I thought I’d start a new page for my current pilon fracture recovery situation.

It will be 1.5 years (in Sept) and I am walking and biking… here are the details.

• I have sharp ankle pain for the first 10 steps, then it seems to loosen up somehow and mostly go away. I have very little range of motion. When I get to the end of the range it is sharp pain.
• I can only walk in my brace, barefoot is not comfortable and I limp heavily!
• I can hike- carefully and cautiously. I can climb up a steep hill and walk down steep hills just fine (with an adapted method) but walking on river rocks and wobbly surfaces is not secure. Very insecure.
• I can bike. So far I have ridden weekly for 2-5 hours at a time!  Not too  shabby!  If I couldn’t ride my bicycles I’d be very sad.
• I can not jump..i can not even think of jumping, not even a tiny bit.
• I can not run or jog, even a few steps… I can do nothing fast… If a car were about to hit me I’d just have to hop on my good leg to get out of the way.
• My ankle does not ache…I am so happy that there is no dull prolonged ache..I’m telling you that is my biggest fear at this point.

  

  I wear sturdy hiking boots every day

  

  This is my boot over my brace

  

  This Brace does not help a whole lot for the bicycle, its wonderful to walk in. I can’t walk without it. I had to make something like this but much stiffer to ride bikes in.

  

  Artsy photo of footwear for a gimp

  
  

  

  I wear a heel lift to get my ankle in a happier position. I seem to feel best with toes a little below heels

  

  Here is the bad ankle front he front. It used to look purple and nasty

  

  This is the inside of the ankle where the 2nd 5″ incision was made. This healed nicely.

  

  This is where we started. All the hardware is still in there

  
  

  

  

  I can not stand flat footed with my feet together. If i put my feet together i have to left heel an inch.

  
  
  I really hope everyone experiments with their ankle to see if there are ways to cope with the limitations. I discovered the heel lift/boots/brace combo is amazing. I did not discover this combo for a long time. My PT was unsure it would make a difference, as was my specialist.

When I get tired of this, I’ll opt to have it fused. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ImH3QlJO8w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsXPtptmPNM

Or! We just learned about a nee and amazing brace!  Check this out!  http://www.hangerclinic.com/bracing-support/adult-le/Pages/Limb-Salvage-ExoSym.aspx