Home Despairs

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Broken Leg - 10 day post op checkup

My friend Brent was kind enough to pick me up and drive me back to Vail for a 10-day post op.
At this point in time, the soft splint/cast was taken off and the sutures removed. All the sutures were well-healed and looked good, but the leg as a whole looked puffy, bruised and hurt pretty badly. Despite the look and feel, the doctor said it all looked good considering the extent of the break.

The really good news is that the break appeared to be completely contained within the tibia and there was no damage to the joint at either end - the knee or the ankle. Nonetheless, the knee was stiff and sore since the implant of the rod required going through the patellar tendon just below the knee. So now I have a long vertical scar just under the kneecap.

Broken Leg - Back in Louisville

My friends delivered me back to the house in Louisville, however all was not great.
The house is a tri-level, which means short staircases between any point A and point B.
This is no place for a person with 2 broken legs.

The compromise: setup a mini-frig and microwave in the room and I live in the room until I have to return to the doctor (10 days after surgery and 6 days after return home). The next 6 days were maddening - a prisoner in my room. Thank god for pain meds!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Broken Leg - Hospital Stay

Surgery took 4 hours and due to having 2 broken legs, I was immobilized.
There was some pretty intense pain in the right leg, requiring pretty heavy pain killers.

I was in Vail Valley hospital for 4 nights and then had 2 friends come up to Vail to pick me up and also take my car back to Louisville.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Broken Legs

I broke my legs (both) skiing at Vail.
After skiing for 30+ years, the odds finally caught up with me.

The left was a minor fracture. The right was a major break - a spiral fracture.