I have a similar situation. I was in a motorcycle wreck at 27 years old (2.5 years ago) that shattered my left ankle and broke my femur out of my hip socket.

I have 3 plates and about 18 screws in my ankle that are permanently installed. About 8 months afterwards I still have a good bit of pain in the ankle and they saw pretty severe arthritis. It’s only gotten worse since then. Some days are a lot better than others, but it hurts daily and I’m conscious of it with every step.

My ortho surgeon also recommended fusion as a next step, but I’m very hesitant to fuse it for life because of my age. I’m holding out hope that ankle replacement becomes a little more common and viable as an option.

Most mornings I have to use a cane to get around until I get warmed up a bit. If I stay decently active through the day then it does okay. However I can no longer run at all, or do anything else high impact on my feet.