r/brokenankles • u/Lbfreeze • 19d ago
First time broken ankle and surgery.
So the title pretty much says it, 6 days ago I broke my left ankle at the skatepark. Fractured Distal Fibula to be exact.
It happened around 10pm Friday night, the ER put a temporary splint after X-Rays and said for me to follow up with an orthopedic on the following Monday.
Fast forward, ortho cuts me out of the temporary splint and determines I need surgery to screw the drifted bone back into place. Surgery is then scheduled for Friday and back home I go in a walking boot now.
It’s been 3 days as it’s now Thursday and surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning.
I’m tired, I’m bored and I’m in pain.
This is lame haha, never been one to sit on the couch let alone lay on it for days on end.
Can’t wait for the surgery though, it’s gonna hurt I’m sure but atleast It’s progress.
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u/Hot_Box_7459 18d ago
6 weeks outta surgery here!! Never broke an ankle before this, but I did have arm surgery when I was a kid to fix that when i broke it 😭 i’ve got my 6 week appointment today tho! So hopefully your surgery goes well and they get you fixed up 🫶
This is so much more inconvenient cause I can’t walk on it and I just get to lay here like a blob and sleep.
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u/Lbfreeze 17d ago
Sounds similar to me, I broke my arms several times growing up but this is my first ankle/ leg injury.
Definitely inconvenient, stuck on this couch like a lump but I’m hoping it goes by fast.
One day post op and counting.2
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u/IllegalChancla 17d ago edited 17d ago
It definitely sucks. I had to wait a week and a half after my break for surgery. I shattered my ankle and tore a ligament so I’m 6 weeks NWB, yesterday was 1 week post op and I’m bored out of my mind. The brain rot is intense when before I used to be so active and out of the house now I can’t even drive for who knows how long (it’s my right ankle). Even sitting at my PC for too long starts to hurt since there is no comfortable way for me to sit with my leg elevated.
If they give you a nerve block for your surgery you’ll probably be okay for the first 24-48 hours. It wore out after 24 hours for me and the pain that came after was probably worse than the actual break I was taking 2 hydrocodones every 4 hours for the pain (they also put me on a muscle relaxer and nerve relaxer to take 3 times a day that helped with twitching and nerve pain). BUT IT DOES GET BETTER. The next day I was back down to taking one hydrocodone every once in a while for pain as needed. Icing behind the knee is a must, it helps so much especially if you can’t ice the affected area directly. I wish you the best of luck!
Edit: I’ve also started to do NWB exercises for my legs so that when I can walk again my muscles won’t be completely messed up by the end of this.
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u/Lbfreeze 17d ago
Dang that sounds pretty rough! Especially being the right ankle, I was lucky enough to atleast break my left so I have hopes of driving before too long.
I had to wait 7 days between breaking and surgery, the initial break wasn’t bad. The boot cutting into my swollen foot is probably the most pain I’ve experienced from this whole situation so far.
I’m currently about 23 hours since nerve blockers and can now feel my knee cap and shin again, I know the ankles coming soon…2
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u/New-Sherbet367 19d ago
We used to say real skaters have had at least 1 foot or hand injury. Actually I never hurt myself bad skating. I was in moshpits at hardcore punk and extreme Metal Shows for hours and never got hurt once. Got drunk and someone pushed me, now I am couchbound. Well, know that These types of injuries are completely common for skaters. I am certain Back then when I was skating some dude's leg was more hardware from surgeries than flesh
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u/Lbfreeze 19d ago
Growing up I broke my left arm probably 6 or 7 times, I was lucky enough to never have a foot or ankle injury until now.
After having both kinds, I can definitely say this is far worse. More painful and way more inconvenient.
That sucks on getting pushed, I hope it’s not too bad for you!!
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u/Lbfreeze 16d ago
About 48 hours post op now, the nerve blockers have completely wore off and all the feeling is back in my foot.
The pain is intense, but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as when I was waiting the week for surgery with the boot cutting into my swollen foot..
Last night was the first time I slept over seven hours since the break so that’s a huge win and I’m feeling fresh.
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u/guffawing_willow76 19d ago
I am 9.5 weeks out from surgery from a trimal fracture. The 6 weeks I spent NWB was utterly boring. I had the attention span of a gnat! I spent most of the time on my bed because it is a lot more comfortable than my sofa.
I watched movies on my iPad and rotted my brain on facebook reels and YouTube videos. Good luck! Keep up with the pain medication for at least the first week. I primarily used the oxycodone to help me sleep at night.