Dear aj377 - here is my path, currently in Month 6.
July 21st - tri mal fracture when jumping of my Trikke - it was angulated outward at probably 75 degrees or more. Every doc (nurse and volunteers) in the ER took a look at it.
July 31st - open reduction internal fixation (2 plates, 3 screws - both sides of ankle). No weight bearing! (You know what that means by now)
Sept. 12th - start weight bearing, onset of Physical Therapy, took me until Oct. 15th to walk completely w/o crutches
October 28th - the book finally came off
January 2nd - end of Physical Therapy
Status (Jan 8th): Walking with slight limp, still slow (cannot even think about running), trying to get the limp away. Stairs (down) still an issue and don't have the full rolling motion yet (but much better than fresh out of the cast when it felt like putting a stiff board on a stair).
Actions: Exercises at home AND I was recommended to check into MBT shoes. So I went to an Orthotics store today and was not suprised to see my weight distribution etc. is all off. I bought a pair today and even though it hurts I can feel how it really challenges the bad foot. I wore them for about 1 hour and will gradually increase. They feel excellent on the good leg (like walking on moss) but since they force a full rolling motion of the foot with every step.. and my ankle and foot cracks quite a bit.. I think this will help.
One thing I can only recommend and that I believe helped me with swelling issues - I got an EMS unit that also does lymphdrainage and TENS as soon as the boot came off. I only used the lymphdrainage feature though I am going to start EMS now as well as my left leg is still much thinner than the right one.
Hope I don't scare you, this has been the most frustrating injury I have ever had. Besides the excrutiating pain in the first 2 weeks the mental side is quite hard to deal with.
According to the doc I should be all healed by the 1 year anniversary of the accident. Some people are recovering faster others slower but anywhere between 6 months and a year. The good news is that I can really feel a difference when I walk down a flight of stairs so I can tell if it goes a teeny bit better and it continues to do so.
This was long, sorry for rambling.
All the best!