This is a departure from my regular photography posts, but I thought many of you would like an update on my progress. It’s kind of long – I have found that there isn’t a lot out there about recovering from a tibial plateau fracture so maybe this post will be a little helpful for someone out there searching for some anecdotal stories about how life can look after surgery!
The recovery timeline
It has been just over six weeks since I had surgery for the tibial plateau fracture in my right leg. I wish I could say that it has been easy and that I’m almost recovered…but this is going to be a longer and tougher haul than I had originally thought!
A family friend (who had the same injury many years ago) told me that recovery will not be a linear progression; that there will be days or even weeks where progress will seem to go backwards for no apparent reason. I’ve also been advised to think of recovery in terms of weeks/months and not days. This advice has been so helpful for my mental health – it’s helped me to let go of a lot of the stresses in my life and to take things more slowly. I still have nights where I need to take pain medication, and moments where I feel incredibly discouraged because my leg JUST WON’T BEND any further, but I’ve mostly been staying positive.
Daily life right now
My new normal at the moment is days filled with family and friends visiting and helping out with housework and food (thank GOODNESS, because my family and I couldn’t do this without them), going to my physiotherapy sessions three times a week, working on my daily stretches and exercises while I watch Netflix, and quiet nights and weekends with my husband and son where we snuggle up in bed together with some good books or movies.
Despite the pain and lack of independence, life is good. I am so thankful for the people in my life. All of them – the people I see regularly, those I don’t, and some I’ve never even met but with whom I chat with often through social media. I have never felt so loved and taken care of in my life. I am constantly thinking of how I can thank everyone once I’m well enough, and what gesture or gift I could give them to express my deep gratitude.
Healing and stiffness
I’m six weeks away from being allowed to start putting weight on my leg. That gives me six more weeks to make sure I’m eating and resting enough for the bone to fully heal and to continue working on the range of motion in my knee (started at a 10 degree bend four weeks ago and am currently at 90 degrees – it’s been really difficult.) Because my break extends into my knee joint, with a lot of reconstruction that happened in there during surgery, which included meniscus repair, my knee has completely stiffened up and is happiest at a 30 degree bend. Every morning after I wake I have to do at least 20 minutes of intense stretching in order for it to loosen up to the 90 degrees that I’ve worked it up to so far.
Going back to work
As for work, since I’ll be with crutches until the first week of April, sessions will continue to be on hold until at least then. Even though I may be cleared to walk in early April, it doesn’t mean that I’ll be ABLE to given that my leg and foot muscles have not been used very much for 12 weeks. I’ve been working a bit on the computer now that I’m regaining some energy and am able to sit somewhat properly in a chair without too much discomfort. My stamina for doing anything is still pretty limited. Like a baby, I still require a nap at least once a day or I feel wretched and nauseous by 4pm. I guess it’s my body reminding me that I’m still not fully healed.
Getting around the house
This past week I was finally able to move up and down the stairs while home alone and it has been WONDERFUL (note: I have always been able to use crutches to go up and down the stairs, but we all agreed it wasn’t the smartest idea to do so when home alone in case I fell.) While I’m upstairs, I get around in an office chair with wheels by using my good leg and arms to propel myself. Now that I can lift my leg without pain and it’s strong enough to hold itself up, I can scoot down the stairs on my bum and get in my wheelchair at the bottom of the stairs (I originally had planned to borrow another office chair for downstairs but my parents still had my grandfather’s wheelchair in storage). I can’t tell you how nice it feels to actually be able to get food for myself instead of having to ask someone to bring it to me! Rolling chairs are the BEST!
It’s about the small victories
Some recent victories: being able to sit in the front seat of a car, wearing pants again (up until recently my body was running really hot and I was in shorts and t-shirts for most of January!), doing my own laundry, and being able to cut my own toenails!
Here are a few images from the last month taken on my phone:
From left-right/top-down: X-ray of my break (see how the tibia is pulverized on the left), my reconstructed tibia and knee joint, taco night with family, hubby’s delicious cooking, me sitting in the front seat of a car, organization system for all the vitamins I’m now taking, my incision almost completely scab free, scooting down the stairs on my own, difference in flexion between my left and right knees.
2021 Updates: My tibial plateau fracture recovery journey in posts
This section is written 3 years after this post was published! See all my subsequent updates here:
