Fractured ankle-How do I bounce back from this?

Thanks all!Once again I'm realizing why Masters Swimming is special-because for everything that one could experience it is very likely that there are at least a couple of others that have been there-done that! I have an app. in 2 days to remove staples and find out what type of cast I will get next and for how long.I'm cautiously optimistic that I will be cleared for driving so I could get to PT or my gym to work with a trainer on the other 3 limbs,but even if I'm not I will start working with weights or a stretch band at home.It has been shocking how quickly muscles break down when you do nothing....and I need my arm strength if I have to use crutches for another month! Thank you for all the ideas and encouragement...things now don't look quite as bleak.

Crutches can be a great aerobic and upper body workout. You might surprise yourself. :) When I was sidelined by knee surgery, I stayed away from the pool until I was allowed at least some weight-bearing. A slippery wet pool deck + crutches is a bad combination.

Wrapping up week 7 and I'm still in a cast,finaly weight bearing,but not able to swim-never thought I'd miss the stink of chlorine this much!:toohurt: This whole experience has made me wonder-does 'swimming only' promote weaker bones due to it being non-weighbearing? Congrats on making it this far! Doesn't it feel weird to learn to walk again? I kind of forgot what it was like the first time around... I think that if you're doing some cross-training, you'll get all the bone development you need. Pepper in some jumping jacks and walking to your routine, and that should do the trick. Also, whatever physical therapy they give you, keep it up, even when you're feeling better! I regret not doing more after I got the hardware removed from my ankle. That second round didn't heal as well as the first. Digging that new smiley, btw.

A lot of us use stretch cords for rotator cuff exercises. But there is a book on how you can use these for all kinds of exercises to stay in shape. nirsa.humankinetics.com/showproduct.cfm It sucks to have a wounded body part of any kind, but the ankle is not as bad as it could be since you can workout so much of the rest of your body without aggravating this. Injuries closer to the core--hip, back--are more problematic because almost any exercise hurts! I agree with what everyone says here. As soon as you can get back into the water, do so. Modify your activity so it doesn't inhibit your ankle healing, but lets you stay in the water and with your teammates (if you have any.) Karen's idea sounded great to me. Good luck. It truly does suck to be sidelined, but knowing that A) you don't have to be sidelined completely, and B) this will heal eventually, and you will forget which ankle was even broken, should help you deal with the psychological aspect of this, which is often, in my experience, worse than the physical injury itself.

This whole experience has made me wonder - does 'swimming only' promote weaker bones due to it being non-weightbearing? I don't know if you can call them "weaker" bones but I have read studies that have determined that swimmers and cyclists run a risk of less dense bone structures due to their choice of exercise, especially when not including weight bearing exercises to augment their preferred exercise routine.

Hang in there. The pool won't go anywhere and once you are back in, you will be surprised how fast you will get your strength back.

Wrapping up week 7 and I'm still in a cast,finaly weight bearing,but not able to swim-never thought I'd miss the stink of chlorine this much!:toohurt: This whole experience has made me wonder-does 'swimming only' promote weaker bones due to it being non-weighbearing?

Thinking back to when I was in high school, we had a 50 free state champoin break something in his lower leg maybe a month or two before the state championship meet. He was, at the time, a contender going after the national 50 free record. I remember I had made the state meet that year as a pretty strong contender for a state title in his absence. I didn't pay attention to the heat before me (which he was in) but imagine my surprise on the medal platform to find out that he had beaten me with a cast on his leg. He went 21.8 in the 50y free with a cast... about a second slower than his state record at the time. If he could sprint that fast in a cast, i'm sure you could swim in one just to keep the endurance up. Casts are waterproof now aren't they?

Thinking back to when I was in high school, we had a 50 free state champoin break something in his lower leg maybe a month or two before the state championship meet. He was, at the time, a contender going after the national 50 free record. I remember I had made the state meet that year as a pretty strong contender for a state title in his absence. I didn't pay attention to the heat before me (which he was in) but imagine my surprise on the medal platform to find out that he had beaten me with a cast on his leg. He went 21.8 in the 50y free with a cast... about a second slower than his state record at the time. If he could sprint that fast in a cast, i'm sure you could swim in one just to keep the endurance up. Casts are waterproof now aren't they? I wish! Have been given strickt instructions to keep this one dry-and swimming with a garbage bag on my leg just does not seem very practical! When I first posted I had no clue how badly I managed to break things-finaly got to see an x-ray and its a good amount of hardware that I've been told will need to stay in.Unfortunately it also feels like I have quite a bit of nerve damage-so I can't really feel my foot,not sure how that will affect walking or swimming.

Thanks Jim!I like the strech cord idea-I'll see if our AG team has one to borrow.Right now I'm sticking with free weights and strech bands....it's pretty pathetic to see how fast the muscle in the one leg broke down from non use!To know it took months if not years to build those *** stroke kicking thighs-gone in less than 2 month!