Hi Miranda. I'm sorry to hear about your accident. That sucks. But rest assured that you will get better and you'll be back to biking in no time after you've healed.

I have treated several mtn bikers with this same type of injury and surgery and none of them have had problems with clipping in and out. So don't worry about that at all.

As for the hardware, they say that it should stay in and that most people don't have any problems with it. Well, I'm not sure who "most people" are or what constitutes "most", but I have seen several patients that have had to have their hardware removed. I don't think there's any research on this but in my experience it seems to be people who are smaller boned that tend to have the most trouble. I would say that the majority of active petite women I see end up having it out. I bet I've seen less than 5 men in my career of 17 years that have had trouble. So take that for what it's worth, nothing really since there's no science behind it. But if you are a petite woman, know that even if you have the hardware removed, it's usually a pretty minor thing and you'll be back on your feet in no time after. Literally, no time.

I hope that helps.