Titanium Connecting Rods, Oh My! (Update 21/1/14)

[ZiaVFR]

Surgery 4.0 scheduled for May 3rd!

Shorten a screw that's sticking out into soft tissues and causing pain, plus tighten ligaments going down to my heel on both sides. :happy:

See post #143:

OW. :fing02:

In other news: Mowed the lawn today! But just the front. :happy:

That wiped me out and my foot will hate me tomorrow, but oh well, gotta be like a shark: always moving forward.

No more mowing! Get a herd of goats :tour:

Hang in there Rob, we all know you can do it!

[VFR4Lee]

Surgery 4.0 scheduled for May 3rd! :fing02:

Shorten a screw that's sticking out into soft tissues and causing pain, plus tighten ligaments going down to my heel on both sides.

The torture never stops I guess. :happy:

Hope the desired result is achieved, and you won't need 5.0 or 4.1 either.

As for the lawn, I mow half and leave the other half for another day frequently.

Just makes life easier. And if the green yard waste recycle bin gets full? Well, I guess I'm done for now. :tour:

[JES_VFR]

good luck tomorrow Rob.

[vfrcapn]

No more mowing! Get a herd of goats :biggrin:

Why not, my city is doing it. :beer:

Good luck Rob, is it still scheduled for tomorrow?

[Veefer800Canuck]

Good luck Rob, is it still scheduled for tomorrow?

Yes. (burp)

Not allowed to have anything to eat after midnight, so I'm taking advantage of the window of opportunity to put on a feedbag.

While the rest of youse bastiges are enjoying lunch, I'm going to be the one being carved up like a turkey. 12:10 to be exact.

On the plus side, my GP gave me some Ketorolac last week which is a painkiller and an anti-inflammatory both, and it's done WONDERS for my pain level, swelling and inflammation.

It`s the oral form of Toradol which I got in the hospital via I.V. to great effect! I only wish I had gotten some sooner!

I went for a 2 hour mountain bike ride today, and even tackled some small hills!

No rough terrain, and I was quite winded from basically doing Jack Squat for physical output these past months, but it was a great feeling to get out and circulate, even slowly.

But at least I didn't want to gnaw my foot off afterwards. It was quite tolerable actually! :beer::)

So with the next surgery bringing (I hope) some more improvement, and a few Ketorolac every day, I should be feeling fancy in no time!

So thanks all, will report back when I am able! :biggrin:

[Veefer800Canuck]

DONE! In at 12:10, awake @ 2:00, out of hospital @ 3:30. Feeling well-rested, not groggy, and almost zero pain. :cheerleader:

It felt like a really great nap!

Not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Back home now, on crutches (no weight bearing until sutures heal and pain allows), and feeling quite OK overall. Bandages can come off in 2 days.

I saw Xrays he took after the modification to the screw, and he did indeed shorten it right flush with the bone, and tighten up/repair the ligament on the outside of the foot.

Doc wasn't sure whether the pain I was experiencing these last 4 months since beginning walking was from the too-long screw (though it certainly felt to be right at that spot to me) or if it was the subtalar joint that was giving me troubles.

He also said that some people's ankles fuse themselves together after such trauma all by themselves, basically rendering it immobile.

I have some range of motion, but he's convinced that most of it is in the forefoot as that tends to become more flexible as you ask more of the forefoot to compensate for the ankle. But at least when that happens, there is no pain because the joint kinda grows in with bony material.

Kinda like a wanna-be gymnast or ballerina stretching out early in their quest. Eventually, if you stay with it, you'll increase your flexibility.

More updates when something new happens.

[SEBSPEED]

Glad it went well Robbie! :cheerleader:

No trike for you just yet!! :beer:

[Earthshake]

That's good news!

[V4 Rosso]

Good news! Hopefully the pain stays away from now on.

[The Phantom]

Cool bananas.

When I did my ankle a few months back, my physio told me that such damage to the ligaments renders them incapable of 'understanding' when they are supposed to do their thing to prevent a re-occurance, and you can easily sprain the ankle again because of this... you need to train them back. She said the best way to start this process is to stand on the 'bad' ankle (once it's up to it, of course) and lift the other foot, and balance... do it for 20-30 seconds at a time, and increase duration as you are able. This re-trains the ligaments and goes a long way to help prevent you damaging it again - once they are back to normal, as soon as you start to go off balance the ligaments tighten as appropriate to hold the joint properly.

Have your specialists had anything to say about this? Maybe it's too soon.

I'd never heard of it before. a hunt around the net suggests that this seems to be 'proprioceptive' training, as per the info here.

[Veefer800Canuck]

When I did my ankle a few months back, my physio told me that such damage to the ligaments renders them incapable of 'understanding' when they are supposed to do their thing to prevent a re-occurance, and you can easily sprain the ankle again because of this... you need to train them back. She said the best way to start this process is to stand on the 'bad' ankle (once it's up to it, of course) and lift the other foot, and balance... do it for 20-30 seconds at a time, and increase duration as you are able. This re-trains the ligaments and goes a long way to help prevent you damaging it again - once they are back to normal, as soon as you start to go off balance the ligaments tighten as appropriate to hold the joint properly.

Murray, last week, before I got carved up again, I could stand on my good foot like a Flamingo and balance perfectly still for minutes on end, no problem. My head hardly moves side to side at all.

Substitute the bad foot, and although I felt absolutely no pain nor discomfort, I immediately start keeling over to one side or the other after a couple of seconds. Nothing I can do will improve the situation outside of waving my arms in an animated fashion, tossing my torso this way or that, and of course planting the other foot down. Or grabbing the wall.

Told the doc that and he was at a loss to explain it to me yesterday, though we only had a couple minutes together in the pre-op area. I used the term "instability", which I think he took to mean JOINT instability, and my ankle sure as heck isn't unstable in that regard, as it doesn't over-rotate side to side like someone with a classic sprain history. As a matter of fact, it hardly even moves sideways at all if a 2nd party flexes it L to R, and me moving it on purpose isn't much better.

Oh well, quitcherbitchin Rob, could have left the foot embedded in the car as a new hood ornament for them. :pissed:

I read the link you provided, and that sounds like the issue I'm having, I just don't know if the damage is too great for there to be any significant improvement.

Off to the Doc again on the 13th for followup, will see then. I'll print off the info and show him.

[Veefer800Canuck]

Got my staples out yesterday after the screw-shortening procedure and ligament repair. (owie) :beer:

Good news is that pain has diminished a good 90%, and I am walking without cane or crutch! :fing02:

I can almost fake not having a limp, and the swelling in the foot is not too bad, it almost goes right away after a night's sleep. :491:

So that's it as far as progress goes, the rest is going to be physiotherapy and time.

Going downhill and down stairs is still a little bit of a challenge, but going up is fine.

Loose uneven surfaces are not good, as I don't have much lateral control of the foot, so we'll have to see if that improves. :fing02:

The right knee (good leg) is still complaining about having to do all the work these past 9 months, so hopefully that will go away shortly as well now that I am loading the other leg to capacity.

And I have always had custom orthotic inserts in my shoes (from a qualified podiatrist) as I have rather high arches and my feet also tend to pronate.

Since the accident and surgery, the left foot strikes the ground in such a way as to load the outside edge of the foot more than the inside (supination):

So I'll have to get new orthotics that take that into account and "level out" the left step a bit, so I don't telegraph problems up to the knee and hip later in life. No problems so far with that, but it's early days so I want to be sure it doesn't cause trouble on down the road.

Now to get my bike back from the painter.........

[enzed_viffer]

Well Rob, I hope you continue to improve and regain strength and mobility. I haven't been in your situation, but you sound like you're actually coping quite well with what is a pretty serious injury. I've been pretty lucky in that I've only had minor injuries, including what I suspect is a now arthritic broken heel from when I wrecked my VFR750 6 or 7 years ago. I was unlucky enough to be admitted to outpatients in the middle of a major rebuild of the hospital, and they neglected to check my foot. I told them it hurt, and they said "You can walk on it - it must be OK!" (By walk, they meant hobble, clenching my teeth to stop from screaming. LOL... Yay for the Public Health system, which I've just (yesterday) had more first-hand experience with, and a nice comparison with the previous Friday's private hospital experience. Had an angiogram last week, and a transoesophageal echo yesterday, in preparation for a mitral valve repair in a few weeks' time. The public hospital angio clinic personnel unfortunately gave the impression of being amateurs, whereas the private clinic was slick, well-coordinated, and well organised. I guess it's true you get what you pay for: yesterday was free and unpleasant, last Friday was NZ$4500 ($830 cost to me) and actually rather pleasant, despite blacking out twice in quick succession.

OOps! Sorry - didn't intend to hijack your thread; I'm just rather pre-occupied with my health at the moment. :fing02:

[SEBSPEED]

Sounds like you'll be back to work w/ these guys pretty soon! :fing02: :fing02:

[vfrcapn]

Sounds like good progress Rob. :fing02:

[Tyke]

Good news Rob, I'm glad things are improving, it's amazing how long it takes for all the stuff to heal properly but it'll get there, just keep plugging away at the physio.

Looking forward to buying you a beer at the PNW meet. :laughing6-hehe:

[Dutchy]

Let me hoist a :laughing6-hehe: to your improved situation!

[Auspanglish]

Excellent reading how you're improving... keep on keeping on...

Eat well... we are what we eat and your diet can play an important part in the healing process... gotta give the body all the help it can get...

Trying to picture you imitating Flamingoes.... :laughing6-hehe: :comp13: :blink:

[Veefer800Canuck]

The last two weeks have been "interesting". :dry:

About June 11 or so, my incision from May 3rd surgery, which was previously all healed over, began to get all hot, red and swollen. :excl:

Mucking about with it a bit, it opened right up and a bunch of sick came out. :ohmy:

Turns out I had an abcessed stitch, so I dressed it, dousing with antibiotic creme, rubbing alcohol, the works, and a couple of days later, the stitching surfaced and I was able to pluck it out. :blink:

I now had a divot in the middle of the old 4" long healed incision, and about an inch on either side of the divot had opened up as well. :angry:

Off to the Horsestable I went, and all the nurses were like "WOW, that's not good at all". (completely forgetting their professional demeanour and not doing anything at all for my confidence) :huh:

5 days of intravenous antibioitics, daily dressing changes, then another 6 days of oral antibiotics and it's FINALLY closing over again and all the infection is gone. :fing02:

Sheesh, what's next???? :comp13:

At least I am walking better now, but the first 100 yards in the morning are a bitch. Things loosen up later on after more walking. Still on anti-inflammatories for awhile yet, they work wonderfully!

Mountain biking, and using the elliptical machine at the rec center, so that is all helping too. My knee on my good leg is still pissed at me, descending stairs, it lets me know exactly what it thinks of me, which is to say, not much.

I think all that hopping on one leg and crutching has taken a toll on the knee. Hopefully it will calm down over the next 6 months or so........

[Infidel]

Wow I was just reading this thread and an update appears lol.

Glad to hear you are doing better.

[TexOz]

... opened right up and a bunch of sick came out. .... Turns out I had an abcessed stitch, .... the stitching surfaced and I was able to pluck it out.

BARF !!... :fing02:

Mate, it certainly hasn't been good for you - hope it all starts going better from now :comp13:

[Veefer800Canuck]

... opened right up and a bunch of sick came out. .... Turns out I had an abcessed stitch, .... the stitching surfaced and I was able to pluck it out.

BARF !!... :angry:

Mate, it certainly hasn't been good for you - hope it all starts going better from now :comp13:

Thanks Tex. Actually, the exact same thing happened to me early in the year after a previous surgery. :blink:

Seems that those "dissolving stitches" don't really agree with me. It was about 2 cm long, looked like dental floss.

As for the stitch coming out, well, like Shrek says: "Better out than in!" :fing02:

But it's all scabbed over now and dry, so in another couple weeks or so, it should be healed right over with fresh epidermis.

[HispanicSlammer]

Oh man Rob, I guess this just keeps on getting better and better for you? The bike is looking great though, love the black undersides.

[Veefer800Canuck]

Oh man Rob, I guess this just keeps on getting better and better for you? The bike is looking great though, love the black undersides.

Yeah, nothing surprises me anymore. :fing02:

Walking with no shoes is a real chore, you can quite easily tell that things aren't Kosher with my stride. (lump-lump-lump)

Walking with shoes, I can fake it quite well if I try, so that at a regular pace, you probably wouldn't know there's a problem.

But if I am not trying to hide it and just let things go natural, there is a noticeable limp of varying degrees, depending on the time of day and how much/little I've been working the foot.

Still would not even ATTEMPT running though, that's too advanced for this cat right now. :comp13:

[Veefer800Canuck]

Welp, went to the bone Doc today and it's official.

Latest X-rays reveal that I have raging arthritis in my ankle and most certainly require fusion. :pissed:

Quote: "Your X-rays look like hell, but I totally expected that."

Every step is absolute agony unless I'm totally overmedicated on Toradol which makes things almost slightly bearable. :angry:

BUT, you're only supposed to take that stuff for one week MAX. I've been on it 4 months. :excl:

F%@& S#@! D@&$ :dry:

I did get a cortisone shot to help out short-term, but that's just a total band-aid. :pissed: