Anonymous wrote:I am glad you checked in OP because if I was married to you I would have beaten you with my crutches by now.

Oh yes this is a great time to dissolve the marriage should my H consider it

I am glad you checked in OP because if I was married to you I would have beaten you with my crutches by now.

*working from home

OP here- I had trouble finding the topic as it was removed from the Off Topic, but here I am!
Thank you everyone.
Yes he is frustrated- I try to not show the "I told you so" but he just knows. We do have issues and his poor judgement in this instance (one of many!) is going to be the proverbial straw as I am seriously thinking about leaving him once he fully recovers.

I am frustrated too,as I have a young child, no family in the area, and the kid is in the midst of daycare sickness- incessant colds, some with fever, sleep disruption and other great things.
How long do you guys think he should be worming from home? I would love to not have him in the house 24/7 but of course wouldn't want to be cruel to him.

I know you've already gotten the picture, OP, but I broke my ankle exactly 12 weeks ago, and I'm lying on the couch with it throbbing right now.

And as a PP mentioned, it SUCKS being so dependent on others for everything. My DH would cook me a fantastic dinner, plate it, bring it and utensils and a drink over to me, get my leg propped up on a chair with a pillow he had to run upstairs to get, and by that point he's grumpy, and do you think I'm gonna ask him to get me the salt? No way. So all that effort was put in, yet it felt like a lose-lose situation.

The next 3+ months will be very hard on you -- harder than for him, it will seem at times. Try to be patient, and good luck.

Yeah op this is one of those times when you just deal with pretty much everything because his injury is legit. I remember telling my orthopedist that I would have three more kids naturally before I let him touch me again. As a woman this should give you some perspective.

OMG OP, this is a big deal. A broken ankle is very serious. Think about how much weight goes on your ankle.

My MIL broke her ankle in early February. She had to move in with us for 2.5 months so we could take care of her. Absolutely no pressure could be on the ankle, especially in the first few weeks. We got a portable potty just so she didn't have to go the extra few feet to the bathroom.

If he has crutches or a rolling walker where he can kneel one leg and scoot with the good leg, I would be okay with him alone for 2-4 hours in the first week. The ankle has to be elevated. Sorry, but he really is out of commission for the next month and longer.

I broke my ankle and had a hard cast - not the walking kind - but no surgery or pins.

It wasn't painful per se. I didn't take anything stronger than Tylenol for pain for a couple days. But it swelled very easily for the first few weeks. So if I had my leg down too much, my ankle swelled and filled up the cast and that became uncomfortable. I then had to keep my leg up several hours to get the swelling to come down again.

I'm another one who had a major ankle break a few years back. Agony. I labored naturally and never took anything stronger than Tylenol after my C-section, but that night I was crying in pain while DH took me to the ER and got me some Percocet.

Not sure I showered for a week, even the water was torture. Moving hurt. Sitting still hurt.

On top of that crutches are exhausting. The effort to get upstairs, shower and get dressed ended up with a nap because I was so tired from the effort.

And, to be honest, there will also be an emotional component. Anger, frustration, etc. that he's injured and can't do anything and so on. And yes, if he knows you have "I told you so" in mind, that won't help anything.

I pretty much lived on our sofa for the first 4wks or so. Physical therapy took months and it won't ever be 100%.

Be patient. This is going to be rough, but I can promise you he isn't faking it.

I was home alone for a week with a broken ankle and it was challenging to do more than pour myself a bowl of cereal. And even once I did that, I had to eat it standing up in the kitchen bc there was no way I could maneuver it to the table with crutches. Forget about picking up after myself! I tried to do laundry and had to toss the basket down the steps to the basement and then scoot down on my behind. Crutches are an ordeal.
I was on crutches for a month in college and my friends quickly got tired of helping me with my tray in the dining hall. It was eye opening as to who was a true friend.
So, yeah, cut the guy some slack. He's probably milking it a tiny bit (I admit to doing do after DH returned from his weeklong trip) but in general he's prob pretty immobilized

I just had joint replacement on my big toe due to cartilage deterioration - I had bone to bone with the fragments built up over time to create a large sensitive knot on the top of the joint. I imagine that a broken ankle would much much worse, at least I can bear weight on my heel, but with a broken ankle, I don't think that's possible. I was able to get around without crutches after 3 days, and could put weight on my heel. For 3 days, my DH made dinners, waited on me, took care of our 6 yr. old (over the Holiday), took care of our dogs and cat, cleaned up after everyone, kept ice on my foot and never complained. I would do the same for him!

I can offer the perspective of someone who has suffered a lot of orthopedic injuries in the past few years. They hurt. Not just when they are first injured but also throughout. Even when the initial pain subsides , you are usually left with dull , throbbing pain that can drive you crazy. And there is also swelling , which brings on pain and discomfort. Also, a weight bearing joint like the ankle is much tougher to recover than say a wrist. Experiencing pain is different than just living with someone in pain. Have some compassion and hope that you never have to experience a serious injury. My eyes have been open in the last few years and I now understand that living with pain is a very depressing and difficult to endure.

One is a bit of pain. It's when they break two - now that's a problem.

OP here, wow, this IS the reality check I needed!
PPs are right, I have never broken a bone (knock on wood), so I just truly don't know.
Plus, with every minor cold my H acts like he can't be bothered to do anything, he is in major pain, needs hot tea served to him in front if the tv, etc etc.
plus he broke it purely out of stupidity, I asked him not to do what he did but if course he never listened

he is not on painkillers luckily
yes he broke it two days ago. I will cut him slack this week. But he can certainly be home alone for like 2-4 hours, right?

When I broke my ankle (they had to put in a plate and screws, as well as cast it), I cried and screamed all night. Not only was it excruciatingly painful, it also burned from the swelling and the cast around it. No amount of pain meds touched it. Cut him a break, at least for the first week or so. He's supposed to stay off it, and walking on crutches is a bitch to get used to. Also, FYI, his ankle may never be the same. Mine isn't, and my accident was 23 years ago.