Hello, hello. Another TPF here.

[HoppingMad]

Hi! It's taken me a while to find this board, but I was confident that there must be some kind of outlet for people in my situation. It's all been a bit of a culture shock, really.  I've never broken a bone before and never had an overnight stay in hospital before this. Just about starting to get my head around it now, nearly a month in.

I think I need a place to have a moan and express my frustration to people who understand how painful and limiting this problem is.

I was hit in the side of the leg by a speeding dog, which knocked me to the ground.  27/3/12. Not very glamorous, but never mind. I think I shall tell people it was a skiing accident, much better.  Initially, I thought it was a bad sprain, couldn't bear any weight, massive swelling. Took a while to get inside with assistance, I was in shock. I did RICE, ice packs would bring the swelling down, then overnight while I slept, it would blow up again.

Part 1 - Hospital.

29/3 After two days with no improvement, I went to A&E at the local hospital, who X Rayed and diagnosed the fracture. Couldn't straighten the leg and was just bearable with a pillow underneath my calf. Leg was immobilised in a thigh high back slab plaster with bandages around to accommodate the swelling. Sent home to await the fracture clinic on the following Monday. A&E doctor a bit vague and I didn't ask many questions as in shock. At this point, I thought I was just waiting for the swelling to go down a bit so they could plaster the leg and send me away again. Awful pain, incredibly uncomfortable. Not helped by the fact that the back slab went all the way down to the sole of my foot and had set with my foot slightly crooked.

2/4 Attended Fracture Clinic at hospital. Saw Consultant who broke the bad news. CT scan to properly assess the damage and then operation probably needed for fixation and bone graft. Consultant decided to admit me to hospital to wait for op as would be arranged quicker than If I went home to wait.

God bless the NHS, but those are 8 days that I wouldn't want to repeat in a million years. This sounds really ungrateful, considering that I had a private room, my own bathroom, everything spotlessly clean, lovely nurses who kept me sane and an excellent doctor and surgeon who has done a brilliant job (as far as I can tell). I'm so glad I did have all of these things, because the injury itself has been hell.

Spent 3 days waiting. Started to feel a bit like being on holiday. Was getting used to leg and it wasn't bothering me that much.

5/4 Op done. Offered me a spinal, but I opted for GA. I really didn't want to be able to feel any of the joinery going on. My mum had a TKR a few years ago under a Spinal and said it was ok, but I needed to be right out for this.
Surgeon floated idea of taking graft from my hip, which I wasn't thrilled about, understandably. Thank God, it didn't happen. I had the disinfectant wash on my hip when I woke up, but he must have changed his mind during the operation. Lovely, was knocked out very effectively at about 5pm and woke up a about 8ish. Taken back to bed to sleep it off. God Bless Morphine.

Had a theatre dressing on initially, around the whole knee. This was removed the next day and changed for a very minimal dressing and an immobilising splint. I didn't look at it (too squeamish) and I nearly hit the roof when the dressing was changed. Very painful just to have it cleaned. Incision along side of knee instead of front as initially suggested and not as long as expected either. 16 clips in. I counted them through the dressing. :/
I ended up with 1 plate along the outside of my knee and 6 screws. I think mine must not be anything like as bad as some from some of the stories I've read on here so far. Consultant has said op very successful and prognosis good.

In hospital until 10/4. Maybe could have got out a bit faster if I'd have really pushed myself to get up and about, but I made the mistake of indulging in the range of pain relief available. This does not help you be able to satisfy the PTs that you can get about independently. Because you are zonked out of your head. Oramorph and codeine are lovely and make you not care that your leg doesn't work, but they don't help you learn how to use crutches properly or use the bathroom on your own. They also appear to mess with my blood pressure, which kept crashing. Also not helpful. I knocked them on the head after a couple of days and stuck to paracetamol & ibuprofen. Pain manageable and blood pressure back to normal.
Could not wait to get home, was really suffering from lack of sleep, poor food and a horrible heat rash from waterproof mattress covers. Journey home in the car was indescribably painful. I can only recommend to try to time your escape with your medication. I left when I should have been due for my next doses and the pain of jiggling about in the car was excruciating.
Was sent home with leg immobilised straight. Advice was to let incision heal properly first to preclude infection, then start PT. Seems to have been a good plan.

[maryc]

Hi HoppingMad - welcome to the club.  Your injury sounds a lot like mine.  It's been almost 5 years since I fell and I've had a good recovery.  It was hard at first, but with a good diet and PT I am probably in better shape now than I was before the fall.  Following orders is important during recovery.  Once  you start PT you need to be diligent in doing the exercises in the correct form.  It takes awhile to recover from this injury but it can be done.
Sending healing rays your way

[smileyshaz]

Hi, welcome to the gang! 

Your experience of hospital (once you'd been admitted) sounds very much like mine, I found myself giggling as I read your comments about drugs and physio!  I nearly passed out on my physio twice and they took a bit of persuading to let me go home, but with very little sleep and living on chocolate and crisps (couldn't stand most of the food) I knew I wasn't going to improve if they didn't let me out!

My incisions are on both sides of my knee, I was greedy and had to have two plates! I'm almost 7 months on following my fracture and I have just gone back to work this week, I work in the operating theatre where they fixed me so at least if I have any problems I don't have far to go to see my consultant   

How are you getting on now?  Have they started you using your leg at all yet? 

This kind of injury is a long hard slog to recover from, you will have days when you feel like you're doing really well, and days when all you want to do is to sit, cry and eat chocolate (well that's what I do anyway  )  When you need a whinge and a rant we are all here to listen and help you get through those days, and when you feel ontop of the world cos you've just managed to put your socks on by yourself we're here to cheer for you! 

Just take things one day at a time, my consultant gave me some very good advice when I was trying to do too much too soon... "Remember why you are called a patient!"  Be patient, work hard and you'll get back to fitness.

Sharon x

[pattyb]

Hi HoppingMad, If it is any comfort to you, I was also injured by a dog running into me.  She wasn't just trotting along--she was running full-tilt and I knew I was in deep trouble as soon as I saw her coming.  I only wish I could have jumped out of the way, but, as you know, it happens so fast.

I'm sorry you had such a delay with your healing.  I so vividly remember those early days and believe me, it does get better, but it is such a slow process.  In a few weeks it will be two years for me and I would say I'm back to 99%!

Best wishes on your healing!

Patty

[DarnitDog]

Hi Hopping Mad,

I've read message boards before and I've really appreciated Knee Guru, but this is the first time I've ever signed myself up to contribute.  I live in Seattle, Washington (USA).  Your message was so closely aligned to my own experience (including date of injury - mine was March 23), I am compelled to write you.

An idea of what's the same between us:

Never had a broken bone before
Never had an overnight hospital stay
Hit by speeding dogs
Plaster splint with expansion joints for swelling and same issue at ankle/foot
Similar feelings about complaining in the face of excellent medical care
No real reference for life on (and coming off) pain meds
Drops in blood pressure, being "out of it" for bathroom/crutches/conversation/etc
Ride home from hospital at bad time in pain med dosing
Shall I go on?

What's notably different:

I was taken directly from accident site to hospital by paramedics - there was no way I was moving off the ground on my own, much less walking
From accident to surgery was less than 24 hours for me, all of that time in emergency/surgical care
4 days in hospital, then home
1 L-plate, 11 screws, and 22 staples for me (but really, it's the same idea)

I want to say to you:  I get it.  I understand you completely, including the need to vent to someone who could possibly relate.  Like you, I'm right around 8 weeks into this process.  Like you, I've been told this injury requires extraordinary patience.  I don't know how fast your recovery is coming along, how treatments might vary between the US and UK, and I'm certainly NOT an expert on knees, legs or this injury.  I just so strongly sympathized with your story, I needed to tell you there is at least one person going through this at the same timing you are.  I felt like I was reading my own life in your words.

From across the pond, I wish you the best!  Do send an update with how you are doing...

[pattyb]

Maybe we can start a new club called the "Dog Broke My Leg Club"?

Anyway, yesterday was two years to the day that I had my leg broken by my son's dog, Lizzie.  I told my hubby that I even remember the exact time of the day I got hit.  He tells me that I shouldn't be rehashing it after two years and to put a period on it and move on.  I don't know about that--I read your current experiences, and I remember having those exact feelings and memories two years later.  The good news is, life, for me, has returned to normal.  I can do almost everything that I could do before my accident. But I still remember vividly what I went through.  Maybe as the years go by I will lose sight of it, but to me, it has been the most traumatic event of my life.  You have to go though it to understand what we deal/dealt with.

Sorry for the ramble; I guess I'm feeling rather philosophical because of my "anniversary".  Wishing everyone happy healing!

Patty

[DarnitDog]

Hi Patty,

My medical team has each mentioned how dog-ran-into-me fractures are much more common than you'd think.  I think they meant to be comforting, but it puts another color on going back to the dog park!

While I admit I envy the 2-years-looking-back place you find yourself now, I do understand the inability to forget.  It's like how people always know where they were when they heard terrible news:  Princess Di, Kennedy, the Space Shuttle explosions...it's natural that those moments get burned in our brains.  The fact that so many people ask "what happened?" after something like our accidents also helps to drive home the details.

I'm so encouraged to hear that 2 years on, you're living your life as if pre-accident.  I find 8 weeks to have been both a lifetime and the blink of an eye, and have to remind myself to look for the improvements that come so incrementally they are hard to measure.  What helps is thinking back 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and forcing myself to remember where I was not so long ago.  Maybe that sort of mental exercise could help Hopping Mad get through the times when it's so frustrating all you want to do is give up trying.  Smileyshaz/Sharon had it right:  there have been days when just moving about makes me cry with frustration, and there are days when I feel like I've conquered the world by putting on a sock!

In case it is helpful to anyone else just starting to cope with TPF/ORIF (Open Reduction, Internal Fixation means you've had surgery and they put hardware inside your leg to keep it all together), what's helped me keep my spirits up the most is photos of progress.  I started it early (in hospital) in order to give peace of mind to concerned family who lives far away, but have found it actually is a pretty powerful reminder when you need encouragement the most.  This isn’t recording the milestones like the doctors talk about them, it’s capturing those tiny moments when you feel like you’ve accomplished something.

Take a picture of your leg in the first split you have.  Take a picture of your toes wiggling.  Take a picture of the strap you have to use to move your leg around.  Take a picture of your first leg lift.  Take a picture of the splint coming off and how horrific your leg seems to you.  Take a picture of your new cast/brace.  Take a picture of flexing your ankle.  Take a picture of your first 15 degrees of flex in your knee. Have someone take a picture of you the day you transition from a walker to crutches, when you feel like you’re the neatest thing on two sticks.  Take a picture of your feet the first day you sit in a chair and they rest flat on the floor.

You get the idea.  At any given moment, I can feel like I’m worthless because I can’t walk normally, can’t cook, can’t drive, can’t walk the dog.  But when all my self-pity starts getting too much, I take just a few seconds and review my pictures.  It doesn’t require help from anyone else.  I don’t have to admit out loud that I need a boost.  But it gives me tremendous perspective, and I feel better about myself each time I take a look at how far I’ve come in those eensy-beensy tiny milestones.

Hope it helps!

[pattyb]

Hi Darnitdog!

I highly recommend your suggestion of documenting your progress!  That's what I did.  I even took videos of my first attempts at walking when I became weight bearing again.  I look back and my leg looks like a stick!  And I was trying so hard to walk straight!  I thought I looked pretty good at them time!  (laughing)  Oh the progress we make, especially looking back!

Another thing I found really helpful is to get a calendar out and write important dates in the future, such a "3 months after surgery", "6 months after surgery", and "5th session of PT", etc.  It helped me to have something to look forward to.  Especially when I was home bound and every day seemed the same.  I remember how slow the progress was back in the early days and every small success was so exciting.  One of most important things is not to be discouraged--I know, easier said than done, but you will get there.

Best wishes, always,

Patty

[jlk2011]

Hello Hopping Mad,

Another member in the "my dog broke my leg club" here!

TPF (around the same time as you...I think it was March 21st) courtesy of my sweet (and extremely fast) pup, Wally.

I feel so much better knowing I am not the only one out there.

I hope your recovery is going well!!

[MSD]

Don't wait for PT, start exercisng right away. You can do straight leg raises and ankle flexes from the very beginning. You can also exercise the glutes/hamstrings by turning over in bed, take you weight on your elbows and good knee and lift your injured leg off the bed. None of those exercises involve bending the knee, so you won't be risking anything.

Mark

[dawng]

WOW! We do need a "Dog Broke My Leg Club"! I'm a member too. Hadn't heard of anyone else until now. Four Labs running after each other and into me. Ugh. I have had people laugh when I tell them what happened...or they think (because I didn't need surgery - for the bone) that it iis no big deal. Nice to have this forum to go to where people get it. Because my break(s) were not displaced the OS watched it very carefully (went to x-ray #6 today - injury Aug . Having lots of pain still and soft tissue issues. Don't know yet where that will lead. My entire leg was immobilized for 7 weeks. If you are one of those that can bend your leg...do as you are told and bend that thing, or you will regret it later. I am a single unemployed mom and have had to put off trying to even get a job, so this really sucks! Not driving and having to find people to get groceries for us and such is a real pain in the ***! I try to keep telling myself it is "just a leg", but compared to a broken arm this is hell.

I am sorry! Got on my own rant there! Anyway, we understand your pain and frustration! Hope your healing is speedy and hang in there!

[jlk2011]

I completely understand and sometimes ranting helps! I'm wishing you a speedy recovery!!!

[Sarahpoorlyknee]

Jeez, This is almost exactly the same as my experience except the DR didn't believe me and told me to walk on the break which resulted in me tripping and falling badly on the already broken TP. Following an MRI I was admitted for a TPLO and had the most awful experience, not least because the ward was over capacity and under staffed, Morphone didn't work and made me sick and I had the most inconsiderate person opposite who's mobile phone went off all night and kept bringing men back to the ward!!!!

I am 2 years post surgery and finding things a bit tough, most people are bored of hearing about how painful day to day activities are and constantly tell me it could be worse.

It's nice to be able to read other people's thoughts on here and to find others who have faced simillar.