Tibial Plateau Fracture Recovery

I have read the postings since my TP fx on 1/31/11 but never posted until now. Original injury was a bicondylar TPfx that required 2 plates, 12 screws, cadaver bone, and a torn meniscus. As everyone else can attest it is a long and difficult road to recover from this injury. I am posting now in response to Casper 2012 and Greg33 as I have many of the same issues.

After one year I was still experiencing a lot of pain and stiffness in my injured leg and I went back to the original Ortho to see about getting the hardware removed. There was still quite a bit of swelling and he gave me a steroid shot. This helped for a few days and it felt great but after the swelling was gone things went downhill. I began to experience very sharp pain when walking and I went back for a CT scan. This revealed that some of the cadaver bone never bonded and I had loose bone fragment getting pinched between the tibial plateau and the femur. The CT scan also revealed osteonecrosis in the TP beyond just the cadaver bone.

I got several opinions from orthopedic surgeons from doing an allograft to replace a portion of the tibial plateau with another 3 months non weight bearing, but I decided on just a new ACL, hardware removal, resurface and foreign body removal, and meniscectomy of the TP. The surgery went well and a lot of the pain and stiffness went away for about 3 months. Even though my leg is better it is starting to go downhill again and I still have a lot of instability in my knee. Because the TP healed depressed there is too much space between the tibia and femur and the collateral ligaments are no longer tight enough to keep the knee stable even with the new ACL. I will say that the hardware removal was great. That part was an easy recovery and I was only on crutches for about a week and a half. After the hardware was gone I no longer had shooting pain in my leg and it had to be done anyways for the inevitable knee replacement.

I went to another surgeon last month and got a custom ACL brace and a series of synvisc injections to help with the catching in my knee. This helped but it is still just a matter of time before a TKR. Last week I saw a TKR specialist and after reviewing the x rays he agreed that my knee does not look a 40 yo knee. I know most surgeons don't like to do TKR's for a 40 year old but he said after looking at my knee he would do one. I haven't decided yet but I am starting to lean that direction as I am at the point where it is difficult to walk due to pain and instability in my knee.

Thanks for all the posts and good luck to everyone.

Eli98-Your's has been a long journey and you are young for a knee replacement but they are making them better and longer lasting. My Ortho told me that if I was ten years older, I'm 57, that they would not have done surgery and put the hardware in and instead would have just let the fracture heal on its own and then done a TKR. He was hopeful that my knee with the meniscus repair would recover but it didn't. I had my hardware removal post op appt on Monday andhenow wants me to focus on building up muscle strength in prep for the TKR. It's going to be really tough if my knee doesn't start to feel any better and I really don't want to take pain killers every day just to get through it. So I'm starting slow and once my incision is healed more I'm considering going back to PT for a while to see if that will help more than just exercising at home. My ROM is only about 90 degrees. Thanks for sharing your journey,it's so helpful to read about other's experience through recovery. Seems like its not a simple or easy recovery for most of us.

I am so happy to have found this thread. Leg broke on 9/5; surgery on 9/13 (I was on vacation and the medcenter at the beach couldn't do surgery so told me to wait til I got home). Part of the plateau was broken so plate, screws, plus allograft. Staples came out 9/28 and ortho said at least another 4 weeks non-weight bearing in wheelchair or bed.
Thank you all for posting because you are answering so many of the questions I have (burning, tingling, numbness, swelling and just general frustration about not being mobile and active).

Hi all, so glad to find this site like everyone else I'm looking for answers for my TPF.A little info about my injury closed displacedTPF w/spiral fracture. Injury occurred 8/23/12 had surgery 8/28/12, had 2 Pc hardware w13 screws fell 12 ft off roof landed on my feet on driveway (very blessed this is all that happened not that this is a Pc of cake) just got off my cpm got it up to 110 am currently doing knee bends sitting, ankle and calf stretches, isometric exercises.NWB till end of Nov. I am up to 200 on each pain not as bad now I know I am pushing but sure hope I am back to work by Feb 2013 I work in a chemical plant as a process tech. Very athletic always on the go like a lot of y'all I have read about job requires lots of stairs and climbing any ideas on how I can make myself stronger I appreciate it. Thanks to all and rapid recovery to all this recovery is a long drawn out thing as my Dr told me. Keep your head up and stay positive. Thanks

Okay, so. I am now post TPF (8-14-12) six weeks or so. No surgery was required according to doc, at least at the moment. I do, however, have a question with an area of pain that is a major concern for me still. When I have to squat down and the right knee is at least 90 degrees, with weight equally distributed between the two legs, I get an incredible sharp pain deep inside the right knee, both going down, and coming back up. It happens at the same point of flex without fail, and once I have either passed that point of flex in either direction, the pain subsides. Any guesses on what this may be? Is this a meniscus issue, is something perhaps catching at the same point everytime? I know this may be terribly difficult to answer without the benefit of images and MRI interpretation, but I was hoping someone might have had some experience anyway.

Hi I have a tibial plateau fracture/dislocation from a dirt biking accident .I had surgery on 9/16/12 I have 2 plates not sure how many screws so it has been 3 weeks since my surgery .I was not aware that the healing process would be so long . The OS said that I have one tendon that he did not fix ,didn't say why ? I also have a foot that is numb and a stretching feeling in the arch of my foot that causes severe pain ,and it feels as if someone is blowing cold air on my toes even when they are warm ( doesn't feel like it but they are) I am hoping that this doesn't last to long it really sucks .My OS does not believe in PT so I don't know what to expect for when I go to my follow up on oct 17 . I am in a Zimmer and he want's my leg to stay straight he also wants me to be able to do 1000 leg lefts a day ,that has been quite the challenge but i keep doing more as each day goes on, I also move my ankle around all day long I am hoping that will help me in the long run, Is this going to be harder for me when it comes time to move my leg? I never got told anything .This forum has been quite the eye opening experience. The OS made it seem that after the 6-12 weeks I would be back to normal . This has been quite depressing as I have a 9 month old baby that I can't carry around(also had to be weaned while I was in the hospital for 2 weeks):( or play with my 4 other children the way I used to :(. I have to keep telling my self that there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I am now suffering from insomnia which also sucks so all I think about is the numb foot any tips on trying to sleep? I haven't read has any one else been over weight when this injury happened ? will this make the healing process even longer ?

Foss I too have numbness in my toes, insomnia I go go my os tomorrow and hopefully get some ansewers to these a d some other questions good luck to you and have patience.

Has anyone on here had a stress fracture in their foot while starting rehab/walking again after a TPF repair?

I had the same foot sensations you're having and both went away, though very slowly. When you can finally put weight on the leg and walk, you can relieve the stretching sensation on the bottom of your foot by placing a washcloth on the floor and trying to pick it up with your toes. Sounds strange, but it works.
I had a full leg to hip articulated brace and was in it for nine weeks. I had PT for range of motion while I was in a rehab center. When I finally got the brace off I had to persuade my OS that I needed PT at home, and I did. I am overweight (age 67 and wasn't very active before I took a long "step" off a ladder and did a TPF with compression and cracked both ends of the fibula) and I had no muscle tone to begin with, so getting back to walking normally again was what I needed the PT for. Your leg lifts are probably for the quad muscles in your front thigh that do the work when you walk or sit; they will need further exercise when your brace comes off and you can begin to walk. Your brace is for extension right now. Your muscles would contract and you would have a hard time getting a full leg extension without it to keep the muscles stretched.
Your comment about not being told anything is typical of the medical community. Google these words: new yorker atul gawande big med
The article is an eye opener. Explained a whole lot to me.
The best thing you can do right now is to stop thinking about what happened and work on getting better. You will get better. I didn't have a clue regarding this injury until I was in the rehab facility and googled the injury and when I did I nearly fainted. The time frame for complete healing is up to a year. I'm at five months from injury and surgery two days later and I'm walking. Not running (haven't since I was 50ish) but I am walking. And I had no muscles to begin with, still don't really. Your OS sounds like my OS; no concept that people have individual needs and that we feel stuff. My OS treated me like I was/am parts. I got over it, and just told him what I wanted and wanted to know.

good luck,
Mary in FL

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Originally Posted by foss5

I also have a foot that is numb and a stretching feeling in the arch of my foot that causes severe pain ,and it feels as if someone is blowing cold air on my toes even when they are warm ( doesn't feel like it but they are) I am hoping that this doesn't last to long it really sucks .My OS does not believe in PT so I don't know what to expect for when I go to my follow up on oct 17 . I am in a Zimmer and he want's my leg to stay straight he also wants me to be able to do 1000 leg lefts a day ,that has been quite the challenge but i keep doing more as each day goes on, I also move my ankle around all day long I am hoping that will help me in the long run, Is this going to be harder for me when it comes time to move my leg? I never got told anything .This forum has been quite the eye opening experience. The OS made it seem that after the 6-12 weeks I would be back to normal . This has been quite depressing as I have a 9 month old baby that I can't carry around(also had to be weaned while I was in the hospital for 2 weeks):( or play with my 4 other children the way I used to :(. I have to keep telling my self that there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I am now suffering from insomnia which also sucks so all I think about is the numb foot any tips on trying to sleep? I haven't read has any one else been over weight when this injury happened ? will this make the healing process even longer ?

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Good news os said all looks good cleared for 20lbs of weight on rt leg also start pt well that is set up for this afternoon.doc said all my pains are normal w healing but we are gonna get you into a brace for straightening so the work begins.Hope the best for all and quick recovery stay positive and GO TEXANS!!!

Hey guys, first post here

I am a 22 year old male. Got a TPF in a car wreck on the 11th of august. Along with a broken femur, a couple of ribs and some other damage. Basically crashed the car into a mountain wall at around 70 mph, luckily I was the only one inside. Was the most horrific pain I've ever had, and it took a while untill anyone came along to help me. I believe the TPF was a pure depression fracture, so a type III I believe. Allthough the OS said III or IV.

Surgery for femur was on the same night (11. aug) and the TPF surgery was done one the 22. aug. There was a wound right below the knee so they wanted it to dry out before doing anything, to prevent infection.

Brace initially was set to 20 degrees a couple weeks after surgery, and yesterday I got it set to 60 degrees and I can set it to 90 when I reach 60. It's been 7 weeks post TPF surgery now. Still NWB, doctor says I will be PWB around the 5th of november. I see other people on here that are able to move their legs so much more earlier on, so I am a bit impatient to see more progress.

Injury kind of sucks for me since I am used to lift weights and had pretty strong legs. Used to train with 350 for 10 reps or so squatting. Anyone had experience with squats, legpressing and deadlifting after an injury like this?

Here is some x-rays for you guys
http://i46.tinypic.com/2nlv95y.jpg

OK, so I had my 6wk check-up since released to FWB, you can see by my signature info that it was a complex TPF injury.

X-rays look good, ROM & Ext are good. Continued PT and released to having just a telephone conference with OS in 2 months - due to travel distance. I am still having medial side pain. He feels it has to do with bone spurs on the back of my kneecap and lack of strength in muscles and such. I do however, have a stress fracture in my foot due to over-use and lack of use while NWB. Now I have been told to ease off activities for a few weeks to allow this to heal.

So have hope, in the short term recovery can be had with this injury. I am still not out of the woods, but am told I am doing exceptionally well considering the severity. Have faith and do the work, but don't over do it!

10 weeks post op, 10.5 weeks post break. Saw the surgeon today, xrays look good, the break lines are really faint now. I'm cleared to weight bear as much as I can tolerate, and do anything except run and contact sports (as if).

My recovery so far...I'm only using one crutch and can walk short distances without them. I can bend my knee to almost 90 degrees, with alot of pain. I'm swimming 3 times a week. I have my mountain bike on a trainer and am pushing my leg back and forth on the pedals. A fair way to go before I'll get it all the way around.

I'm in pain all the time. Walking hurts, bending hurts, swimming hurts less. But I'm determined to be back on my road bike before Xmas.

9 weeks from surgery
11 weeks from injury

Had a bit of a setback this week and had to see the OS a week prior to my 10 week appt.. I was giving my daughter a bath and when I left the bathroom I must have had some water on the bottom of my crutch. Needless to say my crutch (the right crutch and my right leg is the injured leg) slipped out from underneath me. Talk about feeling like someone hit you with a baseball bat in the leg. I immediately dropped in absolute pain and freaked both of the kids out completely. I don't know if I hyperextended or just extremely flexed the knee, it happened so quickly I just don't know.

Fortunately, the knee was still flexing and extending ok and seemed to be ok except for the immense pain from whatever I did. I still could extend and flex about the same amount as I was prior to the fall. I made it to the pool and had a PT appointment that day. The pool did not feel very well at all, quite a bit of pain compared to the other pool days that I was having. The PT checked it out to see if he could tell if I did any ACL or MCL damage and everything seemed to be ok. He did seem to find a very specific pain spot along my medial scar. He did not know what I may have done either. On the positive side, he said I may have self manipulated my knee. Basically, drastically flexing it so quickly that I may have helped break up some scar tissue hopefully allowing it to flex a little more. He has seen this before and people are in pain for a while and then it eventually goes away. He measured and I had basically the same amount of flexion (103 degrees or so) as I did from my previous appt. 3 days prior.

The PT suggested getting new x-rays to make sure I did not mess up my knee. So I went to the OS yesterday for appt.. They took x-rays and the knee looks great. Both plates and screws were in the same place and nothing looked our of the ordinary. He said everything looked good and even though I was a week before my 10 week, he said to go ahead and start putting as much weight on it that I could bear. I looked at him like he was crazy but I was excited at the same time.

I am still hesitant to put weight on it and would like to spend a couple of more weeks in the pool just to see how it reacts to whatever I did. If there is one thing I have learned from this injury is a bit of patience and I would like to have this issue somewhat corrected before bearing any weight on the leg.

The pain is along the medial side of the knee. Basically starting near the top of the scar and the pain goes up basically the medial side of the knee from just below the knee up to about the middle of the knee cap on the medial side. I can see some swelling near the injured area below the knee cap but not too much. In general, the knee is more swollen and my ankle swelled up and was in pain as well.

It seems to be ok in general (I can do about 90% of the exercises and still ride on the recumbent with a little bit of pain) but when I do specific exercises causes extreme pain. Basically, if I lay on my stomach and try to bend/raise the knee up (the glute exercise my PT has me do), I can not raise/hinge my leg. Also, if I try to do my hamstring (from a seated position and bending the knee back towards me with my foot attached to an exercise band) exercises with the band it causes the same pain. The pain is in the same area as described above. Hopefully, I have just strained or pulled a muscle in the knee and it will just take some time to heal.

So, I am going to attempt the pool again tomorrow to see how it feels. I then have a PT appt. in the afternoon so hopefully he might be able to add some insight as to what may have happened.

So, overall kind of happy and bummed at the same time.

I fractured my Tibia Plateau in 3 places on 8/26/12, included torn meniscus and strained MCL. 4 hour surgery on 8/31. Now have 1 plate and 4 screws. Spent 3 days in hospital. First 4 days at home were tough. Today is 6 weeks out from surgery and I am starting to feel like I am making progress. My OS cleared me yesterday for partial weight bearing, 25lbs max for next 4 weeks. Today in PT I rode the stationary bike! yea! It actually felt pretty good, but a little sore tonight. I have gone to PT 3x per week since 2 weeks out, primarily for ROM and extension. I have gone from 60 deg to 106 degree ROM and 17 to 4 in extension. Today begins the path to rebuild my quad muscle. PT is a must, don't stop. Only downside for me was a pulled hamstring after second PT. This may bother me more than my leg but is getting better. I also have consistently been icing my knee, sometimes for hours at a time. I beleive in this as well. I too have swelling, especially when foot is down for extended periods of time but this also seems to getting better in last two weeks. My OS also recommended socks to help with that. After two weeks on crutches, I had created some sharp pains under my arms. I found crutches called "Mobi-legs" on the internet. All the pain went away in a week. They are great. Although this generally sucks, I probably needed the downtime and it has certainly given me an appreciation for my legs. My plan is to stay positive and continue PT until I am 100%. I will always focus on my leg stength and balance in the gym going forward. Thank god it is football season!

Hobblerguy, I did similar. Fell over onto my bad knee and flexed it more than I could do comfortably. Huge pain, swelling and couldn't weight bear for a couple of days. Luckily for me, no damage and 3 weeks later, fully weight bearing again. I was also told that I may have helped the flexing along, but alas no. At 11 weeks, still only around 90 degrees :(

Hi Guys, the specialist has informed me that I should get all of my hardware removed in the next 6 months (I am now 6.5 months post operation). Has anyone had theirs removed? If so, any ideas on the recovery periods (i have 5 horizontal screws and 1 vertical). Cheers

Asthma i. I had my hardware (2 plates, dozen screws) removed 4 weeks ago today. There's pain for a few days but then just minor discomfort. No big deal compared to the original surgery. I had mine done in the hospital but they released me the same day of the surgery.

Hi, I’m Jim a 61 year old male and this is my first post here. My wife has been reading the posts here all summer but this is my first look at the site. A little history. I live in the Boston area and I fell off my bike in the Orlando Florida area in slow speed accident on May 12th 2012. Literal fell off from going too slow after I touched wheels with another cyclist. I was taken to a local regional hospital where a cat scan revealed a TPF. The local surgeon wanted to operate but I refused until he talked to my orthopedic guy in Boston. After two days I got the CAT scan to my doctor in Boston and he ordered me to Orlando Regional Hospital. Fortunately for me one of the top orthopedic trauma surgeons was located there.

Because it had taken two days to get there and there was excessive swelling, I had an external fixation device attached to my left leg to maintain orientation and length during my first surgery. They drilled two holes in my shin and 2 in my IT band to attach it. Four days later I had an operation on my left shoulder to repair some damage. The surgery was supposed to be quick, but ended up taking 5.5 hours for a complete A/C reconstruction. I failed to come off of the respirator and ended up in ICU for a day, something about needing to breathe to live. Five days later the swelling had reduced enough that they wanted to fix the leg, so I had another operation. The leg was in 9 major pieces which took 2 plates and 13 screws to fix. Two days later I had an ileus which is a failure or obstruction of the bowel system. That landed me in critical care for a couple of days. Fortunately I was able to avoid a 4th operation for that.

When I recovered from that I was unable to find a room in a critical care rehabilitation hospital in the Orlando area so my insurance company elected to get me back to Boston on a medical jet back in early June. I was then in the Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston until June 21st when I was sent home after 41 days in hospitals.

I have been receiving PT and OT at the Lahey Clinic since then. I have also developed adhesive capsulitis in my left shoulder (I had it in my right shoulder 3 years ago and it is quite painful). About a month ago I received partial weight bearing and I’m a month away from my next appointment with my surgeon when I hope to receive full weight bearing status. I have also been fighting a blood clot in the injured leg for most of the summer.
I certainly don’t have to tell anyone here this a long and brutal recovery. As many of you have discovered after 4-5 months of non-weight bearing, even the parts that were not hurt don’t work very well. First you need a great surgeon (it may be only 1-2 hours, but they are important hours), then some luck (many of you don’t seem to have had that), then good therapists and mostly a lot of stubbornness and fight from yourself. I’m told that at my age it will be 2 years until I get as good as I’m going to get. That after that arthritis is certain and a total knee replacement will be need in 6-8 years.

I hope to add to the conversation in any way I can. Good luck to you all. - Jim

Welcome to the board. Sounds like you have had a time of it. Hopefully the rest of your recovery will go well and there will be no set backs.

You will learn lots on here from others and gets lots of support. Just being able to chat with others that understand what you are going through is awesome in its self.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by dnabike

Hi, I’m Jim a 61 year old male and this is my first post here. My wife has been reading the posts here all summer but this is my first look at the site. A little history. I live in the Boston area and I fell off my bike in the Orlando Florida area in slow speed accident on May 12th 2012. Literal fell off from going too slow after I touched wheels with another cyclist. I was taken to a local regional hospital where a cat scan revealed a TPF. The local surgeon wanted to operate but I refused until he talked to my orthopedic guy in Boston. After two days I got the CAT scan to my doctor in Boston and he ordered me to Orlando Regional Hospital. Fortunately for me one of the top orthopedic trauma surgeons was located there.

Because it had taken two days to get there and there was excessive swelling, I had an external fixation device attached to my left leg to maintain orientation and length during my first surgery. They drilled two holes in my shin and 2 in my IT band to attach it. Four days later I had an operation on my left shoulder to repair some damage. The surgery was supposed to be quick, but ended up taking 5.5 hours for a complete A/C reconstruction. I failed to come off of the respirator and ended up in ICU for a day, something about needing to breathe to live. Five days later the swelling had reduced enough that they wanted to fix the leg, so I had another operation. The leg was in 9 major pieces which took 2 plates and 13 screws to fix. Two days later I had an ileus which is a failure or obstruction of the bowel system. That landed me in critical care for a couple of days. Fortunately I was able to avoid a 4th operation for that.

When I recovered from that I was unable to find a room in a critical care rehabilitation hospital in the Orlando area so my insurance company elected to get me back to Boston on a medical jet back in early June. I was then in the Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston until June 21st when I was sent home after 41 days in hospitals.

I have been receiving PT and OT at the Lahey Clinic since then. I have also developed adhesive capsulitis in my left shoulder (I had it in my right shoulder 3 years ago and it is quite painful). About a month ago I received partial weight bearing and I’m a month away from my next appointment with my surgeon when I hope to receive full weight bearing status. I have also been fighting a blood clot in the injured leg for most of the summer.
I certainly don’t have to tell anyone here this a long and brutal recovery. As many of you have discovered after 4-5 months of non-weight bearing, even the parts that were not hurt don’t work very well. First you need a great surgeon (it may be only 1-2 hours, but they are important hours), then some luck (many of you don’t seem to have had that), then good therapists and mostly a lot of stubbornness and fight from yourself. I’m told that at my age it will be 2 years until I get as good as I’m going to get. That after that arthritis is certain and a total knee replacement will be need in 6-8 years.

I hope to add to the conversation in any way I can. Good luck to you all. - Jim

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This forum has been great for me and understanding my TPF. I am 51 yrs old and while on vacation at the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes in MI I listened to my wonderful but idiot boyfriend & jumped off a sand dune ledge about 8 ft high into the sand. CRACK.... went the next day to the U of Mich ER and they diagnosed a TPF, put me in a brace and crutches and sent me on my way to fly home the next day to Florida. It is now 12 weeks later and my Ortho released me to full weight bearing and 100% healed. I felt wonderful until I started walking again and each day have sharp pains and extreme fatigue when trying to walk. I am not overweight (maybe 10 lbs) and very active but this has me depressed!! I would love to have an idea of how long to get your strength back and have no pain when walking. Weeks? Months? All replies will be so appreciated!

I am 47, started FWB 8/21 as tolerated, also PT since the beginning of Sept. 3x a wk and riding a stationary bike at home. I still can't descend stairs, kneel, or squat. I am gaining strength and am pleased with my progress so far. Many of us have gone through the depression that you are speaking of, you need to stay positive, look back to where you were and your accomplishments. Set small goals to achieve, make them reasonable.

You didn't specify where the sharp pains are. But the fatigue issue is normal and should return as build your stamina and strength up.

Everyone is different in their healing path and depending on the difference in fitness level before injury, age, severity of injury, how it is handled and how the patient deals with it would make a huge difference. The majority of the stories I have read on here seems to me like it is at least a full year before you feel like you did before the injury, some it takes longer.

Good luck, stay positive, baby steps!

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Originally Posted by MJR920

This forum has been great for me and understanding my TPF. I am 51 yrs old and while on vacation at the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes in MI I listened to my wonderful but idiot boyfriend & jumped off a sand dune ledge about 8 ft high into the sand. CRACK.... went the next day to the U of Mich ER and they diagnosed a TPF, put me in a brace and crutches and sent me on my way to fly home the next day to Florida. It is now 12 weeks later and my Ortho released me to full weight bearing and 100% healed. I felt wonderful until I started walking again and each day have sharp pains and extreme fatigue when trying to walk. I am not overweight (maybe 10 lbs) and very active but this has me depressed!! I would love to have an idea of how long to get your strength back and have no pain when walking. Weeks? Months? All replies will be so appreciated!

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Hi Foss5, your injury and surgery sounds similar to mine (surgery 8/8/12) and my surgeon also very unhelpful. (When you get rushed to the nearest Level 1 Trauma Center by ambulance you don't get to pick and choose your surgeons; you get whomever is on duty that day ...) I too had a lot of foot/ankle numbest/tingling/cold. It does get better after you start WB. Yes moving your ankle around a lot now will eventually help. I'm worried now though that my surgeon started me back on FWB too early (8 wks post op). Having a lot more pain. I also had a severe mid-tib fx (more plates and screws) and fib fx. I don't like my surgeon but am stuck w/him but I will say he did one good thing for me: an Rx for Ambien which was GODSEND for the insomnia. If you are still nursing of course you can't do it but if not, BEG your doc for Ambien. DEpending on severity and details of your injury o course, there may not be any such such as "back to normal". I.e. there will be a New Normal. For me and for many others too, I know-- this is a life-changing event, not just a temporary pain in the you-know-what.

I too am interested in others' experience in hardware removal timeframe. My doc says will have to remove the plate on exterior of knee "eventually" but the plate and 12 screws on interior of tibia will prob. stay. But he won't say WHEN the outside plate should come off.

Re: FWB- Any info on consequences of FWB too early (8 wks post-op vs. the 12 wks recommended by Mass Gen's Hosp. website?)

The so-called pads that come on the walkers and crutches are not nearly enough. My solution was to cut up some strips of firm foam rubber padding and use medical tape to put them on the walker and crutches. Don't go for the soft squishy foam rubber-- it compresses to nothing and doesn't help.