Hi my name is Sam. I got into a car accident in Sept of 2010 and broke both sides of my pelvis, my right femur, and my right ankle. The talus bone was so badly fractured that when I recovered, I was left with pretty bad arthritis. My doc compared it to that of an 80 year old's arthritic ankle... and I was only 19 when it happened. It caused me so much pain that even when I was fully healed, I walked everywhere with a cane. I remembered a time when I went back to school, three students were looking at me from inside the building I was heading into, and as soon as I walked in, they became quiet. When I walked past them, they started giggling. I cried that whole day. It made me feel so self conscious. My doc once suggested to me that since I was still so young, that I should consider getting an ankle fusion. So I thought long about it and in 2012, I made the decision to have the surgery. It has been over two years and I don't know, I'm kind of torn. Though I'm able to walk without a cane now, I still walk with a limp and with pain. I developed new pain in my foot. It just basically shifted. When I looked at my xray, I noticed that he didn't fuse it totally at a 90 degree angle. I don't know if that makes a difference or not but I'm beginning to think it does. I can't stand up straight with my two feet side by side. When I walk, my right foot turns out. I read a comment on here where an anonymous lady said she had thoughts that an amputation would have been better, and some days, I feel like her. I'm 23 and I live with so much pain still, and on a daily basis. Sometimes I think that if I knew it was going to be like this after my ankle fusion, then I wouldn't have gotten it. But, I'm not a person to sulk and mope about things that haven't turned out good. I do try my best to work with what I have to live with, SO when it comes to walking, I have found a little bit of help from choosing and finding the right shoes. Maybe this will help you like it did me, and hopefully your ankle fusion experience isn't as bad as mine, but I found some Sketchers Shape Ups shoes on amazon that I purchased to try and they help me out, not tremendously, but pretty well! I know they're for toning the legs and not really designed for orthopedic purposes but they do work because of the rocker-like bottom, and hey, a plus for toning your legs too. Well since I had my surgery, I haven't been able to walk around a store for more than a few minutes without stopping to rest. Honestly, I resort to the electric carts all the time because I already know it's so hard to walk around, but since I got those shoes, I have been doing good with not even having to use one! Actually, last week I went shopping with my sister and spent 5 hours out, and okay, I did use a cart at one store but only because I haven't been on my feet for that long in 5 years and it was getting pretty sore. I felt pretty good though that night, and kind of proud of myself. Sigh, I do have to admit I have my share of days where I think to myself, I'm only 23 and might have to live this way for the rest of my life. On the bright side, I'm a bit more optimistic than I have been for a long time. I've been looking forward to going back to school and finally getting a career because I'm not so afraid that I won't be able to get around anymore. I know every experience is different but I'm glad I'm not alone. Good luck!
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Hi my name is Sam. I got into a car accident in Sept of 2010 and broke both sides of my pelvis, my right femur, and my right ankle. The talus bone was so badly fractured that when I recovered, I was left with pretty bad arthritis. My doc compared it to that of an 80 year old's arthritic ankle... and I was only 19 when it happened. It caused me so much pain that even when I was fully healed, I walked everywhere with a cane. I remembered a time when I went back to school, three students were looking at me from inside the building I was heading into, and as soon as I walked in, they became quiet. When I walked past them, they started giggling. I cried that whole day. It made me feel so self conscious. My doc once suggested to me that since I was still so young, that I should consider getting an ankle fusion. So I thought long about it and in 2012, I made the decision to have the surgery. It has been over two years and I don't know, I'm kind of torn. Though I'm able to walk without a cane now, I still walk with a limp and with pain. I developed new pain in my foot. It just basically shifted. When I looked at my xray, I noticed that he didn't fuse it totally at a 90 degree angle. I don't know if that makes a difference or not but I'm beginning to think it does. I can't stand up straight with my two feet side by side. When I walk, my right foot turns out. I read a comment on here where an anonymous lady said she had thoughts that an amputation would have been better, and some days, I feel like her. I'm 23 and I live with so much pain still, and on a daily basis. Sometimes I think that if I knew it was going to be like this after my ankle fusion, then I wouldn't have gotten it. But, I'm not a person to sulk and mope about things that haven't turned out good. I do try my best to work with what I have to live with, SO when it comes to walking, I have found a little bit of help from choosing and finding the right shoes. Maybe this will help you like it did me, and hopefully your ankle fusion experience isn't as bad as mine, but I found some Sketchers Shape Ups shoes on amazon that I purchased to try and they help me out, not tremendously, but pretty well! I know they're for toning the legs and not really designed for orthopedic purposes but they do work because of the rocker-like bottom, and hey, a plus for toning your legs too. Well since I had my surgery, I haven't been able to walk around a store for more than a few minutes without stopping to rest. Honestly, I resort to the electric carts all the time because I already know it's so hard to walk around, but since I got those shoes, I have been doing good with not even having to use one! Actually, last week I went shopping with my sister and spent 5 hours out, and okay, I did use a cart at one store but only because I haven't been on my feet for that long in 5 years and it was getting pretty sore. I felt pretty good though that night, and kind of proud of myself. Sigh, I do have to admit I have my share of days where I think to myself, I'm only 23 and might have to live this way for the rest of my life. On the bright side, I'm a bit more optimistic than I have been for a long time. I've been looking forward to going back to school and finally getting a career because I'm not so afraid that I won't be able to get around anymore. I know every experience is different but I'm glad I'm not alone. Good luck!
May 13, 2015 - 11:33amThis Comment
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