Broken Ankle Update

A Surprise

I went upstairs with Doris today, came back down again then I needed to go to the toilet again and went to find out where I had propped her this time; looked at the bottom of the steps, propped against the sofa, under the sofa, in the fridge (well you never know). I couldn't find her anywhere, by now I am desperate for the loo, so I think I will have to go up without her and work out how to get back down again once I have relived the pressure.

totally unrelated picture - but I do love it, one day I am getting one

I get upstairs close the bathroom door, and what should I see, yup you guessed it, Doris! I had somehow managed to walk down stairs without her and hadn't even realised.  This may seem a small thing but it is the first time I have been down stairs without a stick or crutch in 5 months and I didn't even think about it.

Ankle Classes


I have been going to 3 physio classes a week for a couple of weeks now, 2 in the gym and 1 aqua.  They vary in intensity but the gym classes are basically a simple circuit training routine, something normal people would manage without any problem but for us cripples can be quite hard.

Typical Equipment includes: 

Wobble Boards
Wobble Cushions
Rocker Boards
Trampets
leather medicine balls
ropes
beanbags
cones

The exercises are mostly balancing on one or both feet, squatting, walking heel in front of toe, side stepping, stepping up and down off steps.

But is it working?


I know I am walking better but there are still days when it hurts and I feel like I have done something to hurt myself.  The process is so slow, I am getting impatient with it.  This morning I was running late for my class and as the hospital car park is really busy I parked up the road, a good 5 minute walk away at a normal pace. I was trying so hard to walk quickly but it hurt so much, I just had to slow down, it took me 10 minutes and I was late.

Breaking something really does slow you down, you have to be much more organised, you have to know if you are walking far before you set off and if there are steps or not.  I might have made it down the steps on my own at home today but I still wouldn't manage to climb any without a handrail and anything more adventurous than one flight terrifies me; this means that the stick still comes out with me on a regular basis, I usually leave her in the car if I am going somewhere flat like hospital or the supermarket, but a trip to the seaside for example is a definite Doris day.

The look of leg

Swelling is intermittent, on bad days it can be like a ball above my foot but if I sleep with it raised then it goes down again.  I still haven't got all my muscle tone back in the left leg but it is getting more shape, lucky me I will have two huge calves again!

Pain relief

I am trying to avoid painkillers unless I am in agony, I have only had Tramadol twice since I have been back home.  The first time I threw up, despite weeks of taking it everyday it didn't agree with me after not taking it for a while.  The second time  I had so much pain in my leg that even the Tramadol didn't touch it: I had been aching all day at work and then because it was tired I didn't lift my foot high enough as I walked and I wobbled my ankle on a stone in the car park, I caught myself on a car bonnet (good thing the owner wasn't in it) and stopped myself rolling it further, still the pain travelled up my leg and I honestly felt like I had broken it again, I was in agony all  evening. It is fine now but I am still so scared that I am going to do it again!!