Hi Gang. anyone here gone thru, what I am about too? I’ve completely disrupted my peroneal tendon. MRI shows that the brevis is not in good shape either. Surgery booked in a few days to repair it. I know I’m non weight bearing for some time (have broken a leg, so not my first rodeo being non weight bearing). I need to know the good, bad and ugly of this. Is it reasonable to think I can at least walk in a few months. (wearing a brace) I respect, that I may not be able to ride, climb mountains or hike the dogs. But if I know that merely being able to motor my own body around after 3-4 months is realistic, it may help with some of this mind chatter and fear.
Did you read this yet?
Maybe some poster can help you with a more recent history of these repairs.
Which foot is it?
If it is the right one, there are handicapped gadgets that let you drive with your other foot.
I just had a peroneal tendon graft with a donor tendon (I previously had a tenodesus, removing the brevus and sewing the ends to the longus—17 year’s ago, a different injury); a brostrum procedure to tighten the ligaments with an internal brace, as well as arthroscopy to clean out the joint and all the scar tissue from the bimallolar fracture I had 2 years ago. Surgery was Nov. 22, 2017; non weight bearing for 2 weeks, then in a boot. I started PT almost immediately while non weight bearing and used a cold laser, ice, micro current therapy, back on track and TENS. I started riding after 4 weeks and am about 80% of normal. Ditched the boot a week ago. This recovery has been surprisingly rapid and the only issues have been battling the swelling, but I am able to get my Dressage boots on. The incision scar is still sore so I am using gel sleeves around my ankle when I ride. The first couple of weeks sucked, but I am now at the point where a I would be embarrassed to use my handicap parking tag. Be careful on uneven ground. Riding has helped this recovery tremendously.
I had my peroneals debrided & a brostrum repair on the ligament in 2013. I was non-weight bearing for 6 weeks, partial weight bearing for an additional 6 weeks. I think I started PT ~ 8 weeks. 12 weeks is pretty standard for walking, maybe not walking well, but walking.
My foot was completely jacked up by the time it was rebuilt (dumb @ss first surgeon screwed me over :mad:) so I’m not exactly representative of the general population. Rehab wasn’t particularly tough (surprised my PT), but it’s taken quite a while for it to feel normal, like a few years. I tried riding a year or so after & ended up 3-footed lame so quit, but again, my ankles were/are a complete wreck on many levels. The general rule is it takes about a year to fully recover, which I’ve found to be true, all 4 times.
The foot/ankle forum on Healthboards.org had a lot of good information about coping with ankle surgery.
I started the thread that Bluey referenced. It pretty much details my experience. 6 years down the road (my how time flies:disgust:), I am pretty much the same. Still enjoy relief from the nasty pain. I never got a lot of mechanical improvement and the peroneal muscle never really plumped back up but over all, having no pain make sure it worth it. I did have another round of physical therapy a year out and we did e-stim on the muscle and that did increase the muscle strength.
I would think by 3-4 months you should be getting back on solid ground. My MD actually took me out of the cast (replaced with boot) for PT early and I was partially weight bearing about 5 weeks earlier than he had said pre-op. So, in my case, it wasn’t as bad as it was initially laid out to me.
Jingles for a successful surgery and speedy healing.
Susan
I was so surprised as my rapid recovery that I did a little research and I think the donor graft is actually a faster and better recovery than trying to do a repair. I did have the tenodesus done 17 years ago and I sort of remember a four month recovery with that. I am only about seven weeks post surgery–riding (although still weaker on that side), walking (can walk around a store for about 40 minutes until its starts really bugging me)–not running yet but doing well. I have almost achieved all of my range of movement and now we are working on strength. Its really not as bad as breaking your bones. Once you get it over with, it’s uphill from there.
