Well this sucks.

I finished work today at 330 and figured it would be a good chance to go try out my new stone glacier backpack. I loaded it with ~ 50lbs and headed out for a simple 4-5 mile loop past the airstrip and back. I left my phone at home because it's broken but told my wife and coworker where I was going. Strapped on my glock 19 and grabbed my 10/22 in case I saw any ptarmigans.

Anyways, there was a bunch of ice under the snow and I sort of slid on it (at the farthest possible point from home) cleats caught in the ice and there was a nasty crunch inside my boot even with the stiff mountaineering boots. With the weight in my pack I went down hard. It took me about half a second to realize i was fucked up and out in the cold. And...no phone. I got the pack off me and basically started crawling back home leaving the pack and rifle, I took my headlamp and fire steel, a lighter and the g19 and went.

Well maybe a mile on I saw some headlights so I flashed my headlamp, it was my buddy and my wife out looking for me, thank god I told them where I was going.


There's no hospital here, just a clinic with a clinic health aid, or even a nurse who basically called the hospital in dillingham to see what to do, so there I was drenched in sweat with a messed up foot filling out port work.

Finally we got the boot off, had to cut the laces, cut my nice kuiu sock off to see what we were dealing with. The bone all the way down my shin looks normal but the foot is hanging off to the side well pat a 45 degree angle and I can't move it. Since it was already dark and the weather is bad, there was no way to get to the hospital in dillingham so here I am at home, with a screwed up foot/ankle hoping I can get out tomorrow to the hospital. Right before my 2 week winter break when I was hoping to go look for a moose.

Anyways, thank the lord for the bottle of scotch I had stashed away, I guess I'll be able to grab more in dillingham, maybe some ammo as well.

Anybody else had a similar injury? As bad as it seems now it could have been much worse if I hadn't told anybody where I was going, if I didn't have the headlamp, if I hadn't of. Ren wearing those stiff boots....

Wow. I never thought that would happen to me, hopefully they can get my pack and rifle back tomorrow and hopefully I recover quickly.

I’m sorry to hear this, but glad to hear you’re ok. I’ve broken both ankles at different points in my life, and it’s one of those things that stays with you forever. Do not try to rush the recovery, and realize you’re susceptible to reinjury with much less effort in the future. Whether they cast you up, or give you an air cast, you need to keep it on. Knowing what I know now, keeping it on longer would have been better in the long term. Good luck!

Ripped my right ankle up so bad, my right sole was touching my left ankle with my legs straight.

Again, it was at the half way point.

Muscled through it, got a cast, spent a couple months with a TENDER ankle, knew whenever the ground was out of plane.

I had taken a good tumble, but I'm grateful there was sufficient poison oak to cushion my fall.

I got prescription hydrocortisone for that, but I still got a tremendous case of it, but it took my mind off the ankle.

RICE.
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

Don't go nuts on the compression. You don't want to hinder circulation. Were they able to do an Xray?...doesn't sound like it. I'm assuming they checked all the pulses that should be there?
An orthopod visit is required to make sure the parts didn't get too buggered and will heal properly - especially if your foot is at an angle like you described.
Keep the scotch handy.

No x-rays or anything. I haven't even been to the hospital and all I know is that sometime tomorrow (hopefully) they will call me and tell me when a plane is coming to get me. I don't even know how I'm going to get to the hospital once I get there. Hitchhike maybe if there's no taxi service...I've never been to dillingham before.

Man this fucking sucks. I really hope I can recover from this, there's way too many things I still want to do which I need to be healthy for.

There was a nasty crunch from the fall, and your foot is now hanging off to the side past 45 degrees? I'd be very surprised if it's not fractured. The only question now is, how bad. Sorry, man.

Either you have a good (severe) sprain, maybe torn ligaments or if broke, you have a very high threshold for pain. Scotch would not do it, for me at least. Drugs would be better.

Some of the worst pain i have had was a severely sprained ankle. I feel for you.

Glad you are safe and mostly sound.

Keep us posted

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
There was a nasty crunch from the fall, and your foot is now hanging off to the side past 45 degrees? I'd be very surprised if it's not fractured. The only question now is, how bad. Sorry, man.

Yeah, I just hope it's the kind they can sort of set and cast. I really don't want to have my ankle fused or have like 40 screws in it.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Either you have a good (severe) sprain, maybe torn ligaments or if broke, you have a very high threshold for pain. Scotch would not do it, for me at least. Drugs would be better.

Some of the worst pain i have had was a severely sprained ankle. I feel for you.

Glad you are safe and mostly sound.

Keep us posted

Don't get me wrong, I'm in an incredible amount of pain and I can't seem to find a comfortable position. The most stressful part is wondering if there will actually be a plane out tomorrow, it's always subject to weather and visibility.

I just can't believe it. It was just a quick loop to get a new pack fitting the right way. It was just supposed to be a nice relaxing afternoon walk. Then bam!!!! My poor wife just broke down when she saw my foot after we got the boot off. I'm so glad I told her where I was going.

quote:

I'm so glad I told her where I was going.

Good planning can take the sting out of a lot of crappy situations. Well done on both you and your wife.
I hope you can get to a doc sooner rather than later and hope it's just a dislocation and not fractured.
Having both broken and sprained the crap out an ankle, either way your screwed for a while.

I'm drinking some whisky to help ease your pain and toasting to the Northwest.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:

quote:

I'm so glad I told her where I was going.

Good planning can take the sting out of a lot of crappy situations. Well done on both you and your wife.
I hope you can get to a doc sooner rather than later and hope it's just a dislocation and not fractured.
Having both broken and sprained the crap out an ankle, either way your screwed for a while.

I'm drinking some whisky to help ease your pain and toasting to the Northwest.

How long was your recovery? I'm hoping to pull off a solo fall sheep hunt around September, I know it's still a ways off but I'm worried.

Very important - how is circulation, motion & sensation past your ankle (warm/cold skin, capillary refill <3 secs, wiggle toes, & feel touch)? If any of those are impaired - get to a hospital ASAP. Impaired circulation could result in loss of your foot or toes.

The ankle is made of 3 connection points from the leg to the foot, medial & lateral malleolus & posterior tibia. The tibia makes up 2 of the connections & the fibula one. If it is broken & the fracture is severe enough (dislocated &/or unstable), it could require surgery to repair.

Here is a good guide to ankle anatomy, fractures, & treatments.

Good luck, hope it is a minor injury & you are up & about quickly.

Get thee to a doctor. Be prepared for a long recovery time. Even after its "healed" it won't be the same. Meaning pain free and working well. Hope for a full recovery, but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen.

Way back in the early 1970s, we went camping with a friend. Hauling stuff out of the van and over to the tent site. One thing I'd forgotten was the propane cylinder. I ran back and got it, then tried to step out of the van. For whatever reason, I landed on the side of my foot.

Not as nearly as far out as you were, but with no idea where there was an emergency room. My wife and buddy left me in the tent (yes in severe pain) to die. But to their credit, They found a place still open and rushed back to find my carcass. A bunch of xrays later the guy came back in and told me it wasn't broken, but I'd have been better of if it had been. He told me to look forward of a lifetime of problems. He was right.

Now that I'm old I keep looking back at the injury. I've been able to walk and hike. Even now it causes me pain and trouble. Like every morning when I go to get out of the shower I need to plan. If I dry my right foot first to step out into a slipper, all my weight is concentrated on that left ankle. It starts popping, just like when a kid cracks his knuckle. I become unstable (physically, I remain mentally unstable). Sometimes I manage to dry my left ankle first, then hope it holds me as I dry my right.

Oh, and I can't walk uphill with it. Can't leave it behind so I've developed a gait. One half step up, one to the side to keep that ankle level. Life is so much fun, then you die.

I had a compound fracture separating my heel from my ankle back in 1981. Not well yet and I've had 5 operations since the break.

Geez guys!! How about a few supportive posts? I sorry for the injury, but glad it was not way the hell out on the boonies when hunting moose. Best of luck. Hope you heal up fast.

RMD

This was me in August of '15.



Three surgeries later, including a total ankle replacement, and I'm about 80% with that ankle. Pain free now, but ROM is decreased. Like rburg, going uphill is difficult as I don't have the dorsiflexion I should.

If it is fractured, find the best surgeon you can (I can give you the name of a great guy in Seattle) to repair it and follow his instructions to a "T". Be prepared for no weight bearing for probably 6-8 weeks and then a goodly amount of PT to get back to somewhat normal. If a bad sprain or closed dislocation, they will probably allow some weight bearing, but you'll likely be in a splint or boot for some time and then PT.

The best advice I can give you is don't mess around with it and don't try to push it. The ankle is a complicated joint and a lot of things can go wrong leaving you permanently wounded.

In July, I hyperextended my ankle while doing yard work.
Next day, it was bruised and swollen at the site.
In October, I finally went to the doctor for it, as it still hurt. Was a dull ache sensation constantly, and caused lots of lost sleep.
Doc diagnosed it as a high ankle sprain. The bruising indicated there had been some torn ligaments. Sent me for x-rays, and set me up for 6 weeks of therapy. Also said that if therapy didn’t cure it, I’d then need an MRI.

Therapy greatly increased the range of motion.
During work days, I still use a compression brace, but it comes off when I get home.

They say ankle sprains can take 6 months to a year to fully heal.

Take it easy, and I wish you success in healing up.

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:

quote:

I'm so glad I told her where I was going.

Good planning can take the sting out of a lot of crappy situations. Well done on both you and your wife.
I hope you can get to a doc sooner rather than later and hope it's just a dislocation and not fractured.
Having both broken and sprained the crap out an ankle, either way your screwed for a while.

I'm drinking some whisky to help ease your pain and toasting to the Northwest.

How long was your recovery? I'm hoping to pull off a solo fall sheep hunt around September, I know it's still a ways off but I'm worried.

Think about being on a solo fall sheep hunt and having this happen. You'd be screwed. I think you may have dodged a bullet when your ankle blew out on a little hike near home.

You never know what worse luck your bad luck saved you from.

I have had multiple sprains, and broken both ankles.

Mostly while in the army. When I broke my right ankle, in 3AD in Frankfurt, They put a cast on it, reached almost to my knee. Did not get me out of field exercises, alerts, etc.

No crutch, walking cast.

According to the doctors then, it was better that I broke it rather than sprain.

You could still go looking for your moose with a walking cast. Just protect it so it does not get all gooey from water or melting snow.

Good luck on your ankle, and your moose hunt.

Sorry, dude. Possible dislocation and probable break.

Did it on a berm 6 years ago. Two surgeries later, I’m almost 100%, but it did take a full year to get there.