Is there anyone on this site who has a Intramedullary Rod?

soshotout
soshotout Posts: 115
edited September 28 in Health and Weight Loss
Almost 12 years ago, I was in a 3-Wheeler accident where I shattered my Tibia and Fibula. I had to have an Intramedullary Rod put in my Tibia from knee to ankle and my Fibula was just too shattered to do anything about. I had a lot of complications with the surgery and from having such a bad break and still have a lot of issues with it, such as pain, swelling, etc.

I was wondering if anyone else here has had this same procedure and how they are doing with it.

It has been a long time for me since the initial surgery and Dr's say that there is nothing more that they can do for me, even though it has caused me trouble for this long. I had severe tissue damage as well and my leg just about rotted off before they took me into surgery again to attempt some type of tissue 're-arrangement' that left me looking like a shark-attack victim.

I have trouble with jumping, running, etc. Anyone else?

Replies

  • fcrisswell
    fcrisswell Posts: 234 Member
    I know nothing about your type of injury but you might consider a recumbant bike for exercise. They are suppose to be easier on the joints, etc. If you know of a physical rehab center you may give them a call or contact a gym and see if they have experiences with these types of injuries/pain to get some ideas of what you can do.
  • ChaseAlder
    ChaseAlder Posts: 804 Member
    I also know nothing about what you've got going on, but I was going to suggest maybe swimming? It's easier on your joints and offers good resistance! You could walk laps in the shallow end of the pool if there's one near you, and then swim some laps in the deep end as well!
  • daryls
    daryls Posts: 260
    Ouch!!! Mine is not the same - but I understand your pain and frustration. I did a tibial plateau fracture and ACL tear. Unfortunately, the fracture lodged in my knee joint and restricted all movement of my knee joint for several months. I had two surgeries and had to re-learn how to walk - TWICE!

    Anyways, that was 6 years ago. I started working out and running more frequently but then I started having pain on my other leg - ARGH! So, I went back to the orthopedist who determined that I had patellofemoral syndrome on my other knee. Of course, it's all related to my original injury and how my body has compensated. I'm in PT now for a few months to see if I can fix and re-align my body.

    Luckily, I live in SoCal and my PTs are from USC where their program focuses on the body as a system and they treat the whole body! They have me doing a combination of exercises, including pilates.

    As a therapist (intern) I have learned that a lot of my challenges have been around my fears about re-injuring my knee (so much so that I over compensated and injured the other knee). It's a mental game, though the physical pain is real. I made excuses for so long about my knee, and yes, it hurts and will never be the same. But, I have found ways to exercise that aren't as painful (spinning) and have kept my body moving. I'd say I'm much stronger, both physically and mentally, today than I was before my accident, though it has been HARD work.

    So, I hope you can find peace with this, as I am still working on finding it and am getting closer.....
  • soshotout
    soshotout Posts: 115
    Hmmm... well, gym memberships to use their machines are not an option unfortunately and neither is swimming (pool-wise, anyway.. I do take the kids to a creek where we routinely hike up and down it in the water and swim in the deeper spots). I live pretty far from anywhere and have very limited funds so I do all of my exercising at home. I love Pilates as it makes my muscles feel awesome however with trying to drop the weight I have begun doing more cardio and strength training. I'm hoping that as the weight drops & I get stronger, some of my pain will go away too.
  • daryls
    daryls Posts: 260
    About the pain going away when you lose weight - mine did not. I'm around 114 pounds and my injury still hurts.

    Do you remember the exercises your PT gave you??? I would start by doing those everyday.

    I also elevate my leg when I'm sitting and I still ice it after workouts. You can also take OTC medicine to help with the swelling (my knee is still a few degrees hotter than my other knee).
  • soshotout
    soshotout Posts: 115
    I had no insurance and never went to PT. I taught myself to walk on it on my own. Once I did get insurance and went to another Orthapedic Surgeon a few years later he just told me there was nothing he could do about it and said 'exercise' and sent me home, lol.

    I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, I guess. I elevate it when I can and stay away from salt for the most part to keep the swelling down. I will just have to stay in tune with what my body tells me when exercising to know when to modify.
  • wb2009
    wb2009 Posts: 1
    Have you asked your doctor about the chance of removing it? Yours injury were a long time ago, so I think your bone are already healed. I wonder why it cannot be removed. The restriction in leg movement is due to the screws fixing the rod in place. I found the following information online that may help:
    http://trumbore.com/leg/remove.html

    Actually I have heard of this intramedullary rod from a web forum on leg-lengthening surgery. Pretty much the procedure involves breaking the tibia and fixing them with a frame for the lengthening phase. After the frame is removed, the gained height between the two broken bones in the tibia is fixed with the intramedullary rods to support the legs until the bone is fully consolidated. At the end of the process, the rods are removed after about 1-2 years. Following is the web forum that I guess you can ask this question to those that currently have the rods inside their legs.
    http://www.makemetaller.org/

    So in your case, I wonder why yours cannot be removed when you already recovered and went back to normal life.
  • rachelhaley104
    rachelhaley104 Posts: 1
    Tomorrow is my 6 month anniversary of my accident in January. I was riding my bike on a local bike trail and was t boned by a truck in an intersection. It left me with a broken tibia tibia right collar bone and lacerated spleen. I had the IM rod placed in my right tibia with two screws to stabilize it. I just started slowing jogging today but it is going to be a process to get back to where I was before. I rode the bike at the gym, go for walks, and I would swim if my gym had a pool. I hope your recovery is going well.
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