I broke my heel (Calcaneous bone) on April 14th, 2007. I was taken to the nearest hospital (which by the way was and is going through some problems financially and I've heard that you go in there for a cold and you come out dead or something, anyways it isn't a good idea to have surgery there).

I asked the doc that was taking care of me what was going on with my foot. He said that surgery needed to be done ASAP but I should be good to go in 2 weeks but to stay off of it for 1 week and come back once the swelling goes down. So the next day I went to my clinic (Police and Fire Clinic. Did i forget to mention that i'm a fire fighter in training) and they recommended me seeing an ortho, one of the best in the area.

My new Ortho gave me the details on exactly what was going on. I had broken my heel, actually i had shattered it like an egg shell and needed surgery right away. I waited a week for the swelling to go down, and after that my Ortho did his thing and now i have 8 pins and some type of chain in my right foot. (Sounds bad but it is lol). Through all of this weight bearing is out of the picture so DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PUT ANY WEIGHT ON IT PLEASE!!!

Well one week after surgery i went it and he said that everything looks good that I should keep weight off of it for 8-12 weeks. Well that there was my sentencing to HELL, why? before my accident i was what you called a Health Freak, running half marathons, running 10k's for breakfast, lifting, spin classes-galor, no pain no gain type of guy. So 8-12 weeks of no weight bearing, HA! I would rather want you to remove my testicle without anestisia.

Well before the 8th week i attempted my first spin class, and honestly it was a waste of time. my right foot had no power, no muscle already, after 8 weeks of motionless living, then your muslce kind of dies.

A few days after my 8th week i had another visit with my super-star ortho and he said the words that i wanted to hear "Nelson, it's time for you to remove your boot and get into a sneaker, so you need to start putting weight on it" Okay so i was happy, but i wasn't able to do that, i tried believe i did but it wasn't happening; why? well that's because my BRAIN wasn't letting me, wasn't letting my foot. So that's when the Physical Therapy came into play.

Okay, 12 weeks have gone by, I had my foot xrayed and my doc said that my bone has healed completely, wow I guess milk does fix things huh? seriously though, i started walking after my month of pt, and each week i've improved more due to practice, you need to walk, you need to do the little work outs at home all the time. You need to walk or try to walk as much as possible.

It's been hard, i wont lie, i've gone through my good days and bad days. I've gained about 10 pounds HAHA, I'll lose it though, I hope. Don't lose hope, i had my injury on april 14th 2007, i have 8 pins and a metal rack inside my foot, it's now aug. 8th 2007, so almost 4 months have gone by, and i'm almost 100%.

I think my doctor did a good job, so my recommendation is to get a good ortho so he can take care of you. 2nd listen to him, his instructions are priceless, 3rd go to PT, you might only go twice a week but work your foot out every day, once or twice a day.

no pain no gain, well in this case, try not to feel any pain. Bone heals in 12 weeks, tissue heals in 8 weeks. Remember that, so the closer you get to 12 weeks, the closer you can walk with 100% weight.

If you have any specific questions email me and I'll answer. ntr_wsc@hotmail.com