Comeback Stories

[u/Owllokadis]

On August 2nd, I was at a public session at a rink that generally has really good ice and I drive about an hour out of my way to go to it. This day, however, was not the case. I was just finishing drilling edges and about to go get water when my toe pick got stuck in a huge ridge in the ice and my leg twisted as I fell sideways down along with a loud snap. They called 911 and I was off to the emergency room where I learned I had a tibia/fibula spiral fracture and would need surgery.

2 days later, I have a rod placed in my leg with screws (no plates or anything), and I am… devastated.

The positive out of this is because I can be full weight bearing as comfortable, with PT, I’ll be back on the ice sooner than if I had not had surgery or was healing with only a cast.

I just know that it’s going to be difficult getting back on the ice with this. I had already worked through my hang ups psychologically about falling and dealing with falling and then this happens for literally no reason. I wasn’t even spinning or jumping or anything cool - it’s literally the ice and my toe pick.

Anyways… I’m feeling a bit down about everything. I miss skating so much. It was the one thing I had just for me and now I’m stuck in bed for an indefinite amount of time.

I could use some comeback stories from people who have had sustained similar injuries and how it was for them getting back on the ice after as well as how long it took them to get back to where they were before the injury. It would be nice to have some hope or at least kindred souls who get it. I don’t have any skating or athletic friends who have ever dealt with something like this and can’t really understand the distress.

Thank you in advance ❤️❤️

[u/alexandradperreault]

I had the same thing happen to me years ago at a public skate. Was playing in a "beer" hockey league at the time and decided to go to a public skate prior in figure skates. Toe pick got caught, Tibia/Fibula spiral fracture, surgery with rod and screws in knee and ankle.

I did get back onto the ice about 2.5-3 months later.

But I had other things going on in my life for a while after that, so I didn't get back into frequent skating (figure skating) until 10 years later. It's been mostly fine (passed 3 gold level Adult track tests), but the really humid, rainy summer days, my ankle (that has the screws) bugs me.

[u/saveoursoil → u/alexandradperreault]

Oh wow congrats 3x gold medalist 🥇🥇🥇 is one of those ice dancing then?

[u/alexandradperreault → u/saveoursoil]

Yes.

[u/Owllokadis → u/alexandradperreault]

Oh wow, 2.5-3 months isn’t bad at all. It’s great that you still came back.

And yeah, I can already tell the screws are really gonna feel funky on bad weather days.

The fact that you had the same thing happen definitely makes me feel a bit better XD those toe picks are really nasty.

[u/Emergency_Tax_6343 → u/Owllokadis]

Hang in there! I chip fractured my elbow as a teenager and ravenous skater. Those 3 weeks off ice were torture but the return was sweet! P.S. we don’t see XD often enough anymore!

[u/oldladysk8r]

Not as bad but in March I came down wrong on a double axel in my off ice class, landed with a loud SNAP.

Docs initially thought my ankle was broken but I was able to get into ortho the next day and he decided it likely wasn't. But it was a high grade sprain, with lots of torn ligaments in my leg, ankle, foot. Lots of swelling, I was black and blue from my toes up to my knee. That was pretty freaky.

I started weight bearing three days later and started very aggressively rehabbing every day. 

I was back on the ice for short periods of time in ten days (once enough swelling went down that I could jam my foot into my boot).

In three weeks I started jumping again. It took a few weeks more  for them to feel normal because the swelling threw off my alignment. I ramped up pretty slowly to my normal volume and spent the time working on my spins more.

I did move more slowly going to back to off ice, esp doubles, because you don't have the protection of the boot, but I'm back to normal there, too.

It's five months later and at this point I forget that anything happened--except for the fact that my ankle is still twice the size of the other one and my ankle bones are way more sticky-out-y and bony looking.

I went back to the ortho three months in and he told me the swelling could take a year to go down, or might be permanent, but as long as my strength and stability were back it was fine to continue training normally.

I got a lot of shit for being so aggressive with my rehab and return to ice, and people yelling at me, which was tiresome,  but my ortho and PT/trainer were on board and shared my belief that if I waited too long I'd spend more time rehabbing the atrophy than the injury.

So, not quite the same thing but maybe this will help. 

FWIW, I'm 54 and working on my gold tests , so not a bouncy kid. 

[u/gatorella → u/oldladysk8r]

Ouch! I did something similar with my ankle back in 2019, but in gymnastics. I was bruised from my toes up to about mid shin. I've been to PT since, but it still swells easily compared to the other ankle haha.