It’s been a difficult start to the New Year. My broken leg has been getting more & more painful over the past few weeks. This week it was so excruciating that I was unable to weight bear for more than 5 minutes, even with crutches.
It shouldn’t be like that. I’ve been doing everything right in terms of rest, exercise, more rest, more exercise & pain management. So when I collapsed in my bedroom chair on Tuesday, we knew it was time to make a call.
My Surgeons secretary wasn’t available & he was in surgery all day but the receptionist listened carefully, (to what I hope was a calm recount of what I’d been experiencing), while assuring me that she would pass my message on.
Five minutes later my phone rang. My Surgeon wanted to see me the next day. He was worried about the pain pattern I was describing & wanted to conduct a full review.
So on Wednesday afternoon off my husband & I went. I doubled my normal pain medication so I could endure the 45min drive. It helped…a little!
We were warmly greeted as always except my Surgeon corrected his “Happy New Year” to “New Year”. I corrected him saying I was determined to be happy even in pain. He grimaced…I smiled 😊
So after some discussion he sent me off for an xray. He has access to special little xray office at the hospital so I was seen straight away & then took the images immediately back to his office. Together we reviewed the pictures.
The leg is still very broken. The pole still looks strong so that’s a bonus & it doesn’t need replacing just yet. The interlocking screw at the knee still has room to move so that can stay there for a while too. The break looks irritated & bone fragments look to be rubbing which will explain some of the excess pain.
At this stage we all decided no action required. He was not happy that he can’t improve the situation for me but I was relieved not to be facing further surgery just yet. I don’t feel ready for more. He told me to call him at any time & never hesitate to call if my pain patterns change. I feel so supported.
So we drove home feeling somewhat reassured that my pole wasn’t about to snap & despite my pain I was looking forward to just settling down for a couple of months before my next review, although I still had a slight niggle at the back of my mind that we weren’t quite out of the woods.
The next day, Thursday, my mobile rang & it was my Surgeons secretary. She said my Dr had been thinking more about me since Wednesdays visit & he now wanted me to have some blood tests. She had a concerned tone & I didn’t want to press her for anymore details. I had a sense that this was to do with that niggle in the back of my mind & I just needed to wait & see. Maybe I didn’t ask questions because I don’t want to know the answers just yet.
So the blood test form has been posted but I haven’t got it yet so can’t do my normal sleuthing as to what the tests are for. I’m sure it will all be routine…..I’m hoping it will be all routine.
In the meantime I’m going to just park the blood tests that loom overhead & despite this crazy pain, enjoy the weekend as much as possible & focus on enjoying the flowers in my garden, time with my husband & a few good DVDs. Not a bad life really 😊💗
My Medical Musings 