52 days ago on Mon 19 Feb 2024 I broke my ankle. I found it helpful to read other people’s accounts so here’s mine. Of course, I’m not a medical professional so this isn’t intended as advice, just my experience.
Day Zero
I’ve just submitted my PhD thesis! Time for a holiday to the Lakes to celebrate.
We’re up early and off we trot to tackle Haystacks. This mountain beat us last time because it was scary near the top, despite having Tom Cruise paragliding above us. (I kid you not.) It beats us today too, although we get a bit closer to the summit, which is probably only another ten metres or so beyond. Never mind. Discretion the better part of valour and all that so no harm done… yet.
We’re almost down, very much in the foothills. I’m daydreaming and my right foot slips on gravel. I’ve fallen like this before with no particularly heinous consequences but this time my left foot catches on something and my bent ankle gets the full weight of my body. (I note now that the description of the walk says, “This path, although easy, is … covered in loose gravel which requires careful foot placement.” Now they tell me.)
I cry out loudly and spend the next 20 minutes in foetal position hugging the footpath, whimpering. I’m able to wiggle my toes so tell myself at least I haven’t broken anything. (Don’t know where I got that notion from.) I eventually make it to a nearby rock where I am fed Victory-Vs by my partner who tells me I’ve gone very pale. Some kind people stop to ask if I’m OK and proceed to offer all kinds of pills from a travelling pharmacy bag (are they medics?!). I take two ibuprofen and set off downhill.
I go very slowly (obvs), backwards (because forwards hurts), all with the aid of a make-shift stick fashioned by my partner from a nearby conifer.
Halfway down, another good Samaritan comes up what’s left of the hill to offer a lift back to Buttermere in their ‘electric MG’. (To repurpose the joke about vegans, how do you know if someone has an electric car? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.) And so, after taking about 90 minutes to traverse what would ordinarily have taken ten, I make it to the car park.
That night in the holiday flat, my ankle is very swollen. I’m still labouring under the delusion that nothing’s broken and manage to have a shower. My partner, though, knows better and insists we go to the fracture clinic the next morning.
Day +1
The fracture clinic in Keswick is great. Small, welcoming, and I make a bond with a youngish guy who also has something wrong with his foot and is hopping around like me. After an X-ray I’m told (and shown) it’s broken (see pic). It’s a bit of a shock and I feel a jolt of adrenaline. Who knew?! But I’m told that everything is in the right place. So that’s good. I get a moon boot and a quick tutorial on how to use crutches. So I’m now hopping around on one foot.
We decide to go home and wave goodbye to our holiday.
Day +2
I phone Airedale hospital. Do I really need to come in since they already have my X-ray? Perhaps I can just make an appointment? No, I need to wait around in A&E to get into the ‘system’.
After 3 hours of said waiting around, I see a someone who says “You’ve got your boot and crutches and X-ray. You just need an appointment don’t you? Not sure why we’ve kept you.” Hmm.
Day +3
After a couple of precarious hops to the toilet in the night, we decide that perhaps peeing in a milk bottle might involve less jeopardy. Psychologically it takes a bit of getting used to but feels a lot safer.
Day +4
I see a consultant. He’s seen it all before. To such an extent he doesn’t even want to look at the leg itself. He’s seen the X-ray and that’s enough. He knows where I have bruises, which is neat. (On the inside of my heel, between my toes, and all up my leg.) I’ve got the “most stable” of all fractures so that’s good. No need for resetting. Keep on with the boot and crutches.
All good, although my questions are answered with some vagueness. When should I put weight on it? “You’ll know”. Can I sleep without the boot? “It’s up to you.”
One Week On
Whilst I’m sleeping OK with my boot, it’s not exactly the best. I’ve bruised my other knee on it and it’s awkward turning over. Plus it gets very hot. Bottom line is that it’s weird. But I’m nervous. My ankle still feels very fragile. Is it safe to take off at night? I find this very helpful post that basically says no, sleep with it on, dummy.
My mood is starting to take a hit. I felt OK mentally the first week, I guess because there’s been stuff to do, navigating the NHS and getting used to one-legged reality.
But it’s pretty frustrating having basically to stay in one place for most of the time. Everything is difficult. I avoid going up and down stairs because it’s a pain. When I do, it’s one bum hop at a time. I can’t bring my own cup of tea into the lounge. (Although my water bottle means I’m not completely dependent on others for hydration.) I’m not getting any exercise and watching TV all the time is boring. (Reading for fun feels beyond me.) It’s just as well I have a project to work on (non-local theories of consciousness, thanks for asking). A few friends come and visit to sympathise, for which I am profoundly grateful.
I exchange emails with a friend who also broke her ankle a while back. She tells me to walk on it sooner rather than later. That feels ridiculous as I’m still hopping around. But towards the end of the week, I find some academic papers that suggest that weight-bearing on a broken ankle helps healing. I eventually find this NICE guidance, which pretty definitively states that if I’ve not had to have an op, then I should be weight-bearing straight away. Which is not exactly what the consultant said. (Unless this is what he meant by “you’ll know”.) So I start doing exactly that, tentatively at first, of course. It’s transformative. I’m still using the crutches but it doesn’t feel like I’m about to fall over. And I feel like I’m helping the fracture heal.
Two Weeks
Not much is changing. I’m still hobbling about on the boot and I’m still mostly housebound. My foot and ankle are still swollen and bruised. I’m still nervous of anyone going near it. Catching up on The Traitors is fun though.
I start to venture outside on my boot. On the 6th March, I do 174 steps; from the 7-11th, an average of 740. Progress. Although I’m scared stiff of going out in the wet as our path is very slippy.
Three Weeks
I was due to be in London today to see a couple of friends. Oh well.
I’m walking more. Still swollen. Still bruised. Still getting into and out of the bath using a chair.
Four Weeks
I decide I’m going to walk to the pub in my boot. What would normally take ten minutes takes thirty. It feels fine-ish actually. However, when I get up at the end, it definitely hurts more. I’m very glad my partner comes to pick me up.
Five Weeks
I decide I’m going to try walking without my boot. I’ve been doing this a little recently on the way to and from having my daily bath, but only with crutches taking most of my weight. On Monday, I spend the whole day without my boot and crutches, albeit leaning on walls and work surfaces. By the evening my ankle is very stiff and painful. Decide that that’s a bad idea and resort to my boot for the rest of the week. Hope I haven’t made my injury worse and feel a bit down about the whole thing.
Six Weeks
I find a brilliant web page from East Anglia NHS physio services. Basically, it says, yes, it’s going to hurt, but from six weeks (today!) my ankle should be healed and I should be walking on it as well as exercising it. It’s very reassuring. It says it’s not surprising that my ankle might be still swollen (it is) and that I can’t reinjure it just from moving it and walking.
This is a major breakthrough, although I’m quite shaky. My calf muscles are weak and my ankle and foot are very stiff. It hurts to walk on it, basically, and more so at the end of the day. But I now have a renewed sense of confidence that I’m doing the right thing.
On Thursday, I walk down to the shop. It’s too far! It starts hurting more when I get there. Which is a bit of a problem because of course I need to get home. I need to stop a few times on the way back and worry that I’ve injured myself. But the next day, things have gone back to ‘normal’ so no harm done.
On Friday, I see the consultant again and have an X-ray. I’m told it’s healed. Hooray! He makes sure I can weight-bear and starts telling me some basic exercises to do, although I stop him because I’m kind of ahead of him with my new advice. He’s not really interested. He’s seen I’m basically OK and sends me on my way.
The same day, we have friends to stay. One of them broke their ankle in November much worse than I did so their recovery has been longer. But it’s nice to have some fellow feeling and there is much comparing of bruising and swelling.
I’m walking a bit more each day and on Sunday another breakthrough. Up till now, I hadn’t noticed much change. But today I feel a slight easing as I do my walk, which hasn’t happened before. I walk slightly further than I’d intended.
Seven Weeks
All this progress is great because I’m due to travel to the States soon involving a 10-hour flight. This blog post from someone who flew at 5 weeks is reassuring. However, whilst the author was told that taking low-dose aspirin helps prevent DVT (which is also what a GP acquaintance told me to do), according to these NICE guidelines, that’s not recommended. In any case, I don’t believe I’m now at any more at risk of DVT than anyone else.
So, how’s my ankle now? I’m walking around (albeit tentatively) which is great. Yesterday I walked the furthest since the break – over 5000 steps! (Mostly to the pub and back.) As well as a gentle swim.
On the downside, my foot has a weird reddish colour, and the ankle is still swollen and occasionally painful, especially in the evening. Immersing it in a bucket of cold water seems to help. But I’m trying not to limp and the only thing that still hurts when I’m walking around the house is going downstairs, although that seems to be gradually easing.
All in all, it’s felt like a long journey and whilst I’m still a way off normality, that prospect at least feels within reach.
Thanks for reading and, if you’ve also got a broken ankle, get well soon.
