Ouch (possible NSFW pictures of my rear to follow)
Discussion
Hello everyone (and belated thanks for the good wishes I missed previously).
I saw the consultant yesterday for my follow up appointment and the good news was that no more metal had broken, but he still wanted to get ahead of things and replace the inside plate on my femur anyway, with “a more robust one better able to cope with the specific installation…” (his words, cheeky f
ker - tell me I’m fat without telling me I’m fat 
). He also wanted to harvest a bone graft from my left hip and implant it in the osteotomy (cut in the bone) in my femur as further insurance to make sure the newly growing bone keeps growing and heals as well as possible.
So today, he did just that.
Except he didn’t. Not all of it, anyway. It’s actually more good news! He replaced the plate with a thicker and wider one, meaning it’s got six screws/pins, instead of just four, which are also thicker. That means each screw/pin holds less weight (of me), reducing the chances they’ll snap as they’re under less stress. That was it, job done. While he was in there, he saw that the regenerated bone was progressing well enough that the bone graft would have been counterproductive as he’d have had to remove some of that new bone just to do the implant. Even I can see that’s not a great idea and if a thicko like me can understand it, it’s pretty obvious.
I’ve no extra scars (boo) as he went in through one of the (then new) incisions from the surgery back in November. The nerve block is still working, so I’ve currently zero pain, but I’m plumbed in to a morphine pump if it turns out I do need pain relief once the nerve block wears off. One benefit of not having used the pump (so far) is I’ve managed a dump, which is one of life’s little pleasures. Or not so little, if it’s the first one after you have used the morphine pump…
I’m toe touch weight bearing on Leggy McLegster for two weeks, 50% for the next four weeks then can fully weight bear “as tolerated” after that, so the crutches will be about for a bit yet. Hospital food is as bland as ever, some other patients are utterly hideous human beings to anyone and everyone, on every level imaginable and 99.9% of staff working in the NHS are absolute fking superstars. I’m still blown away by their passion and compassion, especially that of some of the very new student nurses, who must be absolutely bonkers to incur such huge debt, but I’m glad there are people like that in the world.
A photo. One of my friends commented it was a bit offside they were trying to make it look like I was wearing old style prison pyjamas…
I saw the consultant yesterday for my follow up appointment and the good news was that no more metal had broken, but he still wanted to get ahead of things and replace the inside plate on my femur anyway, with “a more robust one better able to cope with the specific installation…” (his words, cheeky f
ker - tell me I’m fat without telling me I’m fat ). He also wanted to harvest a bone graft from my left hip and implant it in the osteotomy (cut in the bone) in my femur as further insurance to make sure the newly growing bone keeps growing and heals as well as possible.So today, he did just that.
Except he didn’t. Not all of it, anyway. It’s actually more good news! He replaced the plate with a thicker and wider one, meaning it’s got six screws/pins, instead of just four, which are also thicker. That means each screw/pin holds less weight (of me), reducing the chances they’ll snap as they’re under less stress. That was it, job done. While he was in there, he saw that the regenerated bone was progressing well enough that the bone graft would have been counterproductive as he’d have had to remove some of that new bone just to do the implant. Even I can see that’s not a great idea and if a thicko like me can understand it, it’s pretty obvious.
I’ve no extra scars (boo) as he went in through one of the (then new) incisions from the surgery back in November. The nerve block is still working, so I’ve currently zero pain, but I’m plumbed in to a morphine pump if it turns out I do need pain relief once the nerve block wears off. One benefit of not having used the pump (so far) is I’ve managed a dump, which is one of life’s little pleasures. Or not so little, if it’s the first one after you have used the morphine pump…
I’m toe touch weight bearing on Leggy McLegster for two weeks, 50% for the next four weeks then can fully weight bear “as tolerated” after that, so the crutches will be about for a bit yet. Hospital food is as bland as ever, some other patients are utterly hideous human beings to anyone and everyone, on every level imaginable and 99.9% of staff working in the NHS are absolute f
king superstars. I’m still blown away by their passion and compassion, especially that of some of the very new student nurses, who must be absolutely bonkers to incur such huge debt, but I’m glad there are people like that in the world.A photo. One of my friends commented it was a bit offside they were trying to make it look like I was wearing old style prison pyjamas…
black-k1 said:
NNH said:
Nice of them to mark "This Way Up"
I thought it was directions so Dibble knew where to find his dick as the anesthetic was wearing off! 
It sounds like this was one of the better operations. Well done and I hope things all mend quickly.
Good to hear it all went so well, with the leg fixed and with better weather ahead hopefully you can get out more to build strength/burn some excess weight which will help with your day to day mobility too
I’ve just seen the orthopaedic consultant for my post op clinic follow up.
The good news is the new, thicker metal plate and stronger pins are all holding and there is more bone growth showing on today’s X-rays. The downside is that I’m stuck on crutches for another six weeks or so, which means no driving until mid June at the earliest. fksake.
I’m due to see a new (to me) consultant as the current one is retiring (again) and today is his last day at work. He’s written me up for a CT scan for the next appointment in June and if there is sufficient bridging, I’ll be losing the crutches. I’ll also be able to go to the police rehab centre for a fortnight of pain. I could go now, but they’d have to limit how much I could do, so I wouldn’t get as much benefit, so I may as well hang fire and go when I’ll get the most out of it.
The good news is the new, thicker metal plate and stronger pins are all holding and there is more bone growth showing on today’s X-rays. The downside is that I’m stuck on crutches for another six weeks or so, which means no driving until mid June at the earliest. f
ksake. I’m due to see a new (to me) consultant as the current one is retiring (again) and today is his last day at work. He’s written me up for a CT scan for the next appointment in June and if there is sufficient bridging, I’ll be losing the crutches. I’ll also be able to go to the police rehab centre for a fortnight of pain. I could go now, but they’d have to limit how much I could do, so I wouldn’t get as much benefit, so I may as well hang fire and go when I’ll get the most out of it.
Cheers guys. I forgot to show you my gash…
Before the staples/clips came out. The yellow is the remains of the bruising.
Clips out, which was pretty stingy. About three had skin already growing over them.
And on the plus side, I’ve only got today and tomorrow left to self inject the Enozaparin into my stomach (the blood thinners to stop me having an embolism).
Before the staples/clips came out. The yellow is the remains of the bruising.
Clips out, which was pretty stingy. About three had skin already growing over them.
And on the plus side, I’ve only got today and tomorrow left to self inject the Enozaparin into my stomach (the blood thinners to stop me having an embolism).
Dibble said:
Cheers guys. I forgot to show you my gash…
Before the staples/clips came out. The yellow is the remains of the bruising.
Clips out, which was pretty stingy. About three had skin already growing over them.
And on the plus side, I’ve only got today and tomorrow left to self inject the Enozaparin into my stomach (the blood thinners to stop me having an embolism).
Pfft...Before the staples/clips came out. The yellow is the remains of the bruising.
Clips out, which was pretty stingy. About three had skin already growing over them.
And on the plus side, I’ve only got today and tomorrow left to self inject the Enozaparin into my stomach (the blood thinners to stop me having an embolism).
When I had the pin for traction taken out of my shin the nurse suggested my sister who was visiting step outside for a moment as it would be a bit grim, my sister stayed to watch and was very impressed that she could see daylight through my leg.
Another positive is that you won't get dragged into policing the coronation
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