I twisted my foot with the ankle hitting the ground for a quick moment on 18th of May 2011, 7.00 a.m which had swelled up straight away after that. I heard some cracks and I thought I heard a popping sound, it happened so fast. It could be a sprain, fracture or broken but I thought if I heard a pop, I might have broken it. I've never broken a bone before so I don't know how that would feel, though.
A broken ankle hurts much more than a sprain, but depending on what exactly broke, you might still be able to walk. I waited a minute. I stood up and was able to walk on both my feet with some discomfort. Later I drove car to my work place. My job requires me to be on my feet for 4-5 hours. I got pain when standing (on feet with little or no sitting) and walking. I felt a horrible and sharp pain when climbing stairs to the point that I could hardly put weight on it. I have a pain in the distal end of my fibula on the outer ankle bump. It was pretty badly bruised and swollen. I expected it would extremely difficult to put any weight on my foot for the next few hours.
So I went to the hospital and I was put in a splint. I was advised to stay off the foot in case it is sprained, fractured, or broken and see a doctor right away if the pain or swelling gets worse within 3 days. The doctor told me that x-rays would possibly be required for a proper diagnosis and treatment. Proper diagnosis and treatment of a broken fibula depend on determining the exact area and type of the break. He gave me pain medicine to help deal with access pain.
I delayed going to the do an x-ray as thought it was just a sprain. I actually thought it would get better after a few days with a good rest! I walked on it, continued and pressed on with the steps, shouldering the pain on my foot for 5 days. At night the pain keeps me awake and finally I lose my confidence and so scared on putting pressure on my ankle.
When it seemed to get even worse (more painful, swelling wasn't going away) I went to the hospital on 23rd of May 2011. I was able to drive to the hospital. I reached the hospital within 30 minutes and I could feel the pain in my ankle.
I waited about an hour before I could meet the doctor
and he diagnosed a broken fibula! The fibula is the smaller of two bones in the lower part of the leg between the ankle and the knee. He ordered x-rays and when he reviewed them, he then told me that I had broken my lateral malleolus. At this age, that was my first break! Fractures of the lateral malleolus is more complex because ligaments attach here, and because stability of the ankle joint is crucial to any weight-bearing activity. He realized that the bone was not quite where he wanted it to be and suggested surgery after all. He said it was the kind of break that could be fixed with a cast and without surgery.There they put a long leg cast right away on me while my ankle was still very swollen. They told me the cast would become loose as the swelling goes down. The function of a cast is to immobilize and protect a broken or fractured bone or joint. It holds in place the broken bone keeping it in proper alignment to prevent movement during the rehabilitation process. I was nervous for how long it would take me to fully recover. I was told to use crutches. He wanted me to sleep with my foot upright on a pillow, which means I have to sleep on my back. I would need to keep my leg raised when sitting as this helps to stop my foot from swelling too much. I could also use a stool with cushions to do this, whatever is comfortable for me. This is difficult,... but I guessed necessary and I must follow his advice.
My nephew came to drive me home and we only arrived at about 8.30 p.m. I was also completely exhausted. I had a bath, then some food and went to bed earlier that night.
The next day..I couldn’t leave home. I got so bored …stuck in my house. I'm so bored and I am so over TV, computer, reading and sleeping. As a wife and mother of four, it's been more emotional and frustrating to be prisoner to the sofa. I had a wheelchair to move around inside my house without much difficulty at all. I used crutches too to get around short distances in my house. I was just not sure if I was using my crutches correctly. I got so depressed at first, because I am such an independent person, and I could no longer do anything for myself. It was the worst feeling in the world having to depend on everyone to do everything for me, the tiring walks with my crutches and the tiring showers. Ohhww..I couldn't wait to be able to go in and stand on my own! No one realizes until they have to live with it. I would have to stand on one foot in the shower and my husband/kids would be outside the bathroom waiting for me so he/they could help me out. My hubby became my 'carer' and he was brilliant. My daughters cooked the meals and did laundry and helped out wherever they could. And that my friends visited a lot at first, but with more time passing they don't come by as frequently. I have a lot of support and help from my family.
After three days my cast was put on I felt like it was tight but didn't think much of it. It felt really tight and an area at the top of the foot and the bottom of the foot felt too tight, with intense pressure in those areas. I even noticed that my toes looked swollen. That night I laid in bed and I felt like it's squeezing my foot and ankle and felt like my cast was going to explode. I didn't sleep at all. I felt like I was going crazy. I started thinking about how tight the cast was and almost started panicking. I wanted out of that cast so bad. I just wanted to cut it off but since my next appointment is on 27th of May 2011, so I decided to tell the doctor about it on that day although I could feel my cast was very tight and uncomfortable.
After 5 days in that torture cast I went back to an orthopedic doctor on 27th of May 2011 as instructed and told him that my cast was too tight because my foot was turning blue and purple worse than before the cast. It swelled. He told me to keep it on until it was healed. I went back home but could feel sharp pain on my foot. Since my cast was very tight, my foot becomes more swollen, which restricted my circulation. I was crying because I couldn't stand that pain anymore. I thought that my cast might have to be split to make my foot feel better. After a few hours my foot does not feel any better, then I contacted the Plaster Theater and went there immediately that night and thank God they finally made tiny cut in the sides of the cast to loosen it.
I had three weeks in a full legged cast. I was so frustrating that this is going to go on for weeks as unable to weight bare. I keep wiggling my toes to keep blood flow going. Also, sometimes it is really itchy inside my cast. Sometimes I needed to get a small amount of baby powder and poured inside the cast to help relieve the itching. I couldn't wait for the plaster to be removed as that is so heavy and drags on my foot. At night my leg was so restless, couldn't find a good position for it and the little pains made me wanted to keep moving about, not good when I wanted to sleep.
Four weeks after the break I went back to the hospital on 10th of June 2011. They cut the cast off. I was hoping to be able to walk but no such luck. After I had the cast removed my leg was still bruised. He told me the brushes would heal and suggested I do not walk on the foot for 3 more weeks. I have now had the cast off for nearly a week and I find it very painful to walk on and very swollen. I am starting to put a little pressure but am afraid! I felt like I had an electric shock when I put more pressure. Not sure if it's a nerve or what! I usually feel fine in the morning but after a few steps I start to feel the pain surfacing. Just walking around my house becomes very difficult after less than 30 minutes, sometimes it's impossible. The pain is under the lateral malleolus but the more I walk the higher the pain radiates sometimes up past my knee. Pain wakes me up at night and is sometimes sharp radiating towards my knee or down the outside of my foot. Since then I have been patient with the ankle despite the fact it is often stiff and sometimes quite sore, and looks permanently swollen.
I went back for check up on 1st of July 2011 and the doctor told me to get another x-ray of my right ankle. Doctor said it still not completely healed so I was told to walk with crutches and slowly put weight on the foot as much as I can do. It’s been six weeks so far. My foot turns dark red whenever I move about on crutches but with no cast I am tempted daily to walk on the ankle. I'm still on crutches as it hurts to put my weight on my foot. I've noticed that there is some slight swelling below the lateral side of my ankle bone, and it hurts when I press on certain areas of my ankle. My ankle is still swollen and like I said it is fairly painful to put a lot a weight on it. I get tired very easily, my ankle seems to stay swollen, and I know that I will never be able to wear high heels again. Every time I walk on my ankle, or while sitting down, I just rotating my ankle up with the heel still down on the ground, my ankle starts hurting. However, with rest, the pain would subside temporarily.
Ortho ordered a few sessions of physical therapy. It’s the best exercise that my ankle can receive which help the pain and the mobility in my ankle. The swelling is quite hard and is mostly in the area below the joint. Is it normal for my ankle to still be swollen and if so how long until it starts to go away? Ohww..I am so worried about it!!
Makkah Time
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