Broken Ankle - Two Week Update

I saw my orthopedic surgeon yesterday for my first check up on my trimalleolar fracture since ORIF surgery.

The one piece of less than awesome news is that I will continue to be non-weight-bearing for another four weeks.  He said that if the fibula portion of the break (the part under the plate) was a simple, clean line across, he'd be okay with me starting to put some weight on it now.  But my fibula was shattered, and so he really wants it to be super strong and rebuilt before I try to stand on it.

Other than that, all the news is awesome as I'd hoped.  My x-rays show that my bones are perfectly aligned and are healing quickly.  They took off my splint and removed the staples from my surgical incisions, which are healing beautifully with no infection.  I am able to flex and point my foot with no pain, just a lot of stiffness.  He doesn't want me to do any side-to-side or rotational motion just yet, but he okay-ed practicing my flexion.  My range of motion is small, but it has already perceptibly improved since yesterday.

I now have a fracture boot, which is fairly comfortable and makes my leg feel very protected.  Most importantly, I can remove it which means I can bathe (!), exercise my ankle, and sleep much more comfortably.  My ankle does feel very vulnerable when not in the boot, so I wear it if I'm going to move anywhere, even just to the bathroom.

I'm still in good spirits, and feeling really positive about all of this.  But it is still exhausting to get around, and I have pain and swelling if my leg isn't elevated for any period of time.  I'm hopeful that I'll continue to see improvements - little by little, day by day.