Broken bones

Has anyone else ever dealt with a break? I’ve broken my arm more times than I care to admit. No clue why it keeps happening, but lately, I’ve been trying to stick to milk instead.

So, I’ve got a cracked right wrist, a busted left shoulder, and a wrecked left ankle... but wait, here comes the real kicker: I actually shattered my right elbow. Like, the bone near the joint snapped in two different places into three separate pieces 🙂
And then? Three surgeries, four metal wires, and a massive amount of brutal physical therapy 🙂 😱

I’ve been through it once, and let me tell you, it was brutal... I tore everything possible in my right ankle... wires, screws, the whole nine yards... three surgeries down, and I’ve still got one more to go.

How was the recovery process for you after the surgery? Did things ever actually get back to 100% like they were before the injury, or did you end up settling for an 80-90% fix?

I only had a single screw put in, just one surgery, so I can't really speak for their experience. But for me, everything is slowly getting back to baseline. I had a screw in my elbow. I can’t quite get full extension yet, but I’m hoping things will settle down in a few months. Still, you have to accept that an arm is never quite the same once it's been messed with. As far as functionality goes, I can handle most things, but man, these seasonal weather shifts are absolutely killing me!

I tore my meniscus once, had a chunk of it removed, and man, getting back to a smooth stride took forever—we're talking months of rehab. But even now, two years later, the feeling just isn't quite right. It’s like I lost that perfect rhythm. One bad hit, and I'll never be at 100% again...

Justin Fox said:I tore my meniscus. They had to trim part of it out. It took months just to get back to a normal walking gait, but even two years later, it just doesn't feel right. One bad kick and you're done. You never quite get back to that 100% mark...

Exactly.

Nah, once you go under the knife, things just aren't the same. I went through three and four wires six years ago (almost hitting the 1.7 mark on the 1st) and honestly? Not one single day since then have I been able to rotate my arm at the elbow—left or right. 👎

Justin Fox said:How was the recovery after surgery? Did you ever get back to 100%, or did you just settle for an 80-90% fix?

Right after the surgery, I spent two months strictly non-weight bearing on that leg... during that stretch, the joint was super swollen, my leg was totally numb, and circulation was basically nonexistent. I got lucky because I could afford a private physical therapist who came to my place whenever needed, twice a day... honestly, I feel like those massages are what actually brought my leg back to life. Then came the surgery to remove the fixator, which finally let me start putting weight on it again... followed by some intense PT. Somewhere along the line, one of the wires started shifting, so I demanded they take everything out... now it's just the plate and screws left, and that's coming out this fall.

As for how I feel today:

Minor side effects? Sure... I walk fine, drive, climb stairs... occasionally my leg feels heavy, or the scar gets itchy... nothing major.

Major consequences? Total disaster... I’ve become addicted to the internet... and this forum. 😁

Hello everyone.

I am new to this forum, mostly because I wanted to hear about your experiences and perhaps share my own regarding an upper arm break, the surgery, and the complications that followed...

Back on November 25th, 2007, my left humerus broke in two places. I underwent surgery on November 28th, 2007, at the Mayo Clinic, performed by Dr. Pukljak.
The bone was fixed with a plate and screws.
After the operation, I spent five days in the hospital before being discharged for home care. A week later, they removed my stitches and the splint.
Just one week after that, the doctor sent me to physical therapy due to a contracture. After about five or six sessions, I started feeling like the bones were shifting... so my physiotherapist sent me straight to the ER at the Mayo Clinic. They took X-rays and told me to follow up with my surgeon immediately. He didn't even seem to remember sending me to therapy in the first place... he just told me to pray to God that the alignment held so I wouldn't need another surgery... pray to God?! Am I at a church or in a hospital?... When I asked why I could feel the bones moving, he turned it back on me, implying I hadn't rested enough or something, just so he wouldn't have to take any responsibility—even though he was the one who sent me to therapy only two weeks post-op. To make a long story short, since then, the bones haven't fused. (I am 29, by the way). I’m not allowed to do therapy, my arm is stuck in a contracture, and so on and so forth. I sought a second opinion from Dr. Čička over on Nemetov, and he suggested I wait another three months to see if the bones heal (if they actually do). If they don't, we might have to repeat the surgery, which would involve creating an artificial elbow—a procedure that carries a massive risk to the nerves in my hand, potentially leaving my hand without function.

I am truly in a state of agony right now, and I honestly don't know how this ends... everyone keeps telling me there is no choice but to wait another three months (six months total) to see if the bone eventually knits together. And if it doesn't, we face that repeat surgery, where the outcome is anyone's guess.

So, I am asking if anyone knows of a better solution based on their own experiences, or if you could point me toward a specialist who might actually have a way to get these bones to heal sooner. Because according to them, there is no other option, but I can't help but feel there must be... ever since this happened, I can't do anything. I've been on medical leave for three months already. I can't drive, I can't run, my housework is down to the absolute bare minimum... I just feel helpless.

I really don't want to spend another three months waiting only for my X-ray to look exactly the same, forcing me to relive this whole nightmare from the beginning. The bones aren't healing at all... yet I'm just supposed to sit here and wait.

Please, help me.😕

Has anyone here actually dealt with a torn fibula? I'm trying to figure out how long the recovery process really takes.