For the first time in my life, I have to have surgery on Wednesday.

[A HERETIC I AM]

I've recently started a new job with an industrial supply company in Fort Myers. I'm driving a straight truck/flatbed delivering steel bar stock, plate, sheet steel, structural channels, box tube, pipe, and all manner of items used in various industrial applications, from bearings to drive belts. Last Wednesday morning as I was just about to leave with my days run of deliveries, I was walking to go take a leak. My way took me under a large, open air shed in the middle of the yard where two large sheet metal shears sit. I was walking between the two shears and stepped up and over a pallet. As my left foot came down, it landed on a piece of 4X4 I didn't see in the dark (6:30 AM). The wood rolled away from me as I landed on it and twisted my foot all to hell.

I have a "Lisfranc Fracture and Dislocation" located at the terminus of my First Metatarsal and the Medial Cuneiform.

They are going to put a screw in my foot to reposition the dislocation. The screw comes out again in 6 weeks.

I can't walk without crutches and my foot looks like you pumped it up with a bike pump.

Hurts like a mofo.

Anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks to heal.

I hate being so helpless.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Ouch!

Oh, that sounds awful...

I hope you'll feel much better after the surgery, and of course after the screw comes out.

It is tough being helpless when you're so used to taking care of yourself.

Take care, and don't be afraid to ask for help while this is going on...


:hug:

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. You're such a sweety sweety, Ms Peggy.

Thanks for your kind thoughts.

:hug:

[MiddleFingerMom]

2. Fracture of my right tibia and fibula in my lower leg...

.
...with four pins inserted. SEVEN months in a full-leg
cast and in for an outpatient (though unconscious)
procedure to have them removed. Last patient of the
day and I remember the clinic's personnel all gathered
near my bed, waiting for me to recover so they could
go home.
.
The anesthesia made me sick as I gained more and more
awareness following the procedure -- but it also had
me high a a kite at the same time.
.
I distinctly remember hearing one of the staff giggling
and saying it was the first time she had ever seen
ANYBODY throwing up and smiling at the same time.
.
Wish I had a video of THAT to share with everybody.
.
You bet I do.
.
Thought of my right leg as "twins" when the cast was
FINALLY removed. Called it "Skinny n' Stinky".
.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. LOL @ "Skinny and Stinky" I can relate.

The only time I have ever had a cast was on my right arm when I was 18, after a motorcycle accident. I cut the damned thing off myself after about a month and remember being able to scrape that outer layer of dead skin off with my fingernails.

I am hoping they give me a removable cast so I can at least shower properly. I am presently using a step stool in the shower to sit on and that is working pretty well. I really don't want a cast if it can be avoided.

[Bertha Venation]

5. Oh, sweet Heretic.

I am so sorry. I know your pain, I truly do. All I can say is that I wish that your pain abates quickly, that the crutches quickly become second nature, and that your healing breaks records for speed. Best wishes to you. :hug:

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. Thanks, Bertha V.

:hug:

I appreciate it.

[foxfeet]

7. Well, that just sounds perfectly dreadful.

I've had several surgeries (back, neck, exploratory which found nothing, thank the Gods), The anesthesia made me sick as a dog after the first surgery. I was barfing so hard I was reduced to helpless dry heaves. The guy in the next bed, a complete stranger, bless him, called the nurses because I was incapable of doing it myself. This was after the back surgery which made the barfing even more difficult. After that experience, I put my foot down and bitched mightily before the subsequent surgeries, demanding that I never go through that again. And I didn't. They can preemptively control post-op nausea, so let your anesthesiologist know what you want in no uncertain terms. I wish you a successful outcome and speedy, complete and comfortable healing.

[nickinSTL]

15. I've had a few surgeries myself

the first one I had was to remove my wisdom teeth - and I barfed numerous times over the new holes in my mouth after waking up. Not fun.

The subsequent surgeries, I've let them know about the nausea issue - problem is that apparently the solution makes it damned hard for me to wake up - which I find almost worse.

I don't handle anesthesia well at all, and if I ever need another surgery, I might insist that it either be done under no more than heavy sedation (which I don't seem to have a problem with), or under something more local. I HATE anesthesia.

[LeftishBrit]

8. All the best for the op, and do get well soon!

[Dystopian]

9. Sending good thoughts your way....

You'll get good meds, the pain will ease...
I know it will be difficult...feeling helpless...
But that will pass....try to keep your mind occupied with other things if you can....

Best wishes with your surgery and recovery ...
Please keep us updated...
Will be keeping you in my thoughts .....



peace~

[UTUSN]

10. Above all, follow ALL post-op instructions to the letter.

Well, before that you need to trust your practitioners, within the limits of your own gut common sense.

I've only had 3 or 4 "minor" surgeries, the last one four months ago and it had been years. So when they told me to keep the foot "elevated" and stay off it I thought "up on a chair" was in bed with hopping to fetch this or that. In the 2 days' follow up, the doctor hit the ceiling and said that "elevated" means "ABOVE THE F-ING SHOULDER" and that fetching is for dogs. He said that swelling is what this was to avert and would be a BFD.

Get the definitions. Time for all the books and movies you've always put off. You'll be fine with DU vibes.

[Old Troop]

11. I'm sure it will all come out fine. This is actually a pretty mundane

surgery for ortho docs. Use the time to read a new book. I wish you the best.

[madamesilverspurs]

12. Owies!

I fell and broke my wrist in four places. They used something that resembled a giant finishing nail to "pin" the bones together while the arm mended. Quite the experience for a 7-year-old. Back in 1955 they used ether (very ucky!), and the hospital still had wards. I woke up with a heavy plaster cast from my fingertips to my shoulder, and I was in a room that housed twelve kids, and me and two others were in beds -- the rest of the kids were in iron lungs. Major freakout when I saw that, and to make matters worse I'd slept through a visit from Jay Silverheels (Tonto), he left an autographed picture on my bed.

Half a century and several surgeries later I can assure you that procedures have vastly improved! Others have suggested that you request the anti-nausea medication, I second that recommendation. Hang in there, do what they tell you, keep us posted -- you know we'll be thinking of you!


-

[CC]

13. Been there done that still trying to walk

without a limp. Yours must not be too bad if they are talking only 6 weeks though bet it feels pretty bad to you. If your foot is still swollen get it above you heart as often as possible as long as possible. The swelling can be as bad as the break for causing damage. May you heal well, quickly and with little pain. I wouldn't wish this type of fracture on my worst enemy and really feel for you.

If you want to read other peoples experiences with Lisfranc Fractures there are a bunch here. Just keep in mind that those that usually post on a board like this are worst case scenarios.

http://index.healthboards.com/footdisorders/lisfranc-fracture-recovery-time/1/
It was a sanity saver for me as I healed with a severe Lisfranc Fracture and 2nd metatarsal break (2 pins and 1 screw, major surgery to repair bones, tendons, nerves and circulatory system)in the left foot and a broken heel in the right. I never knew anything could and would stay swollen for over 6 months but my left foot did. I was lucky, I listened and did what the doc told me to from the get go so got to stay in a boots (boots really) and skip a cast. A boot is so much better than a cast.

[applegrove]

14. My nephew broke his ankle and they put screws in for years. He was fine.

You will be too.