Calcaneus Surgery ORIF Success Stories?

Yeah Steve I'm starting reading from page 1 nothing to do u right,only watching tv ,I'll try some how this week to go some attorney office near me hope to get some good news about it,bills are porring in daily now, ,btw how you doing now ? I wonder is any one like 100 back from this, Man I gotta get some weights for my arms so I can burn some steam ,im going crazy now,....I try today to move my toes and I got them all to respond like allitle,still happy about it...

God bless you all,

Still reading only on page 4,yeah I know..... I'll get to the end ,I have months to do it,,,,question ,do all off you went for like big shots doctor or not? If u know what I mean.
I think my doc is decent...I hope.

God bless you all,

Small victories Pete and better each day.

Initially after I shattered my heal Saturday early afternoon; my wife and son took me to a Baylor ER in McKinney, Texas.  My foot was purple and the size of a watermelon so they had to cut the blue jeans off me to x-ray.  They already were sure it was broke but how bad no idea of course.  I played baseball at Univ of North Texas and the person I got in ER was also a physical therapist from the same school.  Anyway there was a surgeon who specialized in foot/ankle/heal and joint injuries and he set me up to see him the following Monday AM.  Not sure if you follow baseball but my surgeon was semi-involved as a 3rd opinion on the Derek Jeter injury.  Jeter had his own and well of course the Yankees had a slew but they still contacted a few specialists to come up to New York and look over the x-rays, notes and findings regarding Jeter's injury.  Jeter and the Yanks pretty much made a call but wanted this 3rd group to give their opinion as well.  What my Doc said was already either known by Jeter's doctor or the Yanks team of doctors.  My Doc is very humble as well.  So basically I got an ace who knew what he was doing and then some.  He mentioned that in overall breaks he would give Jeter's basically a 7 and mine an 8.  Then joking he said my career as professional ball player is over; even tough I never had one of course.  Later Mathew who is doc's right hand man said it was very hard for him to make a joke like that; he normally grins and makes a positive statement type thing when leaving the room.  Once he confirmed with the initial x-ray(s) he told us he will not do surgery until the swelling goes down which would be about a week-10 days and placed it in a cast.  Showed and told us how to tell and that was simply by placing your finger along the inside of my foot/toe area and as swelling goes down the finger will go in as well.  Said my toes would get smaller then suggested we take plenty of pictures now then after a few days etc................

Prescribed some strong pain meds and said to ice it up and recommended we get an ice wrap boot.  This is simply a plastic wrap that goes around your foot or cast,  It has a hose that connects to a tube that you fill with ice and about 33% water.  Plug it in and it pumps the cold water thru the wrap over your foot and even the cast go very cold.  So we iced it that way as much as possible.  Sometimes like during the day after surgery when icing we would simply get a large ice pack wrap my foot (cast) in that and use the wrap boot to hold it in place.

When I had the hardware moved a few weeks ago we had everything except the cord so we iced just using an ice pack and the boot wrap since getting a new electrical cord for it would take 10-15 days and by then I really wouldn't need it by then so no reason to spend the money on it.  I still ice it in the morning waiting to log in to work and then again at night just because.

So yes myself and family are lucky we got an ace on mine who even when cleaning the bone spurs sanded so to say one where I got spiked playing college ball in a game against TCU.  He said he saw it on the initial surgery but the break and getting that done was a bigger fish to fry.  It didn't matter if it was there or not so he simply did it since he was in there cleaning things up.

Excellent doctor and person and have already recommended Dominque to a few people and he also treated my daughter when she hyper-extended he elbow cheerleading.  Not his specialty but since there was no fracture or anything he could handle the need to rest and yep.....ice it down.

 

Pete, I don't live in the US, but I do have a surgeon who is a foot and ankle specialist as recommended by some of my mates in the medical field. He is very good at what he does, but really bad bedside manner. He didn't give me any info on rehab, which in a way I understand, but I also believe he has seen so many of these injuries, that he had a lot of info to impart.
Yeah, try to get your top half working at gym or with weights. It makes a big difference.

This is a really good read to get you motivated. This guy took a 60 footer and the shattered calcaneus is only one of the 10 or so injuries that he suffered. He climbed 14b a year or two later (he's climbed 14d before his fall) and I came across pictures of him bouldering as well. https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/News/2017-1-25/Mike-Fuselier--a-major-turning-point

Another day in Paradise,,,  not doing anything,just watching TV,....
One week and 2 days after surgery...hope everyone else is doing good in recovery.

God bless you all,

So I just got back from the ol orthopedic surgeon. I'm 7 months post-OP.. It would be a lie if I said things were great with my current situation but I've been steadily progressing.

As of today my fracture is healed! When i probed about hardware removal he was all about it. He also said there's a good chance some of my daily symptoms are directly from hardware but that none had moved since surgery. I have one pin that shoots directly vertically up from the bottom of my heel.

I don't know what to think right now, if we're being honest, but just like all the other surgeries, its time to buckle down. Wish me luck..

-J
(Edit- this is an old xray that isn't indicative of the bone growth as of today. It's body-shuddering to think about how many little pieces my calcaneus was actually in.)

JSH, thanks for your advice! That's sort of what I was thinking. I'm still 2-4 weeks away from needing climbing shoes, so I'm starting to shop a little early. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of closet space and got rid of all of my comfy (read blown out) climbing shoes a while back. I'll most likely end up buying a cheap beginner pair that is bigger and use that. It should edge better than my CAM boot (-;

Hi Jeff ,man hope u get better soon,one question why u doc put the long screw that way in first place ,maybe he mest up the using too long siize of it...... doctors...
Back to watch TV.....

God love you all,

pete petem75 wrote: Hi Jeff ,man hope u get better soon,one question why u doc put the long screw that way in first place ,maybe he mest up the using too long siize of it...... doctors...
Back to watch TV.....

God love you all,

I think that pin was the only way to securely hold this broken portion of calcaneus back to itself.

You seem skeptical about the doctors,  how come buddy?

Happy Friday all, nothing new just staying home and watching TV... waiting for some nba games to start and maybe watching some live PD later on a&e .My leg so far still big but very little pain at night on on it,still keeping it elevated,,,, that's all,have great weekend all.

God bless you all,

Glad all is going well Pete and each day is better than the last.  I know a long road but it gets shorter my man.

Working from home on taxes I have become an ESPN guru on Stephene A and Will Cain plus baseball during the day,  See I can be in office, turn volume down and track a ball game while working.

Glad your moving along man.

Bryan

Good to hear ech day is better Pete. The swelling takes time to come down. Mine took a couple of months. Did your doc confirm no foot pressure for 3 months? 

Bryan, did you have numbness of the heel? I'm 9.5 months post op and my heel is still totally numb. I believe this is from severed nerves during the operation. Just wondering if it ever comes right.
Anybody else have this? 

Hey Steve, I feel my heel ,like it's hot,kinda like
gluying itself ,and some nerves ,pulse thru it...I hope is normal..I he said no pressure on it,next week Friday I go for my first after surgery fallow up..

Have a nice Sunday everyone.

God love you all,

If I remember correct it was a tingle feeling when initial surgery done and also light tingle when hardware removed.  Doc said it was simply the nerves getting back to normal and also still healing.

Keep in mind when you do begin walking and using it your foot/thigh are muscles may be a bit sore....................remember they haven't been getting the normal work out.  PT (Physical Therapy) helped the initial time in 2013 big surgery.  Still a tad sore from hardware removal due to pressure walking but all is normal.

Just mention it just in case....Doc's job and an X-ray will easily tell if more than that if needed. 

Thanks guys. Pete, I still today have a warm foot. It used to get warmer and the surgeon told me it's part of the healing process and very normal. I also had tingling with the odd nerve sensation, which felt like a mild electric shock. Don't forget to wiggle your toes often to avoid atrophy.
Bryan, do you still have your PT exercise program and if so would you mind sharing it with me? I have 2 sets of exercise programmes from my Biokineticist and want to compare them with other programs. I'm happy to share my programmes with other guys

Hi Steve, hope u getting better and you're progressing, now , I'm off  pain meds no more hydrocodone.,only one aspirin a day and vitamin D and calcium,,now u suggested to wiggle my toes on leg but how? with my hand  or trying using the leg nerves? Since most of it is in cast..im trying to massage ,give little touch with my hand to the leg as much I can  but most of it is in cast....next Friday I'll go doc after surgery fallow up and will ask allot questions about this ,after all I got charged an arm and a leg for this surgery,,literally....

God bless you all,

Pete, if your cast doesn't allow you to wiggle your toes on your own, then use your fingers and work the toes back and forth on a regular basis. It's important to avoid atrophy. You can ask your doc about this on Friday, but suggest you start doing this. 

Steve sleo@global.co.za wrote: Bryan, did you have numbness of the heel? I'm 9.5 months post op and my heel is still totally numb. I believe this is from severed nerves during the operation. Just wondering if it ever comes right.
Anybody else have this? 

That's unfortunate.  Mine isn't this way,  or never really was. I also read somewhere about someone saying their heel pad was thin after breaking it. That kind of had me curious too because mine isn't that way either.