update.............

Still persevering with the Aircast like I was told, only 19 more days to go before I see the Surgeon again and hopefully can be rid of it for good.
I'm not sure if I will get the OK to go back to normal duties and hours at work but here's hoping!! Ankle is still a little sore and swollen by the end of the day but is way better than it was even 4 weeks ago, so if you suffer this type of injury it doesn't need to be all bad. I'm doing new physio stuff now too, mostly strengthening exercises but also exercises to improve balance. That's because my ankle was injured for so long[almost a year]the nerves still think it's unstable and have to be re trained, so the physio says. And he's been spot-on with everything so far!
Can't wait to see the Surgeon again..............

Another Doctor's Visit..........

Had another follow-up appointment with my Surgeon today. Wasn't the news I would have liked but at least it wasn't all bad. He's happy with the improvement and healing process so far[I'm not]but says I need to wear the Aircast for another six weeks. Aargh! It's a pain cause I can't wear shoes of any sort with it, except for my old slippers that sorta fit.
Still only allowed 2 hours work a day...hardly seems making the effort to even go in. I'm looking forward to the day when I can do my usual hours and come home feeling as though I've done something useful and made a difference. Oh well.

I was expecting to get the all clear today to be rid of the Aircast, and go back to my regular truck driving in my own run. But no. The Surgeon says the cast needs to be on while I'm up and about to control lateral movement and keep the swelling under control, he thinks I've been doing too much on it. I'm impatient!

See the GP tomorrow, he'll just agree with what the Specialist says and write out the Certificate of fitness according to the Specialist's recommendations. Bugger.

I'll be seeing the Surgeon again on the 13th of July, maybe I can turf the Aircast then? Time will tell!

update...

Here we are at week 6 after my surgery, still wearing the 'aircast' during the day and early evening but removing it for sleep. Still doing two hours a day at work too, only office duties but at least it's a start! Had to go on a course of antibiotics due to some redness around my scar, just to be on the safe side the Doc said.

I see the GP again this Friday for another follow up visit, and to discuss the next two weeks of duties at work. Sitting or standing for anything over a couple of hours gets a little painful and also causes the swelling to increase, so i might opt for continuing two hours a day until I see the Surgeon again on the 1st of June. I'm kinda hoping he will say to start physio.....so I'll be able to get a bit more active and do the things I want to do. We'll see what happens then!
Ciao.

update...

Finally got the OK to go back to work on limited hours and duties, but at least it's a start! Still have to wear the aircast for the next five weeks, so it means I can't get my work shoes on but at least I'll be able to do something productive for a few hours a week. Pain levels are easily tolerated without any pain meds, even if I've been up and about on it for a few hours. Still swells up though :-(
But, at least it's on the improve. I really had some misgivings about this procedure, or rather the aftermath of it at first but they've all been unfounded.
See how things go at work next week!

another update

Saw my Surgeon on Monday 20th April. He was surprised the stitches had been removed, funny cause the hospital said they had to come out after two weeks and any longer meant they would be difficult to remove. Oh well, it's done now! He also said my ankle needs support to allow the repaired ligaments time to heal without being stressed so I have to wear this 'aircast' for the next six weeks. I had spent the days since the 14th with no other support, I thought it was doing OK. I also saw the GP on the 20th, he thought I could maybe work two hours a day and I agreed. Problem is I need to be able to wear closed in shoes, and with the swelling and the aircast on my left ankle that's not going to happen soon. There is a chance i could do some office work so I'm waiting to hear from my Employer as to what they have available, and am due to see the GP again on Friday for another assessment. I think I'll stick to the 2 hours a day and see how it goes, the ankle seems to swell fairly rapidly when I'm standing or sitting. We'll see what happens!

Day 14. Cast is off!

Good day today, cast came off and I got my first look at my scar. There was an issue with removing the sutures, the long one in this scar was 'stuck' and the local medical centre staff were not keen on trying to hard to remove it, they wrapped it up and told me wait until my Surgeon came back from holidays on the 20th! My wife rang the hospital where the surgery was done and they said not to leave it that long as would heal over and the suture wasn't a dissolving type, and further ALL the hospital's orthopedic surgeons were on hilidays! Teriffic! I was told to go to my local public hospital ED and see a Doctor there. After a couple of hours wait it was seen to and the suture was removed after a good tug. Job done.

It's more sore now than it was when encased in plaster but at least I can walk, sort of. It's swollen too as to be expected but I think I'm having an easy time with it so far from what I've read. I see the Surgeon and my treating GP on the 20th, so we'll see what they say and I guess I'll be starting physio soon too so I can get my balance and strength back. I can shower too, woo hoo!

ankle injury

Well, up to day ten now. Pain has settled heaps and no longer need any at all! Only gets a little sore if I have the foot at floor level for longish periods of time, if I raise it for 30 minutes or so it gets better. Today is Good Friday, cast comes off in three days....I can't wait!

Most difficult thing is bathing. I love my hot showers and all I'm able to do is wallow around in the bath like a whale. Not very elegant at all! I'm looking forward to being able to wash my left leg, and check out my scars too! I feel I've been lucky so far with the recovery, compared to other people's accounts of procedures similar to mine. I'll post a pic of my ankle when the cast comes off on Tuesday.

another day?

Had a visit with my treating GP on Friday, passed on the Surgeon's report as requested. My Surgeon said the slab cast was to come off after two weeks, ie the 15th of April. Problem is, both the Surgeon and my GP will be on holidays until the 20th! Great.
The GP said to call in on the 15th and another doctor would remove the cast and check the wounds, remove any stitches etc. While I was there my GP gave me a new Workers' Comp certificate to cover me until my next visit with him on the 20th of April. I see the surgeon the same day for a follow up, and I guess to find out what physio I need.
I'm just taking one day at a time, and although it's difficult at times, I know there are many others who have had, and are having a much more difficult recovery than I. My Wife and Son have been a real lifeline. I'd be lost without them! It's amazing how even mundane daily tasks like getting on and off the loo are soooo much more difficult with only one functioning leg!

Well, I went to the hospital for surgery as scheduled on the 31st of March arriving at there at 0630 hours to book in and see my room for the first time. I had my Wife and 13 year old Son with me to keep me company, so I got comfy on the bed and waited for three hours to see the wardsmen at about 0930 hours for a lower leg shave. Lovely. in the previous 18 hours to being admitted I had developed a full blown[pun I know]head cold and couldn't breathe thru my nose at all. Great, I thought...waiting all these weeks for a surgey date then go and get a cold! Both my Wife and I thought they might not operate, but when the Anaesthetist came in for his first pre-op bedside visit he said it would be OK and he'd give me some nasal drops to open my sinuses up before I went under.
I think the waiting for my turn in the theatre was the worst part, and to make matters worse I could see the surgeon's and his helpers working on the poor guy before me thru the op theatre window! I couldn't see the procedure itself, but I could hear all the tools they were using! Yuk!
I was wheeled into the pre-op room next to the theatre at about 1000 hours but didn't see the Anaesthetist until 1130 hours. He was very professional in his manner and gave me the promised nasal drops, popped in the IV line and pushed me into theatre where I met the rest of the Surgeon's team. I was immediately at ease and as I wriggled over onto the stainless slab and got my first sleeping drugs I was out to it.

I woke up in recovery about 75 minutes later to a Nurse saying, William- you need to breathe deep! deeper she repeated! My throat was on fire, probably from the respirator tube and oxygen I guess. I could hear a alarm sounding near me, and every time it did I heard the Nurses' voice-breathe deep William! Took about ten minutes to come out of the induced sleep, and I was as thirsty as after fasting for about sixteen hours. I remember being wheeled from recovery to my room and looking at my left leg and foot and thinking how big it looked........turns out is was in what they call a 'slab cast' and would be for the next fourteen days. D'oh!
I was in my room when my Wife and Son arrived and boy, was I glad to see them! A Nurse brought me a meal of painkillers[I'm allergic to Morphine and it's derivatives]that made me immediately nauseous. A quick injection of Stematil sorted that, followed by an injection of anti clotting drug into my shoulder muscle[ouch!]. I was too ill to eat anything so just kept my fluids up to avoid the IV drip. It was by now about 1530 hours and all I wanted to do was sleep, undoubtedly a strong painkiller side effect. I said goodbye to my family and spent a restless uncomfortable night listening to all the noises hopitals make on the 'graveyard shift'
Wednesday morning I ate a light breakfast with toast and coffee, then my Surgeon arrived for a post op chat. he said all went well, no complications and if I wanted to I could go home that afternoon once i had shown I could use crutches. Of course I said yes please! Best of all though, I could start weight bearing on the ankle in only two weeks, how good is that?

My Ankle Injury

I'd like to share my personal experience relating to an injury I had to my left ankle.

It started on the 1st of April, 2008[yes, April Fools' Day!]when I was unloading my truck with a pallet of freight weighing about 400kg. The drive was an unusual design from what I was used to, having a 'dip' in it, like a 'U' shape-very shallow but enough to cause me grief.
I opened the tailgate to horizontal like I'd done a hundred times before, dragged the pallet onto the tailgate and lowered it to what I thought was ground level tilting the edge towards the ground[people who have used a tailgate loader will understand]and raised the pallet jack just enough to have the pallet clear the ground. I walked backwards dragging the load but hadn't noticed the edge of the tailgate was still about 300mm above the ground because of the hollow in the driveway and my left ankle stepped off the edge into thin air! My full weight of 110kg rolled my ankle and then it hit the ground, with a very loud 'crack' and I fell to the ground. The pallet jack continued towards me but stopped after the leading wheels dropped over the edge of the tailgate[phew].
I was in agony, and a few passers by asked me if I was OK, I think my swearing gave them the answer!!

I really thought it[the ankle]was broken. After I composed myself I got up and found I could bear some weight on the joint so at least I could hobble around, I contacted my radio operator and he suggested I stay where I was and have someone else come out to complete my run but [stupid mistake #1] I said I could continue as that day wasn't a busy one.

I arrived back at the depot at about 6pm, around 8 hours after I fell and spoke to my Manager who called a Company OH&S officer to take me to the medical centre. As soon as removed my shoe the ankle puffed up like a balloon! The Doctor said it was a severe sprain, and would take up to three months to heal properly. The reating Doctor asked how long I wanted off work, and considering I had just had from October 2008 to February 2009 off on light[boring]duties due to a herniated disc and Sciatic nerve injury I said just two days plus the weekend would do so I wouldn't lose any hours from my weekly earnings[stupid mistake #2]

I returned to my usual job on the Monday, and worked every day experiencing a great deal of discomfort but ignoring it for the next eleven months[stupid mistake #3] At the end every day the ankle was noticeably swollen, and painful too. I remembered waht the Doctor had said about the injury taking a long time to heal and figured it was taking so long because I hadn't rested it really and had kept working when I shouldn't have. The ankle had been left very weak and unstable and any surface irregularities at all would cause it to 'invert' or roll outwards, with a resulting pain like an electric shock that took my breath away. I kept ignoring these symptoms until mid February this year until a new pain developed running up my calf muscle to the outside of my knee. It was at this point and at the ongoing insistence of my darling Wife I spoke to my Company Physiotherapist. Brad was very helpful and understanding, and a wealth of information too. He said that if it was a simple sprain it would have healed long ago, even without it being rested. I was at the stage when I wanted the continuing pain gone, and the instability problem fixed as it was impacting not only on my job, but everthing I did.

I returned to the original treating Doctor, who had the joint x-rayed again to rule out any fractures, and none were found. He scolded me for not coming to see him sooner and immediately put me on restricted duties at work[no truck driving]and ordered an MRI. I was lucky I only had to wait 4 days for the MRI to be done, then another 3 days for the results. Like most people I guess, I read the MRI results before I saw my Doctor again and was more than a little shocked at what it said.

I quote: "lateral collateral ligament is abnormal.
The anterior talofibular ligament is markedly thickened and of intermediate signal and there is an intermediate grade partial tear and avulsion of the anterior most fibres from the talus. There is moderate surrounding oedema which would be in keeping with an acute injury. The posterior talofibular ligament is moderately thickened with surrounding oedema in keeping with an acute strain. The calceneo-fibular ligament is moderately thickened though intact.

The anterior and posterior inferior tibiofibular ligaments are intact.

There is a longtitudinal split tear of the peroneus brevis tendon which extends from the level of the musculotendinous junction the level of the calceno-cuboid joint. There is mild oedema within the tendon sheath, though no significant fluid within the tendon sheath and there is minimal surrounding oedema, which is in keeping with a subacute injury.

There is moderate oedema within the distal fibula and there is a hypo-intense line seen within the anterolateral aspect of the femur which I suspect is a non displaced fracture.

The deltiod ligament is abnormal, anteriorly it is disrupted.The posterior deep fibres are intact. There is minimal surrounding oedema and I suspect this is a chronic injury.

There is small joint effusion with mild synovial thickening of the talofibial joint.

Small oedema seen posterior to the Achilles tendon though the tendon itself is of normal sign."

Phew! The Doctor referred me to a specialist, who on examination of my ankle, the MRI films and the report he suggested corrective surgery-especially give the time that has passed since I first injured it. As I write this I have eleven days to wait until my operation on the 31st of March. I just want it like it was before I hurt it, no pain with full movement and no instability. One of my loves in life is riding my motorcycles, and I need a healthy, fully functioning left ankle for that!

Lesson learned? Don't ignore your body's warning signs-every professional I spoke to said I should have treated my ankle properly in the first instance, no matter how inconvenient at the time. If your suffering undiagnosed pain or swelling, get it looked at!

Stay tuned........William.