Help Needed: Femur Spiral Fracture Experience?

[VickiK]

Hang in there, @snowski/swimmouse .

 

[SkiGAP]

Positive energy coming your way!

 

[RhodySkiBum]

Oh my - just read this - I'm so sorry! Hope you are healing well......

I had a spiral fracture of one of my fingers a few years ago - doesn't compare to a femur, I'm sure! Was in a car accident, and the airbag caught my finger and twisted and fractured it. Ouch - but surgery and two small pins later and its back to (almost) normal!

Wishing you a speedy recovery! Hang in there!

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

Well, there are still several common elements; One is that the femur is most often broken in a car accident. And, having had surgery on my finger two years ago; "It's amazing how such a small part of the body can hurt so much!"

Thanks for all the encouragement; I'd really hit a low point this week...

 

[RhodySkiBum]

True - day after the surgery on my finger if felt like it was on FIRE ..ouch!

Hang in there -it will get better - hopefully quickly!

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

I never have found another diva with femur experience. Maybe I'm just not good at it, but I've found zero usable info on the internet. And now I've realized that I've run out of time to even begin working on weight bearing on bended knee for anything I'd want to do in the next 4 1/2 months. I'm soooo bummed. Can someone just wake me in September?

 

[pinto]

Rudi on epic broke his femur last year and kept his rehab information on a blog rather than on epic. Maybe you can find something good here?

 

[contesstant]

I never have found another diva with femur experience. Maybe I'm just not good at it, but I've found zero usable info on the internet. And now I've realized that I've run out of time to even begin working on weight bearing on bended knee for anything I'd want to do in the next 4 1/2 months. I'm soooo bummed. Can someone just wake me in September?

Why can you not start working on weight bearing? When are you allowed to start weight bearing? And have you started PT at all? There should be some isometrics you can do that will help. I really feel for you!! OH, and do core work--lying down on the floor. You will be amazed at how weak your hip muscles get!!

Two weeks before I was allowed to go full weight bearing, I was on the stationary bike and my horse (and I don't fiddle fart on him ;D) and I think it made a HUGE difference when I DID go weight bearing. I came off crutches swinging! PT is going extremely well for me, but boy that injured leg sure is weak but it gets better every day! I try to work it daily.

 

[2am]

I broke my femur playing soccer right before I turned 16. Had a titanium rod put in, which was then taken out at the beginning of my freshman year in college. I couldn't bear weight for a LONG time. Wasn't supposed to carry a backpack either. I went from being super active to pretty much not being active at all. It was easy to get depressed and stop doing everything because everything made my leg ache so much. Especially when it was cold and damp. Finally just started skiing again last year. And this year it feels almost back to normal. Finally! One leg is definitely still weaker than the other, but I definitely could have gotten it back faster if I hadn't given up.

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

Pinto@ Thanks for sharing Rudi's site; I'm thankful that at least I didn't have the pulmonary embolism. Only a week ago was a "allowed" to put 50% weight, but I confess I've cheated along the way. I'm usually one who does exactly as told, but I've never been more depressed especially when I realized a few days ago, that I'm too far from weight bearing on bended leg to be able to do *anything* before fall. (This is not my first surgery involving the knee.) The therapist added some things today, but I aced them with far more strength that he anticipated. I guess I've "squeaked" a lot today and the doctor is squeezing me in for an extra visit tomorrow....

 

[volklgirl]

That sounds like good news. Glad to hear you're making progress. It's so depressing to be stuck doing nothing.

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

The update with the doctor was a good news/bad news sort of thing. Long term bad: I'm not candidate for ever removing the rod and going through TSA as the airport was agony because I'm soooo ultra sensitive. They couldn't have been nicer or more gentle, it's just that my body is sooooooooo sensitive. The other bad news is that my bad leg was already 1 1/2 inches shorter than the good one and I spent the entire past year with new boots trying to even them out with lifts between the shell and liner. They tell me max correction is 1 inch I've race all these years on basically one edge; no wonder I slide out on ice so easily. Now that the broken leg is 2 inches shorter.
The good news is that, once again, I heal at earliest possible speed and was able to ramp everything up at exactly 6.5 weeks. On good days now I can get by with my Pop's cane. I did attend the Crescent Ski Council Convention this weekend and even competed in both cornholes and bocce as hoped. Sitting on the beach Friday was the first scenery I've seen in 2 months that didn't have a bed or therapy in the room. What a mental lifesaver. Crescent has 20 clubs in the southeastern region and many helped me participate in the convention as much as possible.

 

[pinto]

@snowski/swimmouse ... we have a friend who has a 2" discrepancy, and last season a bootfitter here built him a Frankenboot.. literally put 2 inches of plastic plate on the bottom (and had to router out pretty much the entire toe and heel lugs for the bindings). But it has worked great. This was the first time this bootfitter had done this, and it was really quite expensive, but now that he has had experience doing it, I'm sure the hourly would go down. Let me know if you are interested in knowing more about it.

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

Hmmm, I don't really understand what you said he did. Just that it has worked great and the discrepancy is the same. I've spent over $1000 just on this pair of boots alone... I have soooooo many boot issues and I've only found 2 people in the country who could solve all the other issues, a youth coach at Whitefish who works out of a bike shop (a diva connected me with him) and only The Boot Doctor himself @ Telluride (and he copied much of what the other fellow did, which is what happened entirely this time at Boot Pro below Okemo, VT). Geography further adds to the challenges. It's taken me 1-2 years to get each pair of boots not to hurt. The pain is so extreme, that I'm frankly scared to risk its return.

But yes, I would be interested in knowing more. Thanks @pinto.

 

[pinto]

Basically, he built up the boot entirely on the outside (the sole) of the boot. The orange marks are where the boot was routered so that the toe and heel lugs would fit in bindings.

If yours are already partly done in the inside (ie between shell and liner), it wouldn't be necessary to make up as much difference on the outside. The only caveat is that the boot sole needs to be flat plastic, like the race boot shown, not one with lugged soles and the like.

Previously, he was putting massive plates under his bindings, but that really limited the number of skis he could use. He couldn't demo anything, for example.

 

[pinto]

(And actually, it probably wasn't "literally" 2 inches of plastic ... but his LLD is)

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

Ok, now I understand. And that shouldn't interfere with my other bootwork. However my boots do have ridges and lugs on the bottom. Atomics are the only boots that will work for me. And, yes, I do have 5 pairs of skis, all of which I use..... Oh, wait, you mean it's flat plastic on the one boot ~after~ his work. Where's this guy located?

 

[pinto]

Which boot model is it?

 

[2ski2moro]

Glad to hear you are mending.

Necessity is the mother of invention. There is someone out there who can help you. I hope you find them.

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

I actually don't remember; It says "Waymaker 90" on the side of the boot. They are charcoal gray & white with splashes of what looks like gray paint.... (pititful, huh?)