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2nd surgery and now screws 60 days post-op are bothering me! I was wondering how long the re-cope time is for this then?
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Hi pabeach,
July 21, 2010 - 4:09pmYes, I've had the screws removed after my fusion. Like you they started to push out and you could see and feel them through the skin. I did however have to wait a year before the doctor agreed to remove them all. The recovery time was much quicker than the first time around and feel so much better w/out all the screws inside. I know there is a risk associated w/the removal of the screws but with all the pain that I was having I'm glad I got them removed.
Best of luck with your recovery! Keep us posted on how you are doing. Ang
This Comment
Hi! I am just now trying to walk again after ankle fusion surgery at the end of April 2010. I lost my job in the process and am still not driving. I have lots of pain and it seems every physical therapy session puts me out for a couple of days. The PTs don't understand my injury and keep trying to bend my ankle when it is only my toes that move now, because it was a full ankle fusion. I am frustrated with PT because they keep telling me they don't know what to do with me. I live in a very small town, and since I'm not driving I can't travel to have PT in a big city. I also feel like a screw or something is pushing down through my heel and it is very painful. I also have lots of pain in my leg, and I'm not sure why. The doc had to remove part of the bone on my right side of my leg to fill in with bone form a bone bank. I had a bone graft in the site of the severe arthritis. I am scared for the future and have already gained so much weight because of immobility for the past ten years. I am on COBRA and short term disability right now, but it is really hard to get by.
September 15, 2010 - 3:35pmThis Comment
Anon - It must be frustrating dealing with all those issues! If I understand you correctly you're saying that your physical therapists don't understand your needs and are not treating your appropriately. That's not acceptable, no matter what size community you live in. There are all kinds of resources that physical therapists can go to for specific information about different types of cases. To not seek the right protocol is malpractice.
Here are some options to consider:
1) Ask to meet with the director of physical therapy for the practice you are visiting to discuss and resolve your problems.
2) Contact your insurance company and ask for a case manager to assist you in getting the care you need.
3) Ask your doctor if he can assist you and provide specific orders for your care.
4) Contact the American Physical Therapy Association and ask them for assistance. http://www.apta.org/
5) Change to another PT practice.
You've been through a lot with your ankle fusion, and now it's time to heal. If you are not getting the support you need to heal then you are at risk for further injury, a lengthened recovery period and other problems. As discouraged as you feel right now you need to muster up the strength and courage to stand up (so to speak) for yourself right now, so you will be able to literally stand up for yourself down the road.
Please stay in touch, and let us know what you decide to do. We wish you the very best!
September 15, 2010 - 5:40pmPat
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Thank you Pat. I have joined this community since my anonymous comment earlier today. I know that the best thing for me to do is take a stand and try to find another PT practice that will help me. My doctor that is 30 min. away in the big city actually has a team of PTs who work in his office, and I am going to switch. My boyfriend has promised to drive me there once a week, then I will do the pool part of it on my own since I know the exercises now. After a decade of pain, I can surely keep enduring through this part. It feels so weird not to be able to move my ankle at all, and I'm scared to start driving.
September 15, 2010 - 5:59pmThis Comment
Yahoo! I'm so glad to hear you say that. You will be so much better off seeing the PTs who work with your doctor, and the pool work is also going to help a lot.
September 15, 2010 - 6:02pmI'm glad you joined the site, we have a lot of good information on a wide range of topics so please take advantage of everything that could help, and keep in touch too.
Best,
Pat
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Hi pabeach - It's nice to have you back posting on the site again, but I'm so sorry to hear about what you've been going through. Your Fourth of July was obviously no picnic! (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.) I'm glad you have the screws out and are on the mend, and I sure hope that you start feeling better soon. I love your sense of humor, and I bet it helped along the way. Take care, and keep in touch. Pat
July 13, 2010 - 6:33pmThis Comment
The last time I posted on Empower her was in Dec.'09. I thought I was getting around OK; went back to full time work standing all day on this foot in April. The "screw" was still pushing in the back side of the foot but I was tolerating it. As the months go on the swelling isn't quite as bad-Then on July 2nd when I woke up and looked at my foot again I saw (and felt) a bump at the" back heel." You guessed it! another screw pushing & burning. So I padded it the best I could and drug my butt to work! July 3rd came home from work to see the screw pushed through my skin support sock and had my other sock bloody! Well what do you do its the holiday! So I stuck it out until my appointment on the 6th; Dr. Barter came in long enough to say Surgery tomorrow we have to get that screw out. NO DUGH! So on the 7th he finally removed both screws the one that penatrated and the other one that was still burning & pushing. I luckily am on vacation this week and go back on the 17th. I hope this will help anyone that has gone through a Triple Arthodesis and wants to know what you might encounter up the road. Still am swollen 9 months & 2 surgerys later. I will post again if and when I might start feeling somewhat normal again. Good luck to ALL.
July 13, 2010 - 5:51amThis Comment