::Griffblog::

Yesterday I had my appointment with the Consultant to start the leg ‘distraction’ phase or leg ‘lengthening’ as we might better know it.

It’s very simple. The middle of the frame has two rings held together with four long threaded bolts and nuts. The nuts have a special four sided head marked with 1 to four dots. Four times a day I have to grab my two 10mm spanners, undo the lock nut, turn the special nut one quarter turn and then lock it off. Then repeat for the other three. This whole process is repeated every 4hrs.

In theory each full turn equates to 1mm of lengthening. The idea being that the bone ends are kept just far enough apart that they continue to grow towards each other but not so far apart that the bone gives up the battle and of course not so close that they actually knit. Over time new bone is grown and the femur is lengthened.

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My op last Friday went ahead as planned and 6 days later (yesterday) I was released home. I now sport a rather gruesome looking femoral ilizarov fixator frame worth a cool £6k!

It’s taking some major adjustments of course and it still very early days but I’m doing my very best to remain positive.  I had the Op 9am Friday morning which took 6hrs and arrived on the ward at 4.30pm.  Saturday was spent in bed but Sunday I was walking to the shower using a frame which is amazing progress given the operation.

The frame itself has 4 rings and stretches from high on my hip to my knee.  Mid-way is the adjustment section with 4 long threaded bolts that will be used for the lengthening procedure which begins next Tuesday. This is simple, each adjuster is turned a set number of times every day to achieve 1mm distraction per day. As I have 25mm of bone to grow it should take a month if the bone grows at the expected 1mm/day. We get shown what to do on Tuesday and then it is down to us to do at home each day!

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A few people have asked what brought all this about.  I’d forgot that the background and explanation to my leg issues had been lost when blog Mk1 went belly up without a backup so here is a quick summary:

Back in 1989 I had an accident whilst serving in HM Forces in Germany.  Long and short of that was I ended up with a fractured spine, punctured lung and a snapped femur,

The back was fixed with some metal scaffolding which I still sport, lung hole had a puncture repair and my leg was repaired with a full length internal nail down the shaft of the femur that was removed a few years later.

However, the leg repair, having been done in haste (I was understandably very ill at the time) left me with a loss of 2.5cm of bone from the femur and a severe rotation such that my foot points outwards about 30 degrees.  End result is hip, knee and back pain and a limp and an odd walking gait.

Fast forwards 20yrs and I resolved with increasing pain it was time I got it looked at properly rather than just treating the symptoms.  After a few referrals I saw a specialist and was told the solution is an ‘Ilizarov’ frame, named after the Russian Doctor who invented it. Designed for complex fracture repair and most importantly limb length discrepancy i.e. to ‘grow’ bone and lengthen limbs.

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My forthcoming Op has been delayed one week because I have a latex allergy.

I didn’t realise this would be an huge issue but apparently it means I have to have a theatre specially prepared and so I’m now first in at 7am on the 21st August.

Disappointed a little as the sooner I can get in and get the Op over with the sooner I can start the long recovery process but I understand why they need to be cautious.

At least the delay gives me some more time to sort out things like baggy track-pants and shorts.  Where can I get those track-suit bottoms that have poppers up the entire leg?  They’d be ideal for wearing with the frame. I had hoped the summer would mean I could rely on shorts for the first month or so but from what I have seen of the weather so far I think we can forget that idea!