My Grama broke her ankle December 23rd.
She went to the ER that morning and they splinted it and sent her home.
She broke the two bones in her ankle… The tibia and the fibula.
Since then she has had tests and they told her she is VERY high risk for the surgery because of the fact that she takes prednisone for rheumatoid arthritis and because she smoked for over 40 years.
She quit smoking 3 days ago and has to wait 4 more weeks to go back to see if she can finally have the surgery…
When we went to the DR the other day they took off the splint and the skin on her ankle bone was raw because the bone is trying to come through the skin. The DR told me to look at it every two days and keep dry gauze pads on it.
My question is that today she has a low fever and she feels really sick.
Should I take the fever as a sign of infection of the bone or could it be because of the fact that she hasn’t smoked and is having nicotine withdrawals?
What else should I watch for?
Any answers would be appreciated!
Thank you.