Broken Ankle no new cast for 5 weeks????
(3 discussions)
My husband had a broken ankle Feb 11, had surgury Feb 12 and the put him in a half cast 3: open in front from top to bottom, he does not have a follow up appointment for 5 weeks & no cast change either for 5 weeks is this proper procedure???
3 comments
Rocky
The same thing happened to me except the doc told me to come and see him in two weeks,after going to see him (he didn’t so much as look at my ankle)he told me to come back in 3 weeks.At this time he sent me to the hospital to remove the cast and get x-rays done everything looked and I am now learning to walk all over again. This part isn’t much fun but after1 week I can stand on my ankle but can’t take a step yet but it’s getting better Good luck on your recovery.
linda scalf
i broke my ankle—foot—heel and bones going up the back of my leg march 1—had to wait for swelling to go down 2 weeks—was in one cast until may 19—-then a cam walker–started physical therapy june 2——had severe pain after therapy last week—went to emer. room—-all bones broken again—-my sports ortho. doct doesnt seemed to concerned—-in a cast again—-want to know—when and how does this end—do I live like this—-no surgery been mentioned
Kalifornia Dude
This reply is directed at the initial question and a few other related posts:
A half cast for that length seems to be the norm from my experience (broken and dislocated ankle- surgical hardware implanted)- open in front and heel was used in my case to allow for relief in swelling- half cast was changed twice after swelling decreased each time; maybe your swelling was persistant? A half cast such as the one described was probably sufficient to immobilize the ankle. If the half cast still “fits” and hasn’t gotten wet or damaged, it should be fine for that length of time, despite the odor. I didn’t have a problem with my bones breaking/fracturing again, so I’m assuming that you (the other reply) must have been hard on your ankle; I have a hard time believing that your therapist would have conducted any type of exercise that would refracture your bones, unless you had some major decalcification. Did your doctor tell you that the point of a cast, half-cast, or cam walker is to IMMOBILIZE the ankle? – you’re supposed to keep it elevated whenever possible, and the cam walker is only designed to give you additional support while you are on your crutches! If you didn’t need crutches, chances are you’d be in a different brace (from my observations). Also keep in mind that the more you are off your ankle, the weaker your bones get, so that may have been an issue. A proper diet with calcium supplements helped me resolve my decalcification issues.Bottom line- don’t wait for your doctor to get back to you- be persistant, bug the heck out of him, and get a second opinion ALWAYS. If your doctor tells you to do something for your own good, don’t stupidly ignore his advice. There was another post here where a patient removed her own cast because she “didn’t have any problems.” To her great astonishment, problems appeared out of the blue. I’d be willing to bet that most problems occur because patients are too wimpish to ask a lot of questions, or they think they know better than the doc.