Posted by DarrenG
on January 19, 2010
Today I saw my consultant. X-Rays were taken and having having looked at them he declared the fracture well and truly healed and that it was time for the frame to come off.
Off he popped to check theatre availability. A few minutes later he returned and asked if I was available tomorrow afternoon! I couldn’t say yes quick enough.
Then followed the pre-op assessment, consent forms, urine test, MRSA swabs etc and then we drove home delighted and a little shell shocked at the news. We’d been home only a few minutes when my mobile rang. It was the hospital explaining that the Op could not take place tomorrow.
I have a latex allergy which causes issues with theatres. If anyone has been in before me they will have used latex gloves and this causes a very slight risk that latex dust may be on the surfaces or in the air. I’m only allergic if I get latex in my mouth, no balloon blowing for me, but once you declare an allergy they cannot take any chances.
And so, as I was mid list tomorrow they have re-scheduled so I am instead first on the table on Friday instead in a theatre that has been cleaned and is as latex free as possible. The whole removal procedure will take less than an hour and is effectively a day case so I can return home as soon as I have come around from the general anaesthetic.
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Posted by DarrenG
on August 28, 2009
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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Posted by DarrenG
on August 19, 2009
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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