Today is exactly four years since I broke my Tibia Plateau. I still get anxiety around this time of year! In some ways the time has passed quickly and in other ways it seems like I have been dealing with this forever.
On the whole, I am pretty well and can't complain. My biggest problems in the last year has been 1) trying to keep my plantar fasciitis under control and 2) working on keeping knee "flare ups" to a minimum.
I'm not sure how common plantar faciitis is after an injury like ours, but I bet it is more common than we know. My problems started about 4 months after my hardware removal. Now, whether the hardware removal caused this, or as my activity level increased after hardware removal and caused it, I'll never know. All I know is it took me at least 18 months to be rid of it, or I should say, mostly rid of it because if I overdo I still can feel the twinge. I tried everything to get better; icing, massage, custom orthotics, rest, but the one thing that did it for me was a night split. It looks like this:
As far as flare ups, I noticed that if I overdo the activity and don't do the exercise bicycle I start getting swelling in the knee. Of course, that sends me into a total panic that there is something wrong with my knee. If this happens, I revert back to the RICE method. Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. It really does work, especially the ice. Well actually, it all works pretty well. My best advice to you all is to consistently use an exercise bicycle or a real bike, and work out with that. It really strengthens the quads, which is super important. For me, no other exercise works as well as the bike. Sometimes I slack off going to the gym and don't take my own advice and I start getting the twinges. I know its happening so I know I need to get biking ASAP.
I wish you all best of healing and try to keep a positive attitude. All TPFs are different and everyone heals differently. I'm now 56 years old and doing pretty much everything I want to do. Just take it one day at a time was my motto back then and I still have to remember that old saw when I get a twinge.
Good luck, everyone!
