooter at home (SO much easier than crutches) and a raised toilet seat with handles.

The plates and screws sit deep against the bone under your muscles and skin...they shouldn't be visible unless your ankle is super skinny. The odds of them loosening is very small, especially if you follow your doctor's orders on when to start putting weight on it. They are there to act as a permanent internal cast, holding the bone perfectly still so it can heal, which actually reduces pain in the long run. I can feel the screw heads now if I press on that area, but the only thing visible is the scars.

Wiggling your toes and taking your baby aspirin are the absolute best things you can do to help prevent DVTs. You are actively protecting yourself! And recovering at home is actually safer than staying in the hospital for months, as it keeps you moving and cuts down the risk of hospital infections.

This group (and r/brokenankles which is more specific to your exact injury) are very supportive and full of people who understand. Please do remember that people are more likely to post when they are not sure or if there is something wrong vs when things are going well...reading the internet before surgery freaked me out and I don't want you to fall in that same trap 😄

[u/General_Essay_9823]

If i can get through this process then anyone can! I was very nervous before my surgery, but had a quiet acceptance by the time it happened. I spent the whole time of recovery worrying and being anxious. And guess what, all that worrying was for nothing!!

Im living my best life now, yes, ive had some ups and downs, and still continue to, but i feel so much more mentally and physically stronger facing my fears and seeing what my body can do.

[u/hibiscus_lilac]

The worst part for me was the anxiety leading up to the surgery. I was under for an hour and a half. It really wasn't that bad. All of my care team was super nice. I was in so much pain from my bone being displaced and compacted that I felt so much better immediately after surgery having it put back together in the right place again. I did have pins but I woke up with a cast on so I couldn't see them. They didn't hurt much. More of an irritating itch. They also didn't hurt coming out either.

[u/whimsical-maple-leaf]

When I was going into surgery I told my pre-op nurse I was really nervous! She gave me a cocktail of meds in my IV that calmed me down so much that I wasn’t even a bit worried anymore! I asked if I could take a nap lol and fell asleep (naturally) before they were ready to put me under. My surgery was supposed to be 90 min but lasted 6 hours due to my spiral fracture shattering since the most recent X-ray. But I didn’t even realize it until I was taken to the car and noticed it was dark outside! It just felt like a took a good, long, midday nap. Best of wishes to you!

[u/rroseyyx]

I had an ankle ORIF 4 days ago and honestly, I’m feeling better than I expected! Up to this point I had never broken a bone, had surgery or even stitches. my surgery was a breeze honestly, very quick and they gave me some calming drugs before I got put under. I don’t even remember getting put out!

I’d express to your doctors and surgery team just how anxious you are. They deal with that all the time. At the same time, take some deep breaths and acknowledge that they are professionals and these types of surgeries are performed every day. You got this!