recovering after surgery for a severe first metatarsal fracture

Two weeks ago I fractured my first metatarsal in three places. I saw the first ortho surgeon team that explained that the break was a bad one and involved the bones overlapping or as one explained "tenting." The one surgeon suggested that it would heal on it's own and placed me in a big black boot that was excruciating to move about in as the weight dragged over the fracture site. His partner phoned me the day after I left with the boot and said certainly I needed plates to secure the break internally. Not comfortable with this practice I moved on to a well known ortho surgeon in town who said the break was a bad one and he suggested trying a closed manipulation with k wires and a splint. If this did not do the job he would move on to an open fixation with a plate and screws. I had the surgery and came to only to hear that the surgeon found the break was so bad that my bone was so smashed that it appeared as "sand" leaving him to use cement and a bone graft upon open doing the surgery. I have an external fixator with four steel rods holding my mended bone in place. My question concerning all of this is the surgeon is now saying recovery will be in 8-10 weeks instead of the straightforward recovery of 6 weeks. I am healthy, fit and have an excellent diet rich in whole foods and hope that this will make a difference in recovery time. I feel that my surgeon is quite good at what he does and definitely has my respect but has anyone here had an external fixator and cement used in surgery on the first metatarsal - I have uncovered very little on the internet concerning this method. Also, my Dr does not want me to clean the steel pin site which seems against everything I have found on line when it comes to the external fixator care.

External fixators are certainly acceptable in treating what appears to be a comminuted (multiple pieces) fracture of your 1st metatarsal. They are great to use when the bone pieces are so small and/or damaged that the surgeon is unable to drive screws through them in order to reduce you fracture. The cement is of course surgical grade bone cement not the kind you use to build your basement. It is certainly appropriate and safe to use as a bone substitute (to fill any defects left behind after the surgeon cleaned the fracture site) but also, as a rigid surface (an anchor, if you will) for the external fixator to be stabilized on so that your fracture can heal. 10 weeks minimum, if you want to avoid surprizes