Well, my long-term ankle issues are getting me down, so I went to my GP and got referrals, one to an orthopedic surgeon (ankle/foot guy) and also to a podiatrist.
MRI is pending, so I’m not sure what the surgeon will suggest. I suspect surgery, because he is a surgeon. (Duh, I guess.) I see the podiatrist in a couple of weeks, when he gets back from vacation.
So, not asking anyone here for a diagnosis, which would be pointless anyway. I think the orthopedist’s guess is probably correct…he’s thinking tarsal coalition with a calcaneo-navicular bar, just looking at the xrays and listening to my tales of woe. If that’s what it turns out to be, I think he’s going to suggest ankle fusion. Ankle fusion! Now I am approaching scared shitless. That’s supposed to reduce pain and let me walk distance?
So, for anyone who has made it this far down the post, have you had an ankle fusion done? After the usual recovery, could you walk without pain? Could you walk uphill and downhill? Do you limp now? Are you happy you had it done, or sorry you did?
Put this in IMHO because I am looking for people’s personal experiences, not asking a general question about this surgery. That will be for the surgeon.
Thanks guys. I know I don’t post a lot, but I love you guys. (Most a yiz, anyway.)
My aunt had one years and years ago (like 25 years ago). She can walk as well as any able bodied person her age (70ish) that’s been though what she’s been through. It’s all part of a horrible car accident that she was in. It does cause a limp and if a slope is too steep she needs to walk down it backwards, usually with a railing. I don’t think stairs have ever been an issue (until just recently, but that has to do with more then just the ankle). I don’t know how old you are and if you have anything else going on, but I suspect if you were a bit more limber it would cause even less issues then it does with her.
I’m sure she would have preferred not have had it done, but she didn’t seem to complain about it much and, like I said, she always got around just fine on her own. She’s just now slowing down, but that’s just life catching up to her with arthritis and problems with her other ankle and hip issues.
Thanks for the response. I’m 49, just for the record. My ankle has been an issue since I was around 17. It’s been better and worse, and it’s just getting worse. I didn’t have a single trauma like your aunt did.
I have stairs in my house. I’m not sure I could even BE non-weight-bearing for six to eight weeks and get up and down the stairs. I just tried it with the House Crutches and it wasn’t pretty. But she could, you say? Hmm.
I only knew that because I had a sister on crutches that had to do that for the first few days until she got the hang of things.
Then, because she’s too small to hold both crutches in one hand, she would let them slide down the railing or toss them down the stairs ahead of her and hop on her good foot. Scared the living shit out of the family the first time she did that, we thought she was falling and we all got up and ran to see what happened.
Oh, make sure you get a shower bench/stool.
And here’s another trick my sister learned. She couldn’t get into the shower with it running because she’d slip and fall and she didn’t want the freezing cold water running on her for the first minute. The trick is to turn the water on to get the hot water up to the second floor, turn it off, get it, then turn it back on. Or get a shower head with a hose attachment so you can just point it away from you while you futz with temp and let the cold water run out of it.
After an accidental gunshot wound to my left ankle and the resulting destruction to bone and tissue, I underwent hind foot (ankle/mid-foot) fusion earlier this year.
The surgeon, while admitting that he’d never seen an injury quite like mine before, assured me that I’d be back to work (as a truck driver) by early November at the latest. Well, here it is New year’s Eve and I’m not only not back to work, but still don’t dare get further from my crutches than I can comfortably crawl.
Long and short of it is that if I had to do over again - and knew what I know now - I would have insisted on a below the knee amputation. Sounds drastic I know, and I should probably be grateful for what I’ve got. Problem is that what I’ve got won’t allow me to make a living and all the promises of walking have been just so much dust in the wind. Spent more than $400.00 that I didn’t have on rocker bottom shoes that haven’t helped with my mobility issues. Still in constant pain with no relief in sight. Fixing to spend another $350.00 (that I don’t have and insurance won’t cover) on a custom molded orthotic insert for the aforementioned shoes(s) that stands a 50/50 chance of helping 50%.
My apologies for the negative post, but it’s an honest one and I sincerely hope your results are better than mine.