I had another doctor visit yesterday for my broken leg (I broke my left tibia and fibula into several pieces each on Sep 7). Xrays show the the bones are healing nicely, and the skin where the bone almost poked through is also healing, so no skin grafts are needed. But, the doctor also said that eventually the plate will need to come back out, so I have that to look forward to. While between casts, he had me stand up and put weight on it while leaning forward. Man, that floor felt strange on my skin! But it sure felt good to bend my foot, and he said it looked good. He released me to drive (automatic only, so I can't drive my car yet, but at least I can get around in my wife's van if I need to), and I can return to work Monday. The people I work with (who had to pick up all my work) are even more excited about that than I am.
But apparently I have forgotten how to walk. Yesterday the doctor told me I could put 100% weight on the broken leg, or as much as pain will allow. I just needed to wait until evening for the new cast to fully cure. So of course I was expecting to be walking around without crutches or a walker today, at least for a little bit, but I was mistaken. I don't know if it is mental (conditioned to not put weight on the cast, or afraid of falling/putting too much on it and causing more damage) or if there is some physical component (maybe because my calf is wasted away so I can't balance on that leg, or nerves not used to doing anything besides sit there for the last couple of months), but I just absolutely cannot put all my weight on it, even for a second to take a single step. I was using the walker today to practice and to have something to grab if needed, but I didn't need to grab it because I could not make myself completely let go while stepping with my left leg. It wasn't painful; I just cannot let go of the assist, whether the walker or crutches. I tried standing on the bathroom scale, and I am only able to put about half my weight on it before I push up either with my right leg or with my arms, even though it does not hurt much. He did say I will
not need physical therapy, but I will need to exercise, so apparently I also need a lot more practice.
Oh well; I will get there. Anyone else have a similar experience? How long before you could take a step without help?
Here are some Xrays from yesterday. Sorry about the quality; it is from a Facebook post via Instagram, from an iPhone 5. The blue arrow points to a fracture that I did not know about until the dr pointed it out. I had thought the tibia had just the single obvious break closer to my foot, but there was actually a pretty good sized chunk of bone broken off. You can clearly see where the fibula shattered and split. I still get queasy when I think about hearing that snap and seeing the sole of my foot pointing straight to the left while I was still standing up.
