[Peterjs]

Fracture of Tib & Fib

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Hi I Fracture my Tib & Fib on the 4th of May 2009. I have had a full leg cast on for six weeks then moulded knee down to the toes cast.
At presnt there is no sign of any healing of the bones, ops and mental work is a very last resort according to my doc, due nuroepahty. I have been a insulin dependant diabetic for about fourty years.
As any one been in the side position as me if so, what was your out come and have you any advice, re healing, prognosie, time span

Yours Peterjs

[JoanW]

Hi,
I fell down 3 stairs on March 5th and broke my fibula on the left leg near the ankle. It doesn't sound nearly as bad as your injury, however, I did get surgery done on it straight away as there was a large gap in the break. The surgeon put a plate and 7 screws in and I have had no trouble whatsoever. Of course it was awkward trying to walk about for several weeks. I didn't need a cast as I already had an air booot removable type cast for support, from a previous injury, and they didn't want to put a cast on over the surgery cut anyway. I had to stay in the hospital for 4 days not only because of the break but I had quite a bad chest infection at the time.
I have had Type 2 diabetes for 20 years now, and been on insulin for the last 10. I also suffer from neuropathy and although it has improved somewhat over the past years, it still gives me considerable trouble.
The cut healed within a week, and 2 weeks after the surgery they took out the 15 clips. On April 16th the surgeon saw me again and said I no longer needed to wear the air boot for support. The x-rays showed excellent healing and I am so glad that I was lucky enough to get the surgery done within 24 hours. By the way I am 75 years old, so am surprised that I was lucky enough to heal so quickly and so well.
I am sorry to hear that you are not having such a good result with your treatment. Hope you find something to help to promote healing.

[SweetOne]

Sorry that you had such an unfortunate fall. I had a similar event in my late 30's and did not have it pinned...only casted. It took forever to heal, but good news is that it healed great and I have normal range of motion to this day Make sure to do the physical therapy religiously after you get the caste off! I hated it, but it strengthened my leg and helped it heal. Problem w/ lower extremities is that you often have to stay off of it and it is using it that rebuilds bone. My doc had me doing physical therapy out of an opened caste. I am trying to remember...I think it took about 3.5-4 months to be walking on it@! One doc said the big difference was not my diabetes but, that I had not had it pinned and should have. I broke mine in 3 places (spiral breaks = greenstick)....was trying to walk down some stairs in flip flops after a day of water skiing and fun!