Its been just over 10 months for me. The doc and I plan on keeping the plate and screws(and nail) in unless there is a problem. I started working three weeks ago. After the forth day I started wearing a compression sock to the knee because the swelling would not go down overnight. Two weeks ago I had to get bigger work shoes because the foot is now bigger since the accident. I could not get shoes below the ankle so the leather goes up over the ankle. I don't lace them up all the way and it does not rub on the screws. I can see where the plate ends at the bottom but not the top. I can see three screw heads and feel five of them. The other four seem to be buried. I feel very comfortable with the hardware. The only irritating thing is there is a hair that grows in the middle of the scar and keeps getting caught as it grows out. I'm thinking of not cutting it anymore. weird!