Ouch (possible NSFW pictures of my rear to follow)
Discussion
Bloody hell, do you bath in dung? Lol. That's alot of infections. Not s good sign in all honesty. Hopefully your pills sort you quickly.
Just out of interest sorry if I missed it, but do you ever plan on going back to work full stop or as a copper? Just wondering really or have you been medically discharged from force etc. Just wondering really.
Just out of interest sorry if I missed it, but do you ever plan on going back to work full stop or as a copper? Just wondering really or have you been medically discharged from force etc. Just wondering really.
RemyMartin81D said:
Bloody hell, do you bath in dung? Lol. That's alot of infections. Not s good sign in all honesty. Hopefully your pills sort you quickly.
Just out of interest sorry if I missed it, but do you ever plan on going back to work full stop or as a copper? Just wondering really or have you been medically discharged from force etc. Just wondering really.
I’d probably have the same outcomes if I was showering in sJust out of interest sorry if I missed it, but do you ever plan on going back to work full stop or as a copper? Just wondering really or have you been medically discharged from force etc. Just wondering really.
t! To be honest, I’ve been super fanatical about keeping the wound clean, regular dressing changes, not getting it too wet when I “shower”, that kind of thing. I did notice in the week previously before it flared up again that my leg was getting more itchy, but I put that down to it actually healing. It does seem like it’s already calmed down. There is less redness, swelling, pains and most of all, much less “oozing gunge”... I’ll save you all the pictures (to be honest, looking back, they’re much less gruesome that some of the previous ones).I do intend going back to work and getting myself to full operational fitness. Our fitness test is pretty easy and it’s level 5.3 on the “bleep test”, which actually only equates to a fairly slow jog, for about three minutes. Without sounding a bit “woe is me” (compared to your difference in leg lengths!), because of the repeated infections, they haven’t been able to do as much lengthening as they wanted, which means my right leg is about an inch shorter than my left, with the difference being between my hip and knee. Apparently, this is a “bigger deal” than the difference being between my knee and ankle - the consultant did try to explain why, but I didn’t really get the whole thing. It’s some fairly complex biomechanics, that I do remember.
I’m still on the payroll and I’m working a few hours per day from home. As soon as I can drive, I’ll start off doing a few hours a day, a couple of days per week and build it up over time back to full time hours of 40 per week. There’s nothing set in stone how that will look, some of it will depend how I manage the increase in hours and there’s no pressure to get back up to full time hours in a particular time frame. I’m lucky that I have a very supportive line manager.
There is still the option of being medically retired at the moment, but hopefully, I should make a “full” recovery. Even if I can’t get back to full operational fitness, there are potentially roles I could work in that don’t require “public contact” or mean that I need to carry a stick, cuffs and spray (we need to requalify annually in fitness and personal safety training - if you don’t pass the fitness test, you’re not allowed to do the PST, with the fitness test being done first thing on the two day refresher).
TL;DR - I’m obviously a raging bag of feculence, but I’m hoping to get back to work fully at some indeterminate point in the future.
NNH said:
I hope this is the last setback, as you're on the home straight now.
Way back, you mentioned you were hoping to take a trip to the USA once you're healed up. Is that still on the cards? Want a beer with some of the PH expats?
That’s still on the cards, but the original and extremely optimistic “FemuFest ‘18” became “FemurFest ‘19” and in reality, it’s looking more like it’s going to be “FemurFest ‘20”m at the earliest. I’m aiming for autumn, so it’s not as hot and there’s less chance of tornadoes/hurricanes/plagues of locusts. Way back, you mentioned you were hoping to take a trip to the USA once you're healed up. Is that still on the cards? Want a beer with some of the PH expats?
At the moment, FemurFest is a two gig tour, these being Austin, Texas and Charleston, South Carolina, but more dates may well be added if there’s the demand. I’m not looking at arenas just yet, I’m considering more... “intimate” performance spaces (aka bars, microbreweries and decent food shacks). FemurFest’s main target demographic is rich Charlestonian housewives with too much time and money, but not so much in the way of standards...
There’s a ton of other stuff I would like to see in the States. I’ve visited Florida a few times (one of my sisters lived in Miami for twenty years or so), Washington DC and New York, so everything to date has been on the east coast. I’m hoping I can dig up some cheap internal flights when I’m there and combine these with a bit of road tripping as well. As I say, the itinerary is pretty fluid at the moment.
Dibble said:
That’s still on the cards, but the original and extremely optimistic “FemuFest ‘18” became “FemurFest ‘19” and in reality, it’s looking more like it’s going to be “FemurFest ‘20”m at the earliest. I’m aiming for autumn, so it’s not as hot and there’s less chance of tornadoes/hurricanes/plagues of locusts.
At the moment, FemurFest is a two gig tour, these being Austin, Texas and Charleston, South Carolina, but more dates may well be added if there’s the demand. I’m not looking at arenas just yet, I’m considering more... “intimate” performance spaces (aka bars, microbreweries and decent food shacks). FemurFest’s main target demographic is rich Charlestonian housewives with too much time and money, but not so much in the way of standards...
There’s a ton of other stuff I would like to see in the States. I’ve visited Florida a few times (one of my sisters lived in Miami for twenty years or so), Washington DC and New York, so everything to date has been on the east coast. I’m hoping I can dig up some cheap internal flights when I’m there and combine these with a bit of road tripping as well. As I say, the itinerary is pretty fluid at the moment.
If you find yourself on the west coast, and if riding is on the cards again, I strongly recommend Motoquest who rent out some nice bikes. I've done their Transporter Specials twice now, where they need bikes moved between locations is spring and autumn so they do very cheap deals. Last month we rode a Harley from Portland home to Los Angeles, and in April we took an R1200RT up from LA to San Francisco. Hopefully I'll see you on the road!At the moment, FemurFest is a two gig tour, these being Austin, Texas and Charleston, South Carolina, but more dates may well be added if there’s the demand. I’m not looking at arenas just yet, I’m considering more... “intimate” performance spaces (aka bars, microbreweries and decent food shacks). FemurFest’s main target demographic is rich Charlestonian housewives with too much time and money, but not so much in the way of standards...
There’s a ton of other stuff I would like to see in the States. I’ve visited Florida a few times (one of my sisters lived in Miami for twenty years or so), Washington DC and New York, so everything to date has been on the east coast. I’m hoping I can dig up some cheap internal flights when I’m there and combine these with a bit of road tripping as well. As I say, the itinerary is pretty fluid at the moment.
Simon
NNH said:
If you find yourself on the west coast, and if riding is on the cards again, I strongly recommend Motoquest who rent out some nice bikes. I've done their Transporter Specials twice now, where they need bikes moved between locations is spring and autumn so they do very cheap deals. Last month we rode a Harley from Portland home to Los Angeles, and in April we took an R1200RT up from LA to San Francisco. Hopefully I'll see you on the road!
Simon
If I do ride again, that sounds like a very interesting idea. I’m going to have a look at similar things for rental cars/RVs as well. Simon
Well, some better news after today’s hospital appointment, despite having to wait over 90 minutes for my X-rays (it was heaving in their waiting area, there’s about 50 seats each and it was pretty much standing room only).
I saw the registrar and (very briefly) the consultant. The X-rays were fine and I’m now allowed to weight bear 50% on my duff leg. The infection is looking like the Clindamycin has knocked it on the head, but I’ve still a week left of tablets, which I’ll be finishing. The oozy, scabby bits are much less oozy than they were a week ago, there’s much less redness/swelling/tenderness, so its looking pretty good again.
All in all, I’m much happier than i was a week or so ago. I really didn’t expect the infection to clear up quite so quickly, but I’m trying to not get over excited just yet. I don’t know what the long term infection prognosis is and I’ve still got one mashed up pin stuck in my knee... i could end up on antibiotics for life, which really isn’t a road I want to go down. But, things are definitely brighter than they were, even if it’s only temporary. I’ll make hay while the sun shines!
I saw the registrar and (very briefly) the consultant. The X-rays were fine and I’m now allowed to weight bear 50% on my duff leg. The infection is looking like the Clindamycin has knocked it on the head, but I’ve still a week left of tablets, which I’ll be finishing. The oozy, scabby bits are much less oozy than they were a week ago, there’s much less redness/swelling/tenderness, so its looking pretty good again.
All in all, I’m much happier than i was a week or so ago. I really didn’t expect the infection to clear up quite so quickly, but I’m trying to not get over excited just yet. I don’t know what the long term infection prognosis is and I’ve still got one mashed up pin stuck in my knee... i could end up on antibiotics for life, which really isn’t a road I want to go down. But, things are definitely brighter than they were, even if it’s only temporary. I’ll make hay while the sun shines!
Dibble said:
Well, some better news after today’s hospital appointment, despite having to wait over 90 minutes for my X-rays (it was heaving in their waiting area, there’s about 50 seats each and it was pretty much standing room only).
I saw the registrar and (very briefly) the consultant. The X-rays were fine and I’m now allowed to weight bear 50% on my duff leg. The infection is looking like the Clindamycin has knocked it on the head, but I’ve still a week left of tablets, which I’ll be finishing. The oozy, scabby bits are much less oozy than they were a week ago, there’s much less redness/swelling/tenderness, so its looking pretty good again.
All in all, I’m much happier than i was a week or so ago. I really didn’t expect the infection to clear up quite so quickly, but I’m trying to not get over excited just yet. I don’t know what the long term infection prognosis is and I’ve still got one mashed up pin stuck in my knee... i could end up on antibiotics for life, which really isn’t a road I want to go down. But, things are definitely brighter than they were, even if it’s only temporary. I’ll make hay while the sun shines!
Always good to wake up to good news (we are 12 hours ahead in NZ). Crossing my fingers that is your last set back. You deserve a bit of luck. I saw the registrar and (very briefly) the consultant. The X-rays were fine and I’m now allowed to weight bear 50% on my duff leg. The infection is looking like the Clindamycin has knocked it on the head, but I’ve still a week left of tablets, which I’ll be finishing. The oozy, scabby bits are much less oozy than they were a week ago, there’s much less redness/swelling/tenderness, so its looking pretty good again.
All in all, I’m much happier than i was a week or so ago. I really didn’t expect the infection to clear up quite so quickly, but I’m trying to not get over excited just yet. I don’t know what the long term infection prognosis is and I’ve still got one mashed up pin stuck in my knee... i could end up on antibiotics for life, which really isn’t a road I want to go down. But, things are definitely brighter than they were, even if it’s only temporary. I’ll make hay while the sun shines!
Fingers crossed that's the last infection. Up, down, up, down, forward, back, forward, back... Today, we are up/forward.
I had some physio yesterday, the first one since I’ve been allowed to 50% weight bear on my duff leg. First off, they checked my knee range, which is still good, somewhere between a 90° and 100° bend. That’s not the final destination, that’s just where we are at currently and they’re happy I’ve maintained that. Now the pins in my knee are out, they’re starting to work to increase the range of motion. This is going to hurt.
Then it was over to the parallel bars. First stop, how much do I weigh, so they know what 50% is and they can show me what that feels like. Trainers off, onto the scales and it’s 120 somethingish kgs. Yes, I’m a fat fker. So that’s 60ish kgs I can put through my duff leg. They show you what this feels like by building up a small step next to the weighing scales, with your good leg on the step and your duff one on the scales. At rest, it was about 60:40 good leg to duff one, so I had to push down a bit to get the loading up to 50%. This is going to hurt.
Next, it’s a few laps of the parallel bars, trying to load my duff leg up, now I know what 50% feels like. This is going to hurt.
Straight away, as this is the first time I’ve been walking anything like normally, I’m using the parallel bars to balance and without me automatically compensating with my crutches (who needs all that fancy BMW electronic ESA suspension stuff?), I can tell my right leg feels somehow different. I try a couple of different heel cups in my right trainer and we do a couple more laps. This is going to hurt.
Next, we are still in the parallel bars, but doing some slow raises up onto my toes, while clenching my butt cheek and quads in my duff leg, which doesn’t happen naturally at the moment. It’s very slow going up, clenching and very slow coming down, relaxing. There are some interesting shakes in my quads/arse after three goes. The physio makes me do a full set of ten. This is going to hurt.
For a bit of a break, it’s another couple of laps of the parallel bars, to look at the range of motion and just how well my leg/hip/knee/ankle/toes are all working. Not great, it seems. I’m told how to make sure I walk “properly”, bending where I should, lifting my leg and bending it like it’s meant to bend and how it hasn’t for most of the last two and a half years. This is going to hurt.
We stay in the parallel bars for the next round. Up to now, most of my physio has been them twisting, pulling and bending me, while I sit on the bed. We have definitely upped our game today. Now, it’s standing upright, feet hip,width apart, locking my knees back and transferring my weight side to side, again clenching/relaxing my arse and quads in my right leg. We get to two (okay, one and a bit) reps until my right leg is shaking like some kind of deviant sex toy. The physio makes me do the full set of ten. This is going to hurt.
Of course, the physio being a physio has now got me at the opposite end of the parallel bars from where my bed is. The bars are about three metres long. I’m given my crutches and told to walk back to the bed, using the muscles I’ve used in the parallel bars, with the amendments to posture/movement we’ve just been through. Via the far end of the gym, so an extra 5 metres there and five metres back. This is going to hurt.
“We’ll book you in again for next week”. Yay.
Anyway, some X-rays. The quality’s not great, as I took photos with my phone from the monitor screen in the gym.
First up, the “new” bone at the top of my femur. You can still see it’s a bit “stringy” and the bits haven’t fully knitted together yet, but if you look back to the earlier photos, you can really see the difference. In all these photos, you can still see the vague outlines of the holes where the pins were, as well as some of the shape of the original internal metal plate (it looks like the side profile of a bike chain)
Next up it’s where the bone that was happily minding it’s own business in the middle of my thigh has been chopped off and transported through my leg, to be attached to where they tidied up the healthy bone above my knee. There’s a bit of a step due to the different diameters, but you can also see some of that gap has been bridged. There will always be that step there, but it won’t affect the strength of the bone.
There’s also the pin with the stripped head, buried deep in my knee. For now, that’s staying put. The only reason it’ll get removed is if it is thought to be the source of the recurring infections. Taking it out means either drilling a hole big enough to get pliers down to grip the head and unscrewing it manually, or drilling a hole into from the other side and trying to screw it through in the same direction it originally went in at. As the head is wider than the shaft, this could be tricky... whatever they do, if it does get taken out, it’s going to cause a lot of damage to my knee, which they want to avoid if possible.
Last up, a side view of my lower leg, looking out from the inside. You can again see how deep in my knee that pin is. You can also see I’ve got a bit of a bend, but according to the physio, this is fine. It would apparently be more of an issue if it was bent like that in the head on view above. Also, there’s some sort of “shark fin” thing going on, right at the join. I’ve no idea, either. It’s on the list of questions to ask the consultant when I next see her, three weeks on Friday.
As always, thanks for all your ongoing support. I honestly can’t tell you how helpful it’s really been and just how grateful I am to all of you, both people who’ve commented on my thread and those who’ve messaged me too. Writing it down has been quite cathartic and helpful for me and today I’ve actually read through the whole thread, from start to finish, so it’s raised a few smiles from me, after a bit of a stty weekend where I’ve felt pretty cheesed off.
As I say, today, we are up/forward. Thank you all.
I had some physio yesterday, the first one since I’ve been allowed to 50% weight bear on my duff leg. First off, they checked my knee range, which is still good, somewhere between a 90° and 100° bend. That’s not the final destination, that’s just where we are at currently and they’re happy I’ve maintained that. Now the pins in my knee are out, they’re starting to work to increase the range of motion. This is going to hurt.
Then it was over to the parallel bars. First stop, how much do I weigh, so they know what 50% is and they can show me what that feels like. Trainers off, onto the scales and it’s 120 somethingish kgs. Yes, I’m a fat f
ker. So that’s 60ish kgs I can put through my duff leg. They show you what this feels like by building up a small step next to the weighing scales, with your good leg on the step and your duff one on the scales. At rest, it was about 60:40 good leg to duff one, so I had to push down a bit to get the loading up to 50%. This is going to hurt.Next, it’s a few laps of the parallel bars, trying to load my duff leg up, now I know what 50% feels like. This is going to hurt.
Straight away, as this is the first time I’ve been walking anything like normally, I’m using the parallel bars to balance and without me automatically compensating with my crutches (who needs all that fancy BMW electronic ESA suspension stuff?), I can tell my right leg feels somehow different. I try a couple of different heel cups in my right trainer and we do a couple more laps. This is going to hurt.
Next, we are still in the parallel bars, but doing some slow raises up onto my toes, while clenching my butt cheek and quads in my duff leg, which doesn’t happen naturally at the moment. It’s very slow going up, clenching and very slow coming down, relaxing. There are some interesting shakes in my quads/arse after three goes. The physio makes me do a full set of ten. This is going to hurt.
For a bit of a break, it’s another couple of laps of the parallel bars, to look at the range of motion and just how well my leg/hip/knee/ankle/toes are all working. Not great, it seems. I’m told how to make sure I walk “properly”, bending where I should, lifting my leg and bending it like it’s meant to bend and how it hasn’t for most of the last two and a half years. This is going to hurt.
We stay in the parallel bars for the next round. Up to now, most of my physio has been them twisting, pulling and bending me, while I sit on the bed. We have definitely upped our game today. Now, it’s standing upright, feet hip,width apart, locking my knees back and transferring my weight side to side, again clenching/relaxing my arse and quads in my right leg. We get to two (okay, one and a bit) reps until my right leg is shaking like some kind of deviant sex toy. The physio makes me do the full set of ten. This is going to hurt.
Of course, the physio being a physio has now got me at the opposite end of the parallel bars from where my bed is. The bars are about three metres long. I’m given my crutches and told to walk back to the bed, using the muscles I’ve used in the parallel bars, with the amendments to posture/movement we’ve just been through. Via the far end of the gym, so an extra 5 metres there and five metres back. This is going to hurt.
“We’ll book you in again for next week”. Yay.
Anyway, some X-rays. The quality’s not great, as I took photos with my phone from the monitor screen in the gym.
First up, the “new” bone at the top of my femur. You can still see it’s a bit “stringy” and the bits haven’t fully knitted together yet, but if you look back to the earlier photos, you can really see the difference. In all these photos, you can still see the vague outlines of the holes where the pins were, as well as some of the shape of the original internal metal plate (it looks like the side profile of a bike chain)
Next up it’s where the bone that was happily minding it’s own business in the middle of my thigh has been chopped off and transported through my leg, to be attached to where they tidied up the healthy bone above my knee. There’s a bit of a step due to the different diameters, but you can also see some of that gap has been bridged. There will always be that step there, but it won’t affect the strength of the bone.
There’s also the pin with the stripped head, buried deep in my knee. For now, that’s staying put. The only reason it’ll get removed is if it is thought to be the source of the recurring infections. Taking it out means either drilling a hole big enough to get pliers down to grip the head and unscrewing it manually, or drilling a hole into from the other side and trying to screw it through in the same direction it originally went in at. As the head is wider than the shaft, this could be tricky... whatever they do, if it does get taken out, it’s going to cause a lot of damage to my knee, which they want to avoid if possible.
Last up, a side view of my lower leg, looking out from the inside. You can again see how deep in my knee that pin is. You can also see I’ve got a bit of a bend, but according to the physio, this is fine. It would apparently be more of an issue if it was bent like that in the head on view above. Also, there’s some sort of “shark fin” thing going on, right at the join. I’ve no idea, either. It’s on the list of questions to ask the consultant when I next see her, three weeks on Friday.
As always, thanks for all your ongoing support. I honestly can’t tell you how helpful it’s really been and just how grateful I am to all of you, both people who’ve commented on my thread and those who’ve messaged me too. Writing it down has been quite cathartic and helpful for me and today I’ve actually read through the whole thread, from start to finish, so it’s raised a few smiles from me, after a bit of a s
tty weekend where I’ve felt pretty cheesed off.As I say, today, we are up/forward. Thank you all.
NNH said:
I hope you're not offended that I find it a bit funny that even surgeons manage to strip the heads of bolts and screws!
Not at all! My current consultant, although absolutely bonkers, is utterly brilliant. I couldn’t have asked for more from her. I know she’s squeezed me in for appointments, come out of theatre to see me/speak to me in physio or on the ward, juggled operating lists to get me operated on and generally been an all round good egg. I know I’ve asked her the same questions repeatedly, but she never makes me feel like I’m rushed and is more than happy to go over stuff with me when I see her. To be fair, her whole team are brilliant - even her secretaries are super helpful when you phone, despite all the horror stories you hear about NHS gatekeepers!When I saw her for my first consultation, she did explain that I should’ve been referred to Broadgreen Hospital straight away. Although she didn’t actually say it, I don’t think she was too impressed with the first lot. She did describe their initial repair as “hugely optimistic” and she added it’s not the route she would’ve personally chosen... my first consultant was much more “old school”, even though he wasn’t that old in years. I felt like I was supposed to feel as though he was doing me a huge favour at great personal cost, just to fix my leg.
Bobberoo99 said:
So when are you changing your username to "This is going to hurt"? 
Not sure if you've seen these before, I reckon a couple of us with a Black and Decker and a crate of beers could have that bugger out in no time!!!
It’s not the getting the pin out that’s the problem so much, it’s having an actual useable knee afterwards...Not sure if you've seen these before, I reckon a couple of us with a Black and Decker and a crate of beers could have that bugger out in no time!!!
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