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karenm
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Joined: 01 Sep 2007
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 Posted: 09/01/07 - 10:14 Post subject: Help! Lisfranc Injury |
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This is my first time posting here. First off let me say how happy I am to find this site. I have read most of the lisfranc posts and most of them seem soo positive, which is what I need right now.
I fell down one step in June and injured both of my feet. I was wearing flip-flops that had a tiny heel and the heel got hung on the step. This twisted that ankle. The right foot was pulled down the step sideways. When I looked at my feet I was in shock. The left was swollen immediately and looked broken. The right one didnt look as bad but the shoe was on my foot upside down and that foot was in extreem pain. I couldnt bare any weight on it or the other one so I had to carried.
The ER doctor xrayed both of my feet and no broken bones were seen so she sent me home with cruthches and told me to go to my dr. in 3-5 days.
Since then I have been to doctor upon doctor with my right foot. Five sets of xrays, an MRI, and CT scan later I have been diagnosed with a lisfranc fracture dilocation. Since the injury is so old and the bones have already heeled back wrong I have no guarantees except to be better than I am now. The surgeon has told me he will have to surgically rebrake and dslocate my foot then build it back using a series of pins, screws, and wire. All 3 cunieform bones are out of place. The one connected to the first metatarsal is dislocated to the left about half to 3/4 of an inch. The other 2 are to the right about a half inch.
Sorry to be so long in this but I have alot to tell..lol! I am a 36 year old stay at home mother of 3 very busy boys. So any advice that anyone has is very welcome and very needed. |
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Hizgrace4all
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Joined: 29 May 2007
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| Posted: 09/02/07 - 13:19 Post subject: Re: Help! Lisfranc Injury |
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| karenm wrote: |
This is my first time posting here. First off let me say how happy I am to find this site. I have read most of the lisfranc posts and most of them seem soo positive, which is what I need right now.
I fell down one step in June and injured both of my feet. I was wearing flip-flops that had a tiny heel and the heel got hung on the step. This twisted that ankle. The right foot was pulled down the step sideways. When I looked at my feet I was in shock. The left was swollen immediately and looked broken. The right one didnt look as bad but the shoe was on my foot upside down and that foot was in extreem pain. I couldnt bare any weight on it or the other one so I had to carried.
The ER doctor xrayed both of my feet and no broken bones were seen so she sent me home with cruthches and told me to go to my dr. in 3-5 days.
Since then I have been to doctor upon doctor with my right foot. Five sets of xrays, an MRI, and CT scan later I have been diagnosed with a lisfranc fracture dilocation. Since the injury is so old and the bones have already heeled back wrong I have no guarantees except to be better than I am now. The surgeon has told me he will have to surgically rebrake and dslocate my foot then build it back using a series of pins, screws, and wire. All 3 cunieform bones are out of place. The one connected to the first metatarsal is dislocated to the left about half to 3/4 of an inch. The other 2 are to the right about a half inch.
Sorry to be so long in this but I have alot to tell..lol! I am a 36 year old stay at home mother of 3 very busy boys. So any advice that anyone has is very welcome and very needed. |
Hi Karenm
I am also 36 with a boy, I feel your worries. I suffered a lisfranc injury in March of 07. I was diagnosed about a week after injury, and my surgery was not done until may 9. My husband was in Iraq, so they had to fly him home, but the swelling also needed to go down.
DONT stress yourself out. You will be fine. It might take a while for healing, but it will come. I just started physical therapy 2.5 weeks ago, and although it has been painful, I have been seeing a HUGE difference in my walking. I am still in the cam boot, but that will eventually be gone after my ankle and other muscles are strong enough.
I had 6 hours of surgery, 11 screws, a plate, a bone graft, and a gastroc recession. The injury I sustained was SOOO severe, that he was able to use the broken bone shards in my foot for my bone graft. He was pretty happy about that. The surgery was originally supposed to be 3 hours, but he couldnt see the extent of the injury on films or cat scan. He was excited when he finished.
The key is being patient, and doing ALL that your doctor tells you to. Take good care of yourself, and know that your boys are going to be allright. I was VERY surprised at how my 8 year old son "took over" and he would not let me do ANYTHING. He just stepped up to the occasion.
Your boys will too. You will be quite surprised. Also, be sure to keep your foot elevated and stay off as much as possible.
Dont be afraid. God is in control, and He will take care of you. My "hardware" is going to stay in, my ortho doc said. Some people dont keep their hardware. Please dont hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, or if you just need to blow off some steam. Im here. There is another lady named Musictch, she is wonderful also. We will all encourage you. Be patient, were here.
Blessings and speedy healing to you,
Hizgrace |
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karenm
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Joined: 01 Sep 2007
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| Posted: 09/02/07 - 19:24 Post subject: |
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Hello Hizgrace
Thank you for your reply. I am sorry to hear that you had to go through this too but I am glad you are having a good recovery. At this point I am in a kinda limbo. I have no idea when the surgery is going to be scheduled and have a million and a half questions about it. The main one being what will happen if I dont have the surgery? I'll be honest, just the thoughts of it scares me to death. I want to cry everytime I think about it. I feel like I'm just being sillly. When I'm around my family I joke about it and laugh at myself... telling them at this point it's laugh or cry so I laugh.
And I worry about the pain. Right now its fairly undercontrol. I can walk pretty good although it is with a limp.
My husband has been a great help and I thank God for him daily. I know that he will continue to be here for me through the whole ordeal. I just worry about the boys. I know they are old enough to do for themselves and me. The were wonderful when I was first injuried.But at that time I was still trying to walk under the impression it was just a bad sprain. My doctor had told me I will be on complete bed rest for atleast 2 weeks with my foot elevated above my heart.
Anyhow I guess I have gone on for long enough. Is there anyway on here for us to chat besides posting back and forth? I just hate to babble on and on in a public forum lol.
Thanks for all the advice you gave. I need all the help and support I can get. Karen |
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Hizgrace4all
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Joined: 29 May 2007
Posts: 201
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| Posted: 09/03/07 - 00:02 Post subject: |
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| karenm wrote: |
Hello Hizgrace
Thank you for your reply. I am sorry to hear that you had to go through this too but I am glad you are having a good recovery. At this point I am in a kinda limbo. I have no idea when the surgery is going to be scheduled and have a million and a half questions about it. The main one being what will happen if I dont have the surgery? I'll be honest, just the thoughts of it scares me to death. I want to cry everytime I think about it. I feel like I'm just being sillly. When I'm around my family I joke about it and laugh at myself... telling them at this point it's laugh or cry so I laugh.
And I worry about the pain. Right now its fairly undercontrol. I can walk pretty good although it is with a limp.
My husband has been a great help and I thank God for him daily. I know that he will continue to be here for me through the whole ordeal. I just worry about the boys. I know they are old enough to do for themselves and me. The were wonderful when I was first injuried.But at that time I was still trying to walk under the impression it was just a bad sprain. My doctor had told me I will be on complete bed rest for atleast 2 weeks with my foot elevated above my heart.
Anyhow I guess I have gone on for long enough. Is there anyway on here for us to chat besides posting back and forth? I just hate to babble on and on in a public forum lol.
Thanks for all the advice you gave. I need all the help and support I can get. Karen |
Hi Karen,
Keep your chin up sweetie !!! This came to pass. You know, PRAY for your sons that The Lord will give them strength and understanding in helping you. Maybe your hubby can have a talk with them and help them to understand.
YOU ARE NOT BABBLING ON !!! This is the purpose of these posting sites to help one another outl I felt the same way when I first started posting. I was really unsure. I think your best bet, in my opinion would be to call your doctor/orthopedic doc, and set up an appointment to sit down with him with your CAT SCAN/X RAY and have a "question/concern/fears/options" little consultation.
What really helped me was, I sat in front of the computer and went into Microsoft word and typed out the questions that I had for the doctor. Have your hubby sit with you and you BOTH go through the questions. You know....I sat there and thought...boy some of these questions are REALLY goofy. But actually it helped relieve my fears. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS STUPID QUESTIONS !!!! My hubby was able to give me further questions to ask my ortho surgeon that I didnt think about when I was SOOO nervous.
My mother in law went with me to my consults before my hubby was flown back from Iraq, and she also brought up questions. I told her that I was nervous, and I was not thinking the way I wanted to THe ortho surgeon also took out a foot model and showed me exactly what was wrong, poiinting to the CAT SCAN/XRAY, and showing me more clearly on the foot model what he was talking about. ASK MILLIONS OF QUESTIONS, it will help you understand.
This is a bit of a rare injury, so not many people hear about it all the time, much less know what a lisfranc joint is. The first ortho doc I saw TOTALLY lost me when he said lisfranc joint. I said "Huh?"
Dont fear your surgery. The Lord is with you. He will give you the strength you need, and you will be BLOWN AWAY at watching him work. Trust Him.
OH....DONT FORGET TO ASK YOUR ORTHO DOC about a nerve block. It makes the recovery time after the first couple of better. Fact is, I was off my pain meds 5 days after surgery, just extra strength tylenol when needed. Make sure to keep your foot elevated, and dont try to play superwoman like I did. Do as your ortho doc tells you, and if you are still confused get a second opinion.
Please let me know how you are doing, any more questions, just fire away. We are here to help you as much as we can. Be encouraged. Dont worry, tomorrow has enough worries of its own. You will be in my prayers.
Hizgrace |
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karenm
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| Posted: 09/03/07 - 06:28 Post subject: |
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Hizgrace,
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. I am a worrier by nature. I joke and say that is what I do best..worry. And I have been on top of my game with this foot thing.
I do have a list of questions for my doctor. He realized how upset I was and told me to give it a few days and I could come back in with any questions I had. Since then I have written down everything I can think of. My hubby has alot also so he threw his 2 cents in. He is such a wonderful man... he is my rock.
What exactly is a nerve block? Is it something that is done for the surgery or is something that is perment? If it helps with the pain I'm all for it. I cant stand being on pain meds. I have been on them since June and somedays I feel like I am loosing my mind with them. I have never been one to take them on a daily basis. Only when my back would act up (I have 2 bulging discs) and that is only for like a week at time. I cant stand getting out of bed and having to take a pill to be able to walk.
Yes I know this is a rare injury. I have given up trying to explain this to everyone. I actually diagnosed myself while waiting for the MRI results. I went online and talk to a dr. and he sent a pic of a foot with everyting outlined and asked me where the pain and the knot was and it was right across the lisfranc joint. So I was kinda prepared for the results but I had no idea it was as severe as it is . Since then I have looked up everything on lisfranc injuries that I can find, that's how I found this site. And I am so very glad that I did. Most everything I found was so full of gloom and doom and that didnt help. But to see that this is fixable is such a help. And to know that you and so many others have made it though this is such a blessing. It eases my worried mind.. lol.
Once again thank you for your words of encouragement. You are a God-send for me.
Karen |
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Hizgrace4all
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Joined: 29 May 2007
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| Posted: 09/03/07 - 12:27 Post subject: |
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| karenm wrote: |
Hizgrace,
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. I am a worrier by nature. I joke and say that is what I do best..worry. And I have been on top of my game with this foot thing.
I do have a list of questions for my doctor. He realized how upset I was and told me to give it a few days and I could come back in with any questions I had. Since then I have written down everything I can think of. My hubby has alot also so he threw his 2 cents in. He is such a wonderful man... he is my rock.
What exactly is a nerve block? Is it something that is done for the surgery or is something that is perment? If it helps with the pain I'm all for it. I cant stand being on pain meds. I have been on them since June and somedays I feel like I am loosing my mind with them. I have never been one to take them on a daily basis. Only when my back would act up (I have 2 bulging discs) and that is only for like a week at time. I cant stand getting out of bed and having to take a pill to be able to walk.
Yes I know this is a rare injury. I have given up trying to explain this to everyone. I actually diagnosed myself while waiting for the MRI results. I went online and talk to a dr. and he sent a pic of a foot with everyting outlined and asked me where the pain and the knot was and it was right across the lisfranc joint. So I was kinda prepared for the results but I had no idea it was as severe as it is . Since then I have looked up everything on lisfranc injuries that I can find, that's how I found this site. And I am so very glad that I did. Most everything I found was so full of gloom and doom and that didnt help. But to see that this is fixable is such a help. And to know that you and so many others have made it though this is such a blessing. It eases my worried mind.. lol.
Once again thank you for your words of encouragement. You are a God-send for me.
Karen |
Hi Karen
Im glad I could help. Sounds like you are doing a GREAT job. I'll tell you what, sounds like your hubby is ALOT like mine. My hubby is my rock too !!!!! He has been SOOO good through all of this.
You asked what a nerve block is. Well, the nerve block IS NOT permanent. They place a VERY small "cathetar" into the upper part of your thigh, I am assuming where the nerves are that connect down to your foot. It numbs the nerves in your foot.
My doc said that they were going to put the nerve block in, then I would have the block in for 2 extra days....as they had me in the hospital post operatively, and I would be "weaned" off of it over the course of 2 days. I couldnt feel a thing. My foot just felt like a big, numb lump. I guess the first 2 days after surgery is when your foot gets the biggest jolts of pain.
Anyway, you would be hooked to an IV and you can push a little button on the attatchment, when you start feeling ANY pain. It was a God send. When he took me of it, it hurt a little bit, but not too bad. Be sure though to do ALLL your doc tells you to. The nerve block, like I said IS NOT permanent, just to help with post operative pain.
My docs idea was that he wanted me to be as comfortable as possible. I just love my ortho surgeon. HE CERTAINLY is blessed by the Lord. Fact is, most of his appointment ran about 20-30 minutes late because he takes the time to EXTENSIVELY discuss your injury, and he answers ALL questions, and does a thorough check. Blessings to you sweetie.
Let me know how things are going? Ok?
Hizgrace |
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Lineman
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| Posted: 09/03/07 - 15:00 Post subject: |
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Karen,
I read your first posting and i also put a new post on the "lisfranc fracture thread part II" page on 9/2/07 my whole story is on there if you want to read it. long story short badly crushed my foot dislocated 3 of the metatarsals from the lisfranc joint and fractred 3 of the metatarsals as well. In reference to the nerve block i just had one done for my surgery on 8/15/07 and they gave me a little cocktail through my I.V. and then they stick a needle in the back of your leg just above the knee where the main nerve runs down your leg and when the needle starts hitting the nerve your foot will twitch thats how they know there close enough to it then they shoot it with some type of stuff which i forgot the name of and it leaves the foot completely numb for about a day after surgery i dont know why they didnt just do it while i was under general aneasthesia for surgery but thats how it happened for me. Now i dont want to freak you out but i did mention that it was extremely painful when the block wore off but i think it just depends on how invasive your surgery is i had 4 incisions made 3 k-wires and 2 screws but about ten days after surgery no more pain. |
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Fusion
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| Posted: 09/04/07 - 07:23 Post subject: |
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Karenm,
Sorry to hear of your injury. I too had a Lisfranc injury from a car accident that did not heal correctly and 1 year later I had to have it rebroken in surgery. However my foot joints was fused, along with having some permanent screws in my foot.
For your surgery are you getting a fusion done or is your doctor going to try to fix the foot again without fusion? Do you have much arthritis pain in the foot from the previous injury?
I can tell you that it has been about 8 months since I had my foot fused and other than learning to walk a bit more with motion in my ankle instead of my foot, all has gone well. If you are getting fusion done as well it is not as bad as it sounds. |
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karenm
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| Posted: 09/04/07 - 08:00 Post subject: |
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Hizgrace,
Thank you for your help with the nerve block. I have written it down on my list of questions. My hubby and I have talked all weekend about this and we have decided to get a second opinion, I know it my foot is verrrry messed up and it does surgery done on it but here's the thing. The doc I am going to now is a good dr. but he said he has never done a lisfranc surgery 3 months out on injury. I would atleast like who has done ONE! If it were one of my boys I would want the best. Plus he called this a "salvage surgery" and I definately didnt like that. He says there is no rush now to fix it so I think I will find someone else to do it.
Lineman,
I read your story and OUCH! That made my foot hurt just reading it. So very sorry you had to go though that. It sounds like you have had a heck of a time but atleast now you are on the mend. Thank you for helping with the nerve block thing. It sounds like something I definately am going to be needing. As far as how invasive my surgery will be I have no idea from what the dr says it will be fairly difficult surgery. He has a series of wires, pins, and screws.. sounds invasive to me!!
Isnt this a wonderful site! It is very informative just reading all the posts. And it is nice to know that I am not alone in this injury. Seems its not as rare as I thouhgt. I hate that anyone has to go through all this but sites like this one help alot.
Fusion,
My doctor mention fusion to me but not at this point. He didnt want to that because I am 36 with 3 boys. He said that he thought he could get this foot working right but as I told Hizgrace, he said he has never this surgery before. He has done lisfranc reductions but not 3 months out. So I'm thinking of finding someone who has done this before and had some kind of success with it. I really dont want to someones first case and he say oops I should have done this and not that.
I dont think I have arthritis in this foot yet. There is still alot pain from the injury but I'm thinking it is nerve pain. Its a sharp knife like running pain that goes from my foot to my knee. It kinda reminds me of the pains I have in my back when it goes into a fit, and I know it is nerve pain. I'll just be glad when this is all over and done with.
I am glad that your surgery went well and you are on the mend. Its so wonderful to hear about good outcomes from this. It really eases my mind. Thank you for sharing this with me.
Karen |
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Fusion
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| Posted: 09/04/07 - 08:15 Post subject: |
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Karenm,
I agree to get a second opinion. If he as never done this surgery before, under your conditions, I too would worry. There are foot and ankle specialist out there that have done this type of surgery many times before. I hope you can find one of them. As for not having fusion now, that doctor also sounded as if it might be something you need in the future. Knowing what I know now I would get the fusion done now and not wait if it is ever brought up to you by another doctor. I am 41 years old and my doctor actually thought getting this done while I was younger was better than holding off.
Best of luck in your search for a second opinion and treatments. |
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