Had it 4 days ago and holy hell, did I underestimate recovery. I'm starting to think maybe I should have done a little research before I said go ahead and do it.  

If you've ever had it, would love to hear how long recovery took...and if you have any oxycodone left.

Anyone? Bueller?

Well, if you are considering it, get ready to spend a lot of time on your back.  

Sounds very similar to my path, at least for the next several months. I have a rigid cast from my toes to my knee, which is slowly driving me crazy. That's at least for 2 weeks before I go in for a re-eval.  Think I'll be on crutches for a while before I move to a walking boot, although they say full recovery can take up to 12 months.  I'm so miserable right now. There are so many things I'd rather be doing besides laying here.

But I'll give you the nod, brother, fusion sounds way worse.
How's mobility now?

Yep all cut and reattached on my left ankle , many years ago. Took a long time to get back to normal”ish” . My left ankle has literally almost no roll to the left now . It had gotten to the point prior to surgery if I stepped on something uneven I’d turn my ankle especially when running if I wasn’t paying close attention. Much better now.

My sister did.  Severe ligament damage.  She worked her ass off in rehab and is pretty much back to around 90% mobility.  She's glad she got the surgery.

Sucks OP, I hope your recovery goes smoothly. But was there really another choice? From my understanding severely damaged ligaments don’t really heal themselves

No, but I suffered the exciser on my left thumb and had to have it reattached and put into a cast where I couldn't move my thumb.
normally this wasn't a problem but every now and then I would twitch in my sleep and that would wake me up.

Now not toot my own horn, but I'm pretty f****** tough son of a b**** hardcore military veteran yada yada

But yeah that was some real pain right up there with dental.

Oh and don't get me started about dental pain

Good to hear. Thanks. Hoping to get that point.  

Destroyed my ankle on a call close to 15 years ago, trying to extricate some idiot from a stolen minivan he jumped into a ravine on a rainy night while running from the cops...and I didn't do much about it.  In fact, I finished my shift that night, because you never wanted to leave a call in the back of an ambulance. Woke up the next day and my ankle was massive.  Went to the hospital then, but my ankle was never the same.  It was always easy to turn over after that...but I lived with it, until late last year. I turned it over twice severely in 2020. Finally got an MRI in November and they told me things were torn, not stretched...so I was pretty much out of options.

I can't imagine not having a weak left ankle. When I hike in the woods with friends now, they are taking in the scenes while I'm staring at the ground, paranoid about where I'm placing my foot. I really hope this solves that problem.  But holy hell, I massively underestimated the recovery. I research everything to death but not this for some reason. I found a great ankle doctor who said this would be outpatient surgery that would just take a couple hours and I thought, great, a couple hours and a Band-Aid. Let's do this!

I am not a smart man.

Pretty much exactly that, no other choice.

Doctor told me it looked ugly inside, but he expected it based on the MRI...so that made me feel better about doing it, but damn, I cannot stand laying on my back doing nothing, especially when there's so much to do.  My wife just took the dog out for a walk without me.


On the positive side, I finally studied for and passed the ham radio technician exam.  Much easier than expected. Toughest part was prepping for doing it online, with double zoom sessions.  If you're thinking about doing it, just jump in. Hamexam.org lists all of the questions and answers.  The exam asks 35 questions out of a pool of 400, and you only need to get 26 right.

I’ll need it eventually.  One of the best in my state said I’ll have to get it at some point due to so many bad rolls.  He’s anti cut but one of th best at it.  Even he said I wouldn’t be 100% after and to put it off as long as I could. He said it’s rough but when you need it you need it and it’s an improvement

Have had several major foot surgeries over the past few years.

1.  Put some pillows under your knee so that your foot is elevated above your heart.   Place an ice pack behind your knee.  (you have a big cast on right).  This will cool the blood heading down to your foot.  If you can control the swelling, it will be a much faster recovery.  20min on 20min off every other hour is what I did.  When you start throbbing, it's time to ice.  I noticed that if I got a jump start on it in the morning, I would have a much better day.

2.  Put 110% effort into your physical therapy.  It sucks, just do it.  Find a good therapist, one that specializes in feet.

3.  You have a great opportunity to do some things that you been putting off for a while.  Now is a great time to scan those old family pictures, learn a new operating system on your computer, etc.  You're going to be down for a few weeks, might as well make the best of it.


Good luck op.   Any questions, feel free to send me a PM.

have the big horseshoe scar from my operation, Ladder accident- construction trades all tendon and ligament damage

was out for 9 months most of it in a cast, they only gave me 4 physical therapy visits while i finally was in a removable boot/brace and cut me loose on my disability.
told me i would have to wear an ankle brace the rest of my days or wraps for support if i did any physical activity.

had to bust my butt on my own to get it to bend the way it was supposed to bend and break up that scar tissue.

Went back to work iced it at lunch break because she would be swollen and kept pushing. Been 8 years since and i have no limitations. some arthritis sure...
but i idid fight that mobility problem with prejudice to go the way i wanted it to go. running, squats, anything is no issue now. very minor weakness in it compared to my other.

keep pushing dont get discouraged

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.  

I've been elevating since the doctor told me to keep my "toes above my nose" as much as possible for the first two weeks, but the ice pack sounds like a great idea. As soon as the wife gets back I'm on it.  

I'm normally horrible at following up on physical therapy recommendations, but I'm going to do everything they say this time. This is way too much of a pain in the ass to not maximize the result.

That last suggestion is an interesting one. I have been trying to think of things I can do, which is why I took the ham radio exam. We've got a ton of old tapes of my daughter that my wife has wanted me to rip to the computer for years. If I get it done, she can thank you.  

Yep, I had surgery yesterday to fix the one I destroyed in my elbow.

Interesting. What motivated you for the fix? Just pain or did you have mobility issues?

You look younger online.  

I tore the tendon in there too so there was constant pain. I had been putting it off for almost a year now.

Ah, well, good you got on it.  Best of luck to you...from another procrastinator.  .

I messed mine up while in the Marines doing cross country runs in formation. At the time what we called them  “Indian” runs , which I’m sure that terminology no longer exists. Basically you take a platoon or company in single file formation and the last man sprints to the front while the unit continues to run . It’s great exercise, until you combine it off road in the desert . Running full sprint to the front stepped into a deep hole . Next day couldn’t walk and my boot wouldn’t even fit with laces undone . They put a cast on it for several months and called it good. I continued to have problems with my ankle after the cast , but the Gulf War started and I wasn’t gonna stay behind!
My ankle had gotten worse while deployed , but I was ready to get out when we returned home. I continued to try and run when I got out with ankle braces etc, but it got worse and worse and I finally decided to get it fixed . I’m not 100% with my ankle repair, but I’d say I’m a solid 85% .

Yes, right ankle 2005.  I was in my mid-late 40's and very active.  Rehab took about 6 weeks.  Played competitive softball 6 months after ankle surgery for another 2 years.  After about 8 years, it began to get worse every year...Osteoarthritis mainly.  I get the max Cortisone shots allowed, 16 years later I am a candidate for total ankle/foot fusion surgery.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat because it needed done,.

Sadly, no more Oxy left!  Good luck!

Yes I have and It sucks 1 month pain 2 month recovery

Motorcycle accident back in 1990 compound fracture and tearing and stretching of tendons. Then in 2005 rolled the ankle moving sideways stepping on uneven ground. Things healed but not right so 2 surgeries later. I never have a day without pain since 1990. I am on my feet all day mostly on concrete. Not sure if the arthritis or the feeling of burning tendons is worse. I think martial arts has helped keep if flexible.

It was strange after the MC accident I could barely move my ankle sideways without pain. Maybe 96 I fell through a 14 ft roof to the concrete below, that strangely seemed to correct that issue. I think total I have had 5 surgeries on that ankle in my lifetime.

Hope yours gets better quickly, don't be afraid to do the stretching recommended for therapy.

Yes. Aside from being in the cast it wasnt that bad. Though the muscles under the cast wasting away was painful. No painkillers, didn't want anything do with then. Was back to clinic after the weekend. Got ripped on crutches, but lost a ton of muscle on that leg.  Go with crutches and not the rolling sled.

Physical therapy...lol. we went camping the day after I got my cast off at a hot springs. Think uneven loose dirt, I walked into my follow up with the doc and while he was mad at me for the camping trip, but after checking me told me dont worry about pt.

Also was the best man at a wedding a week after the camping trip.

Echoing what was said, elevate that leg whenever you can. Without muscles or movement you will get very puffy from fluid.

Finally despite being a bad idea you can drive in a boot or cast...

Broke every bone in my left ankle, left fibula and tore the Achilles tendon. Plates and screws are fun. Total recovery to walking mostly without a cane was 10mo.

I shattered my heel once. Does that count?
BTW it hurt something awful.