Introduction and Timeline

Introduction

Name: Laura
Age: 18, almost 19 (Freshman in college)
Diet/Physical Shape: I do not drink or smoke and I maintain a healthy diet. In college, I exercise almost every day for 1-2 hours. I am a healthy weight for my height and age. I've never broken any bones or have been seriously injured.
The injury: Fractured fibula and torn ligament in right leg. Eight little screws and a plate were put on my fibula. One long screw connecting my fibula and tibia was also inserted through the plate. Only the big screw can be taken out; the rest of the hardware stays in forever.

My Timeline

February 1, 2013: Fell on the ice on my college campus. Went to the hospital immediately and found out I had a fractured fibula and a torn ligament in my right leg. I was given a boot and crutches, non-weight bearing (NWB).

February 5, 2013: Went to the doctor again. I found out I would need surgery.

February 6, 2013: Five days after I broke my ankle, I had surgery at 6:00am. I don't remember much from that morning. The surgery took between 30-60 minutes, they put me under and I was extremely tired when waking up from surgery. They wrapped my leg up in a splint, told me to keep it elevated, gave me some vicodin, and released me from the hospital a few hours later.

February 7, 2013: Day after the surgery. The first night after the surgery was the most excruciating pain I've ever felt. I stayed overnight in a motel in my college town and was driven back to my hometown by my parents on this day.

February 7-17, 2013: I stayed at home, sitting on the couch with my leg propped up and vicodin pills by my side. The first few days were very hard and required a lot of pain medication. The higher my foot was, the better it felt. I barely moved these days, and used a walker to get around. Even standing up would make me cry from the pain. I eventually weaned off of the vicodin after 4-5 days.

February 18, 2013: A little over two weeks from the break and one week and five days post-operation. I visited the doctor again and they took the splint off. Staples were taken out and a hard plaster cast was put on my leg. They had to bend my foot at a 90 degree angle, which was painful. Still using crutches, fully NWB until further notice.

March 26, 2013: Over 7 weeks post-break, 7 weeks post-operation, a little over 5 weeks with the cast and NWB. I was re-xrayed and told my fracture was healed. However the torn ligament takes at least 10 weeks to heal. The cast was taken off and I was given a walking boot (up to my knee). I am now 50% weight-bearing with crutches and the walking boot. I was told I could start exercising a little. Today I did the stationary bike for 30 minutes, which gave me no pain. My skin was extremely dry and the range of motion (ROM) in my ankle is VERY minimal (maybe 20% what a normal ankle is). I was also told I could have a "quick and easy" operation at the 10 week mark to get the one long screw out that is holding my tibia/fibula together. The rest of the hardware stays in for life.

April 18, 2013: 10 weeks post-operation. I decided that I want to get the longer screw out since I've read from multiple sources that if anything will limit the ROM, it will be the longer screw. Since it's a fairly "easy" procedure according to my surgeon (it should only last 15-20 minutes and I can walk out of the hospital with minimal pain), I decided it would be better to take it out than to leave it in. I called the hospital to see if I could schedule my surgery. Since I decided I wanted the screw out, the doctor moved my appointment up a week, to April 18th. I got an X-ray which they said was looking great, then I sat down to talk with my surgeon about the procedure. I got my walking boot off and was given an air cast, which I can wear with tennis shoes! I was also told I could start weight-bearing as much as I feel comfortable. Which of course meant that as soon as I got back to my dorm room, I started testing how much weight I could put on my ankle. THIS DAY was the very first day I took my first steps without crutches and the walking boot! It was someone uncomfortable, but I still use crutches outdoors to get to classes since we still have snow and my muscle/balance levels are still lacking. Overall though,  April 18th was a good day, even though it was also a snow storm here in MN! My surgery to remove the screw is scheduled for next Wednesday, April 24th.