Ankle Help !!! I need to make a decision

[Scaredtodeath]

I’m scheduled for TAR March 13 2024. I have severe arthritis. I can hardly walk without a hard boot. I’m concerned about recovery. I live alone in a small apartment. My bathroom is one step up. There is no room for a ramp. Has anyone had to recover alone with steps. They said I may have to go to a nursing home post op. Has anyone else recovered in a nursing home. If yes how long were you there before you could function alone at home? I was thinking of canceling because I’m so scared. Maybe I should wait till I can’t walk at all and have no other option. Help!!!!!

 

[WestCoastMimi]

Hi Scared, I’m probably not much help to you but I did want to say, my sister went to a nursing home when she had a knee replacement. She was there three weeks before they sent her home. She lives in Illinois and I’m in California, our other sisters are in Wisconsin and Michigan so not much help. But she did fine in the nursing home, if fact, I think she prefers it to dealing with recovery alone. She has lots of health problems and has been in hospital several times in the past couple years, twice had to go to a nursing home for care after surgery. So I’m sure you’d be fine if you went with this option. May God bless you and help you to feel less fearful. Good luck.

 

[djklaugh]

@Scaredtodeath Welcome to BoneSmart! Which ankle is getting the TAR? You mentioned living alone -- do you have family or friends near by who can stop by each day just to check in with you and do errands? Or friendly neighbors? I think you should be able to get around your apartment OK even having a step to get to the bathroom. What has your surgeon told you about the post op experience? Will you have to be not putting any weight on the foot at all? You will probably need crutches or some other type of assistance in getting around. Practice now on how to get to that room -- is there a railing or hand hold there?

Stock up on easy to fix meals, favorite snacks and beverages, ice packs, good books or what ever you like to do to entertain your self. At first you are going to want to have a comfortable place to lay down and elevate your foot - couch or bed or reclining chair.

You can ask your surgeon -- or his assistant or nurse about the possibility of going to a nursing home or rehab facility for a while and they would be able to tell you of good ones in your area and what the process to access that would be.

Do feel free to read threads here in the pre op section and over in the recovery area to see how others have managed following this surgery. Best of every thing to you and do keep us informed.

 

[sistersinhim]

I think you'll be fine at home and possibly even better off. There are so many sick people in nursing homes, and you don't want to be around any of that.

I had a TKR and recovered mostly alone. I had a friend that took care of my rescued kitties, (13), the first week and made sure I had enough ice for the ice machine. I learned on bonesmart that using frozen water bottles was a much better option, and it was! Buying frozen dinners ahead of time was a help, along with having lots of protein drinks and mixed nuts, which I lived on the first few weeks! You probably won't have much of an appetite anyway, so be sure to eat or drink lots of protein to aid in your healing.

I suggest you use a walker instead of crutches, which are not as safe. Going up that one step should be no problem. Also, a cold water circulating ice machine is strongly suggested. Ice is a great pain/swelling reducer.

Waiting until you can't walk will only make your ankle be in worse shape for your replacement. That can make the surgery more involved, extending your healing time. One of our retired staff members had an ankle replaced. I'll see if he can come and give you some hints if he comes around here. @FCBayern

 

[Freyagirl]

You don’t say where you live but in my area there is a lot of services available like grocery delivery and Uber rides which makes it much easier if you can’t get out or drive. I made a list of easy to prepare foods and stocked up on stuff that was non perishable. I double the idea of a walker over crutches- so much more stable. Consider renting a power recliner so you can stretch out flat and sleep or sit up. Also love my ice machine to keep cold water flowing through a pad for hours. Don’t be shy about letting people know you will need help and what kind of help will be best.

 

[benne68]

Welcome to BoneSmart, @Scaredtodeath. Glad you found us!

I suggest you use a walker instead of crutches, which are not as safe. Going up that one step should be no problem.

I second this advice. When I had ankle surgery, the walker provided much more stability. I also had a step up to get from on room to another and had no problem doing it. I was able to stand on my "good" foot for a minute while lifting the walker up onto the step, then supporting myself with the walker, "hop" up the step. It was even easier going down.

One suggestion: since you have a weeks until the surgery, work on some exercises to strengthen your arms. During the first few weeks of my recovery, my arms got tired and ached because they were doing a lot of support work.

We have several members who are currently recovering from ankle surgery. I'm sure they will stop by the share their experiences with you. In the meantime, you might find helpful information in some of these threads:

https://bonesmart.org/forum/search/?q=TAR+recovery&t=post&c[prefixes][0]=47&o=relevance

 

[Scaredtodeath]

I postponed my surgery. I talked to the nurse practitioner and told him I was scared about recovery and was thinking of postponing. He said that might be a good idea if I wasn’t mentally prepared.

 

[JennJon]

Don’t NOT do the surgery just for being scared…do the surgery to feel better!!! Go to a facility for a few days then decide if you need to stay longer or go home…they can’t make you stay! Good Luck! Prayers for a GREAT surgery & recovery!

 

[Scaredtodeath]

I think I didn’t fully understand the length of recovery. I thought if I had the surgery in March I’d be beach bound by June. I now see it could be much longer. Maybe if I have it January I’d be good by summer. I will check things out and try and practice my knee scooter. I’m not very agile. My left foot is not that great and I have b/l knee replacements and I can’t kneel on things. I did order a gel pad for the knee scooter. I haven’t put it together yet.

 

[benne68]

I have b/l knee replacements

If you would like to share the date(s) of your TKRs, we will add that information to your signature. It is always helpful for us to have that kind of history when we are offering feedback. Also, when you have a new date for your TAR, please let us know.

We are here to support you on this journey, @Scaredtodeath!

 

[mendogal]

Hang in there! We're here to support you whatever your priorities and decisions.

 

[Iski]

Good luck with your TAR. I got a wool-type cover for my knee scooter on Amazon. Made it much more comfortable.

 

[Lindylee]

2 years ago I deferred my ankle surgery because I had knee replacements in the 2 previous years, my first (left) knee replacement had some issues and I was concerned about recovery. Would that knee hold up being my main support when I had the right ankle fusion? Would I cope with the recovery? Supposing I couldn’t manage?I didn’t feel mentally ready. In that 2 years my ankle became so much worse I could hardly walk on it.

A physio said the hospital would ensure I could manage before I left hospital, recommended the knee scooter and I went ahead last year. Recovery from the op was much better than I anticipated and the left leg did all that was needed alongside the knee scooter, which I found brilliant (I bought an extra thick fleece covered pad to go on top). In retrospect I wish I’d done it earlier before my ankle became so difficult to walk on. Only you can make the decision but don’t leave it so long that you can’t walk because it will be even harder to recover.

Regarding the step, is there room to put a chair or stool at the top and maybe a walker the other side? You could use the knee scooter to get to the step, turn it sideways to sit on the chair and then use the walker to hop in the bathroom. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Scaredtodeath]

Thanks everyone. I did postpone. I think I’ll try and wait until January if I can.

 

[Scaredtodeath]

My name is scared to death lol. That was truer than I thought.

 

[benne68]

I'm so sorry you are struggling with this, @Scaredtodeath. I've changed your signature to note that the date of your TAR is to be determined.

Please do come back and let us know how you are doing. We are here to support one another on these journeys!

 

[Scaredtodeath]

Thanks

 

[Annie N]

Thanks everyone. I did postpone. I think I’ll try and wait until January if I can

Can I suggest you write down what's going through your mind as a list & look at it objectively at if your were advising a good friend.

I'm not sure this is the right decision personally, consider delay your recovery to winter not surgery. Your surgery might be better in the late autumn at the very latest, but can you get through to then?

List the positives and negatives of the op & then of the timing. Put it aside and re read in a week. I did this and realised I was not letting me be in charge of my decision but other people who I was not always sure had my best interests at heart.
This helped me decide the sooner it was done the sooner I would be better, I realised that I was getting more disabled & only hard work & bravery on my part would fix it. I also realised how much worse I had got during the process to get to this point, usually complete recovery to being unaware of your previous disability is circa 50% of the time it took you to go downhill. I went downhill over maybe three years, you? I was told 6-9 months to recover from my foot surgery, but it's really not been that bad. The first two weeks & up to 4 weeks can be very challenging but after that your see you are getting better than you were before. If you want nursing support for an extended period this is the time to cover it.

This helped me decide I needed to plan my recovery, get in all the tools I needed to support me and practice getting around so I was confident. I got a physio in to help me plan my recovery & build my strength in advance if surgery, this made me more positive and determined & far less scared.

My surgery was November, it's now spring, in a month I will definitely be able to walk better than last autumn. It's been a good investment of my time in my future.
Please look to the longer term, you are getting worse, sorry but you need to face it. You are in pain, you can be better, it's not impossible to cope but it's challenging. You have faced worse in your life & you will gain enormously from this surgery. Think what you can be doing in 2 years, plan it, reminder what you've lost and can regain.

 

[benne68]

Thanks for sharing this, @Annie N. Great to have this perspective.