Well I haven't contributed much to this thread, but my hip has been the story of my year.
Firstly it is interesting to see the different experiences that people have had with their fractures. I think that some pretty (or not) pictures are needed in order to properly understand what is going on with people.
I broke my femur/hip in January, the morning of my son's 9th birthday party.
I did a pretty good job of it, and they needed to install some pretty hefty hardware to hold everything in place. They described the Ti rod down my femur as a nail.
Unfortunately I was non weight bearing, and couldn't even bend my knee for a few weeks. (I also managed to get 3 PE's which prolonged my stay in hospital).
Frustratingly I managed to break one of the screws that held the Nail in place at the end of January.
Even more frustratingly was that despite lots of physio getting me back to moving reasonably well again, the head of the femur had failed to get in with the team and continued to do its own thing. The doctors considered this a bad thing and on Sept 11th I went back under the knife to replace the nail with a bigger one, clean away the scar tissue and sprinkle the magic bone dust around to try and encourage new bone to grow.
What I did find fascinating with this whole exercise was how much I rely on my legs in order to steer a bike. I expected weakness when I got on the bike again, but even once I regained the ability to pedal properly, it took a long time before I was able to turn left as well as I could turn right, and I never regained the feel that I had before. (although I haven't done much riding) It actually gave me a new appreciation of what I used to do without thinking, and how far I have to go to get good at it again.
This time I was out of hospital on the third day and I am allowed to weight bear from the beginning so I am hopeful of a much quicker recovery this time. Sadly I don't think I will be able to take part in the 1:20 TT this year.
Cheers,
Cameron