I work with a lot of badly injured people and my two pieces of advice based on my experience is to be committed to your pt and to practice mindfulness as a way to reduce the effects of pain. Pain disrupts sleep and concentration, and is really fucking exhausting.
You have more power than you think – you can ask people to pause during the lead up and post-op times, ask questions that you want, tell them your concerns.
Find lots of good media and other entertainment that makes you laugh!
I triple broke my ankle last year, so let me tell you it sucks tremendously.
Depending on the severity of your fracture you will be spending a couple months on crutches, and then up to a year doing physical therapy to restore mobility and the lost muscle and circulatory function in your leg(s).
As for the surgery itself, my ankle was broken in three places and basically turned around 180 degrees, so in a first surgery my foot and leg were fixated using metal rods that were pierced through my ankle and screwed into my shin bone, to allow the swelling to reduce.
Then some days later, the external fixture got removed again and the foot was placed and fixated in an orthopedic boot, a modern version of plaster casts that can be removed intermittently.
Now, almost 18 months later I am still not completely done, because the third surgery to remove leftover metal elements in my leg has caused the massively scarred area to heal very poorly, causing a fucking antibiotics resistant infection in the wound as well.
In short, you have my sympathies, it fucking sucks so much.
Oh jeez. I really hope I don’t have a recovery like that. I expect it to be so rough though. Idek what is going to be done. I haven’t met my surgeon yet. It’s late here, so everything is being done in the morning. They put me in a special splint and have me on pain meds.
Yeah it probably won’t be as bad, but still. Not a fun experience.
On the plus side, the pain meds are pretty fun. Through that whole ordeal I sampled a wide range of them, ketamine (ketanest) was probably the most intense. Felt like someone rolling a huge, soft but very loud boulder over me.
I had fentanyl in the ambulance and it made me super talkative. I had morphine earlier and that was fun. It has worn off and I have no idea what I’ll be getting next.
When you do meet your surgeon, don’t worry if they aren’t a people person. The skill you need is in their hands, not their personality. When you meet the anesthesiologist, (and general advice with all medical personnel) be honest about anything they ask you, like about previous drug experiences. They don’t ask to judge you, it’s to judge what and how much to give you, and how to expect you might react.
I’ve had experiences with surgeons, so I won’t be surprised if this guy is kind of an ass. Idgaf as long as he fixes me. Every anesthesiologist I’ve met have been so nice
“closed hole” flute: I have a tendency to pick up loud and obnoxious instruments. trumpet. diatonic harmonica. penny whistle. it would be cool to have a genuinely soft instrument. also, having skills that would transfer to piccolo:D
You probably already do, I know I’m not the same person I was years ago. I think it’s a good thing to be conscious of your personality going forward. My take is, you are you, therefore whatever you do is something you would do. So do what you want, don’t overthink it.
By far and away calling my friend’s mom retarded when I was a stupid little kid. He was on speaker. If I could pinpoint the exact moment where my life started going off-track, it was then and there. But boy was I upset that his mom wouldn’t let him play guild wars.
I’m sure she’s forgotten it, and he probably has too, but the moment replays in my head at least once a month.
At least it was a learning experience. Now I never say anything about anyone that I’m not willing to say to their face.
When I was around 10 I was invited to hang out to my uncle’s bosses bbq party along with my cousins and the guy’s children where talking about going karting and then the guy says “What would they think if we told them you were under 16 haha” and I just blurted out “they would probably think she’s a mutant”.
Idk man I was 10 she looked grown up to me but I’m sure I gave that girl identity issues
18 Years have gone by and I still have flashbacks to that moment
Only real thing I regret when I broke my leg was not using a cane after crutches. Didn't realize using the crutches too long led to my fibula reattaching incorrectly and breaking again a year later randomly as I was walking.
I'm pretty sure that I healed with my foot in an unnatural position (outside tiles up slightly) causing the bone to heal in a shortened position. They don't do anything to your fibula in most cases as it bears very little weight, it's just allowed to heal on its own.
Oh wow. That’s terrible. I’m sorry you went through that. I actually bought a neat cane last month at a Ren faire that I could probably put to use of my doctors and physical therapist(s) want me to. I bought the cane as a prop for costumes, but also as a stick to beat raccoons with. I got jumped by a gang of raccoons a few months ago, and the fuckers keep breaking into my ducks’ outside enclosure. I take the cane out with me whenever it’s dark.
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