smashed femur

[kdk1610]

thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and kind words. I'm eating jello every night now! I can't believe how knowledgeable some of the people on this board are. I am trying to "walk" 100 minutes a day using my walker. I am using a bone stimulator. I am taking calcium per my orthopedic surgeon. I elevate my leg throughout the day. It's been 5 weeks since the accident and the swelling seems to not have gone done very much. I find the swelling to be exasperating. My pain has lessened considerably and I am weaning myself off my oxycodone. No physical therapy until Sept. 5 at the earliest. That is when I will have new X-rays done to see how the healing is progressing.
Thank you, again,so much for all your help and assistance.

 

[roadtripper]

That is when I will have new X-rays done to see how the healing is progressing.

I highly urge you to NOT get an X-ray. Request a CAT-scan, they are 18x better at showing the current condition of your injury.

I did NOT follow this advice and thought I had healed a stress fracture. I ended up reinjuring myself since I thought I was fully healed based on the x-ray.

 

[mookie]

pogo

pogo.com

i feel your pain (well the boredom part anyway)
pogo.com definately helped keep me busy when i had my ACL replaced 2 years ago. I was not out for very long, but the 4 days out of work killed me, i was going out of my mind. earned alot of credits on pogo.com and mastered a few games on there. fortunately i was in PT 2 weeks after surgery and biking 1 1/2 months after (snowboarding again 5 months after ).
cant imagine smashing up some bone and being out that long, dont know what i would do.

 

[DougPaul]

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and kind words. I'm eating jello every night now! I can't believe how knowledgeable some of the people on this board are.

Don't forget that some of the advice that you get on BBSes like this one is worth just as much as you paid for it...

I am trying to "walk" 100 minutes a day using my walker. I am using a bone stimulator. I am taking calcium per my orthopedic surgeon. I elevate my leg throughout the day. It's been 5 weeks since the accident and the swelling seems to not have gone done very much. I find the swelling to be exasperating. My pain has lessened considerably and I am weaning myself off my oxycodone. No physical therapy until Sept. 5 at the earliest.

My swelling came down very gradually--there was still some residual swelling 6 months to a year later. My pain dropped rapidly in the week or two following each operation and then would plateau for a while (up to months) before dropping off. (According to my PT, pain is highly variable.) I started PT within a couple of days of my operation--first in my hospital bed, then at home, and then in an outpatient facility at ~13 weeks. (I was cleared for weight bearing at 11 weeks.) YMMV.

Broken bones take 8-12 weeks to heal and then you will have to work on reconditioning the muscles. Normal use of the leg will help to reduce the swelling.

Doug

 

[daxs]

are you allowed in a swimming pool? Can always swim with a float between your legs so no kicking or use and aqua jooger so no weight on your leg.

 

[DreamFarmer]

What I've read and applied with positive results.......

Get the blood pumping anyway you can think of without aggravating the injury. Fresh blood brings the nutrients needed for healing.

 

[SherpaKroto]

Keep your mind busy, and the body will follow. Don't let it get you down: it's just a speed bump on the road of life!

Welcome to the gimp squad! (me, Doug Paul, Darren, Bubba as founding fathers )

 

[roadtripper]

Welcome to the gimp squad! (me, Doug Paul, Darren, Bubba as founding fathers )

Sherpa - I would be absolutely honored to join this elite group with my 18-month old tibial stress fracture that refuses to heal

 

[BorealChickadee]

My best advice for you is to keep reading these trip reports!

I was hospitalized for two weeks in May and am still out of work, still not hiking. I haven't hiked since May 4th. Thank goodness it was an awesome volunteer work weekend.

I read the forums and it keeps me thinking of where I'll be again. I daydream about next year standing on Skylight. I'll get back there if I have to crawl and that's the attitude you have to have!

Oh heck, this summer I bought a pair of snowhsoes. After they came I could have kicked myself for spending money on something I might not be able to do when doctor's bills were coming in but then I realized they represented me saying I'd be out there again. So the moral of the story is, just keep thinking and doing what you normally do and it will come. Slowly maybe, but it will come.

I couldn't read for several months, but reading can take you there too.

And one last word of advice, get a phone plan with unlimited long distance.

 

[Trainwreck]

Hi.
in 2006, I fell while running down the Liberty Springs trail with a frozen Margarita on my mind. I hobbled out using improvised crutches. Ended up in the hospital in Plymouth (no commentabout that) was told it was "probably a bad sprain". ( I never got the margarita by the way) After walking around on it for 1YEAR (stupid I know) I went to my Ortho doc because I kept falling. I tore EVERY lateral ligament and chipped a bone.
I could'nt hike for 2 years. The 1st year because I (stupidly) didn't seek care, and it hurt; andthe second to heal from the 2 major reconstructive surgeries I needed to fix the darn thing.
I am now back, and it feels better to be out there than before my injury. I will NEVER take hiking for granted again. Every time I get out, I thank my Ortho Surgeon for the wonderful job he did (twice).
Keep the faith and you will prevail.
B.