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The Scoop on the Leg
(in other words, here is my tale of stupidity!)
I decided to go for a ride thru
California's wine country, and a funny thing happened on the way from Moscowite
Corner to St. Helena... I went down on the bike!
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On December 4, I went down, and
had surgery the following morning. A plate was inserted onto the fibula, which
was broken. Some ligaments were severely damaged, but I have been laying flat
for over 10 days, and things are feeling much better. The doctor says I should be
traveling again by Y2K!
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On the left, you can see the
part of my leg which was hurt in the accident. Note the lower leg bones
called the Fibula
and Tibia.
It is the Fibula
bone which cracked, as can be seen in the illustration below. |
Unfortunately, on
December 15, I
learned that the ligaments between the Tibia and Fibula are not close enough,
and might not heal properly as things stand now. The ankle has too much room to
move around, and that is NOT a good thing! Looks like the 2 bones are 2mm
farther apart than they should be, and that is a cause for concern!
| On the right is a close
up of the bones inside the foot. I have color coded the Tibia
yellow, and the Fibula
red. The light blue line is the point where the Fibula
cracked, and is being held together by a plate. The surgery on 12/22 will
hold the Tibia
and Fibula
closer together so that they fit tighter around the ankle. |
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December 18, 1999 The word is in! On
December 22, I will have to go in for additional surgery to make absolutely sure
the leg heals in the proper position! The
good news is that the surgery is not "do over" stuff... but just
enhancement of the 1st procedure, which should not set me back, but just adjust
the course of healing!
December
26, 1999 The
Surgery seems to be a success! I was in the Surgery Center, which is an
outpatient facility at 6:15AM, and was out the door headed home by 11:30! And
that is after being fully anesthetized!
What a country! Anyway, I have a 3/4 cast on now, and have to lay flat for just
about a week and keep pressure off the leg. To say that I'm going stir crazy
would be an understatement! Have an appointment on 12/29/1999 to see whats up,
so I will update right here when I learn more!
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Here is a
picture of my leg with the 3/4 cast on. |
December
29, 1999 HEALING
ON TRACK!
After reviewing the X-rays, the leg is right on track! The bones are in the
correct place, and it looks like Scooter will be 100% in approximately 6 weeks.
3 weeks in a cast, and then another 3 weeks in a removable boot like thing! As
anyone who has had a cast on knows, its kind of a pain in the ass, but better
that than not having a leg at all!!!
January 2000 WALKING
BOOT IS HERE
Never say that Scooter is not on the cutting edge of fashion! I am sporting the
delightful Walking Boot now, a strap on little number which can be removed when
showering or sleeping. It is a boot I am fortunate enough to be able to keep the
rest of my life as a souvenir! How cool! I spent $60USD for this thing and it
only is for the left leg. I REALLY hope that in the future that if I have to
break a leg, it is the left one so I can reuse this truly wonderful piece of
medical hardware! March
2000 THE
MAN CAN WALK AND RIDE*!
The said it couldn't be done, but "they" were wrong! Scooter is now a
fully functional human being with both feet pointing in the SAME direction. If
you never had the misfortune of having one foot point in a different direction
than the other, then you might not appreciate how cool it is to have them both
doing the same thing!!! AT this time, the only problem is that the swelling is
not going down very fast in the effected foot. I cant wear a normal pair of
shoes or boots because the left foot is much wider than the right. As far as
pain goes, its not to bad. There are days when it creaks a bit, but I do believe
that when the pins and plate come out, there will be far less day to day
discomfort. Next step on the road to recovery is trying to convince my doctor
that Aetna misinformed them about the health coverage I have, and get the
procedure scheduled to take the pins back out of my leg. I understand this is a
10 minute mini surgery where the doc basically takes a Black & Decker power
drill and removes those puppies from the bones! Fun, eh? Well, the good news is
that I think I can get 2 months credit from the Health club for the 2 months I
was completely down. This would be a good thing! Nice not having to pay for
something you are not using! *Just
bought myself and Elizabeth a couple of bicycles so we can get some exercise
which works that new foot really well. Ill bet when ya saw the word
"ride" above, you were thinking I was on the motorcycle again. Fat
chance! I like having my feet in harmony, and I really don't think I'm gonna put
them at that kind of risk again any time soon.
November
2000 THE
PINS ARE OUT
Well... It looks as if the
drama is finally over. The pins have been removed from my leg 
I
cannot tell you how nice it is
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