I'm back...

Rolled my ankle and ended up breaking my 5th metatarsal in my left foot. Been in CAM boot and crutches for 5 weeks, and now shoe with carbon graphite hard insole for a week. Ortho says foot is healing well, but man, this is taking too long. Boxster is a manual, and I tried to depress the clutch today and it hurt! Not driving the car in this great weather stinks! Anyone else have an issue like this before, and how long before you were able to drive stick again? Have my auto Audi to get around, but really have Boxster withdrawal!...

How'd you do that? Having fun at least I hope...

Some years ago i had a weird set of tears in my knee and micro-cracking down the tibia. On crutches for ~ 7 weeks.

About week (5?) i got a note from our track chair "just had an opening at Lime Rock, wanna go?". Not sure i could brake (right leg, much harder than clutch at track speeds) i finally said "OK. put me in green to start". He basically said "run where you want". Once i overcame trepidation, i had zero issues. Apparently you already know you have pain - so be careful. The good news is that bone breaks tend to heal faster than sprains and tendon tears. Aside from pain you might ask if it is sufficiently healed that there is no *damage* being done if you drive through the pain. Part of recuperation is in fact pushing through things like scar tissue. The key is to distinguish between recuperative work, and work that is doing more damage.

Heal fast.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Thanks for sharing your experience Grant. Unfortunately, there was nothing glamorous about how I broke it. My leg had fallen asleep and I stupidly still decided to stand up. Ended up rolling the ankle and then I heard a snap (ligament pulling a piece of my bone off). After the 4th week of being off the foot, the X-ray showed "soft callus" formation which I guess means that bone was being joined by soft material that will eventually turn hard into bone and then a full heal/union. My clutch is original on my 01 Boxster, and with 70k miles on it, it's really heavy. Wonder if I turn on the car, if the clutch has any hydraulic assistance. Didn't try that. Regardless, I think cause of the pain, I'll wait a little longer. I don't want to go backwards on my healing and it's nice at least to be able to walk again without crutches. Ortho said not to run or jump yet, so I guess I still need to take it easy for a while on the foot.

I was in a leg brace which allowed no movement for 2 weeks, and then a brace which allowed a 30 degree bend. I drove the Boxster a bit last week, but was careful not to take it in any kind of heavy traffic. My wife has been driving the Boxster regularly now, and has decided it's her favorite car. That makes a possible upgrade to a 981 in the future more likely.

Maybe. We are both car enthusiasts and don't see a 4 cylinder turbo as a possibility. So, if we upgrade in the future it will be a car new to us, but not a new car.

Exactly same thing happened to me. I was downstairs working on my computer when my wife called to tell me to come upstairs that the kids were ready for their good night kiss/reading.

Uncrossed my legs, got up, took one turning step on a leg that was asleep, rolled my ankle because I had no feedback to tell me how to operate the muscles and the end of the bone was torn. Sounds worse than it was. Maybe 6 weeks in a boot but the day after it was off, I refereed 2 basketball games and have never had an issue since (probably 15 years).

Do what they tell you and your prognosis is great long term.

I don't believe the pressure falls with the car on.

Ultimately your doctor is the authority, but there is a significant differences between steady pressure (clutch) and impact (running, jumping, even walking), where you have significant acceleration at impact.

Better a broken bone than a torn ligament. Heal well.

G

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Thanks Grant. I'm not really feeling much pain from walking anymore, but depressing the clutch gives me pain in the tendons of my foot as opposed to where the bone break was. There were probably some strain from me rolling my ankle. I don't see the Ortho for another 3 weeks for my next Xray, so will play it by feel once a week to see if I can press the clutch without pain.

Raced with a broken foot
[s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com] [s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com]

Finished at Le Mans this year. A quadruple amputee.
[media.rtl.fr]

Inspirational, for sure.

Sorry to read about your foot. Best to take care and not try to push things let it heal completely. The Boxster will still be there.

Have never been laid up since I've had my Boxster. Was laid up, confined to crutches, about 14 weeks after I broke my right leg in 3 places but that was years ago.

I've had gout off and on the last few years but even though my foot/ankle hurt almost too much to walk on I could still drive either car with no pain. Change in diet helped. Cut way back on meat even though I didn't eat that much meat before; and consciously making sure I drink plenty of water helped some more. Alcohol consumption was previously very very low and is now just one glass a wine about once a month above zero. Weight is good and with some exercise and diet I have lost around 10lbs.

Still would get a flare up every so often. Seems part of the reason gout became a problem is due to too many red blood cells which affects circulation. After all the tests came back negative for any disease behind this condition my doctor advised donating blood. Finally managed to donate a pint June 19th. This lowered my hemoglobin reading to 15.4g/mL down from 18.4g/mL and my hematocrit is at 46.1% down but I don't recall from its previously high reading.

Since giving blood I feel a bit better but the improvement is hard to describe. Best I can offer is I have a bit more energy. I have managed to up my meat intake -- still low by USA standards -- with no problems. Still have to drink plenty of water though. An alcohol intake is still going to remain quite low, near zero. My exercising will continue.

BTW, the Boxster clutch is not assisted. (Consider getting a 996 Turbo. Its hydraulic clutch is assisted and the assist is present even after the engine is shut off. There's an "accumulator" that stores pressure I guess that provides assistance to the clutch even when the engine is off. The clutch is easy to push to start the engine even though the car has sat a few days since last used. The downside is the accumulator can fail and the assistance storing ability goes away. The assistence is still present when the engine is running.)

Anyhow, stay off your foot until the doc says otherwise. I thought I was doing the right thing when I showed the doctor I could walk without crutches when I went to see him but he scolded me and told me to continue to use the crutches even though the leg felt tons better. He said he'd let me know when I could stop using the crutches. 14 weeks after the accident and surgery is when I finally put the crutches away. Even then it took some time before the leg came back nearly 100% and that was helped by physical therapy.

Thanks Marc. I actually have read that according to "Wolf's Law", putting loads on your broken foot helps it heal faster. I think I saw in a review that the newer Porsches have assisted clutches, ones that even hold your car still on a hill without having to put your brake on. Good excuse for getting a newer one?

Sorry to hear about your foot. I hope it heals up for you quickly.

As far as manual vs PDK, just remember all the exercise you get shifting gears yourself. It'll strengthen your left foot even quicker.

Hope you're Boxstering soon.

Funny thing is that after I broke the foot, the first thing I thought of was not how bad it was gonna be not being able to walk for the next month or so, but that I couldn't drive the Boxster!

PDK helps strengthen your thumbs, which is good for opening pickle jars and beating people at thumb wrestling.

Cool, good to know. I don't really eat many pickles or do much thumb wrestling, so I think I'll stick with the manual.

Give your wife the key to your Boxster. Tell her to have fun.

(Works even faster if she doesn't know how to drive a stick, doesn't have a license, or doesn't know how to drive)

Haha, I let her try once a long time ago. After she stalled it abruptly, I cringed and said maybe we should learn on another car. Lol. Maybe nows a good time to try to teach her again.

After 6 weeks of not being able to drive the Boxster, I was finally able to depress the clutch pedal without pain, so had to take her out. My passenger was pretty happy too...

Wow, he's getting big! Glad you're all healed.

Best,

Ed

Ed from Long Island (Tampa)
05S Cobalt/Blue/Blue

Thanks Ed! How are things in Fl? Miss having you at the gatherings up here!

HOT! But at least I get to drive the Boxster year round.

Send my regards to everyone.

Ed

Ed from Long Island (Tampa)
05S Cobalt/Blue/Blue

I remember reading that in his old age Enzo Ferrari lost the use of his left leg, but he still would only drive a stick shift car. . Apparently it was pretty primitive but he had the idle turned up on his car so that he could slip the clutch out to launch the car in 1ST and then it was a brutal crash through the gears but it worked. If Enzo can do it you can too

Haha, powershifting! I read about how you can use your arm to push the clutch in with your crutch to drive a manual. I doubt I could do that with the heavy clutch in the box. Good thing my foot is healed up now. Been driving it lately again.