Has Anyone Had Ankle Surgery?

[fureverywhere]

Went to the podiatrist the other day about my limp. I waited a year to go back...not a great idea of course. Still young enough to have thought losing weight and more exercise would magically fix something that's been brewing for ten years. Yes in retrospect very bad. Now I was reading about treatment options. First he's doing an MRI to find out exactly what's going on.

Glad hubby was in the room so he could recap what the doctor said. Something about putting cartilage in a space that will cushion whatever hurts right now. Then something about fusing X and Y which didn't sound entertaining in the least. I'm normally super active to the point of being hyperactive. This whole thing is freaking me out a bit. Has anyone else gone through this already? He said it could be RA or a badly healed fracture from the past, not sure though.

 

[grannyjo]

I've only ever gone through ankle/leg surgery since I broke my leg and ankle about 18 months ago.

The surgery went fine, had plates, screws and whatever else they inserted at the time. Spent 12 weeks in a wheelchair.

Ten months after that, I went through another operation to remove the plates, pins and screws, because they had stopped me from moving my ankle in a normal manner.

That was a better operation - only spent a week on crutches.

Operations on the very bony part of your leg/ankle can result in having a bit more chance of developing arthritis later in life.

I still don't have full movement, and I suffered during winter - the aches and pains there were quite noticeable.

I'm not real sure that they can actually replace cartilage.

 

[fureverywhere]

At the moment the doctor has to fight with insurance company over a diagnosing MRI. So back to limping along for now.

 

[imp]

My wife's mother has in the past 3 years undergone 3 hip replacement surgeries. Ya outta see her walk with them 3 legs! imp

 

[chic]

I'd wait for the MRI results before panicking. It may not be as bad as you fear. The MRI will tell you for sure. See an ankle specialist. There are doctors who specialize only in ankles and I'm sure they'd know what's wrong and not do anything uneccessary. A friend of mine who is an OR nurse had a serious ankle injury years ago which required plates, but she's absolutely fine now and still works in the O.R. where she has to stand for hours on end during operations. I hope you have similar good results.

Best luck, Fur. Keep us posted.