Fused ankle - Any experience?

[councilman24 37]

After living with varying amounts of pain for the last 16 years I'm about ready to give up. Shattered the ankle end of my tibia and broke a chunk out of my fibula going into a tree while reserve was still inflating. The cartilidge in the ankle didn't survive. In 1988 Mayo clinic said no artificial ankles worth experimenting on, fuse it solid. In 2000 local ankle guy said artificial ankle only good for 10 years, your not old enough, when you want the pain to stop let me know and we'll fuse it solid.

Well the pains getting worse. I can do a lot of things and it doesn't hurt during, but later that night and the next day or two it hurts worse than when I broke it. Getting quite a collection of canes. It doesn't affect my jumping except by hurting too bad to want to go out to the DZ. Jumping's about the easiest thing I do to it. It really doesn't like rock climbing.

Anybody have a fused ankle and/or know those who do? Need to talk to some one to check just how limited I'd be. It doesn't bend a lot now but at least I have enough motion for balance. I hate to do this at 44 but it's really starting to affect a lot of days.

Thanks,

Terry

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[Push 0]

The DZO of the place I jump at has a few fused vertebrae in his neck. The man has over 6000 jumps and is currently doing Style and Accuracy. In fact, he's on the national team. I personally saw him score two dead centers in a row. My point is, I think you can still do what you want, if you really want it.

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

[councilman24 37]

Fused vertibrae are nothing like a fused ankle. I know several jumpers with fused backs, including steel rods They don't arch quite as well but that's about it. I need a reality check on mobility. I landed on my butt for 2 years until I could run again but don't want to go back to that.

Terry

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[Blahr 0]

Terry,

I have nothing to offer in the foot/ankle area, but I have had 2 surgeries on my right shoulder from a beer accident 12 years ago.

This injury has cause me a lot of pain over the years and still does. I have been fairly heavy into bodybuilding for the last 10 years or so and the lack of a stable AC joint combined with regular heavy lifting equals more or less continual pain. Sometimes debilitating pain.

It hurts when I pull due to the position I must place my right arm in. It doesnt stop me from pulling :-) It is painful for me though.

The only option I am given these days is the classic:

me "Doctor, it hurts when I do this!"
doctor "So dont do that"

"Dont do that" with regard to weight lifting, skydiving, or any other strenulous physical activity is not an option for me so I deal with the pain. At 38 I'm too young (or obstinate) to start giving ground.

At the time of the injury there was no adequate reconstruction technique so they actually just removed the offending joint to keep the bones from rubbing and causing spurs (spurs in your shoulder are fun, lemme tell ya)

Medical science is advancing fairly quickly in the area of joint replacements. For myself, I'm hanging in there and hoping a better alternative presents itself eventually.

It sounds to me like your pain is seriously affecting your peace of mind and quality of life. The question is,
is it enough to warrant a permanant solution like fusing. Also, if an adequate alternative were to come along, is it something that could still be done after a fusing has been done?
You probably dont want to do something that cant be undone except as a last resort when you just cant take it any longer. Hopefully you have not reached that point yet.

Obviously you are hoping to hear from someone with a fused ankle (I hope one responds) to give you the scoop on how their life is affected by it, so maybe this message is useless to you. But the fact is, only you know how much pain you can tolerate. For some folks its far more than for others. Is the pain worth it?
For me it is. Maybe for you its not.

Chris