Sorry for the delay everyone. I wanted to wait until after all of my appointments before I put up a post…
In the last 3 weeks I’ve seen 2 Orthopedic Specialists, a Plastic Surgeon, had 2 separate X-Ray appointments, and 1 CAT scan appointment. And upon leaving the Orthopedist Specialist today, I have an MRI appointment to schedule. Once I’ve had the MRI, the docs will review the images, we’ll (docs, prosthetist, and myself) discuss, and then schedule my surgery. That’s one way to start the new year…
The surgery will be on my left leg. The goal of the surgery is to increase my range of motion. I’m currently at about 55 degrees of flexion (bending) and hopefully the surgery will increase that to about 90 degrees. The proposed plan is to cut me open on the lateral side of my leg (outside part of my left leg, near my knee), remove the 3cm sized bone (heterotopic ossification)* in that area, that may be restricting my range of motion, break apart some scar tissue, fix the neuroma* that’s behind my leg, and remove some of the extra tissue that’s on the medial* bone near my knee. I think that’s it. If I have to be cut open, I might as well get everything done in one shot. Recovery will be about 6 weeks, which means I’ll be out of commission and won’t be able to wear the prosthesis for 6 weeks. Not great, but hopefully it will be worth it. If after all of that and my range of motion does not increase then Plan B is to have a treatment/procedure called external fixation. The simple explanation for external fixation is that holes are drilled into my bone, screws/pins are then put into the holes, and then a circular frame is put around my leg and attached to the screws/pins. The screws/pins are then turned in order to “lengthen” the bone. I’d have to wear this for at least 6 weeks, 24/7. In those 6 weeks I wouldn’t be able to wear my prosthesis and could possibly lose some degrees of extension (straightening my leg), which I wouldn’t be able to get back…and that would be a big problem. The surgery could also lead to an infection. Since the bottom half of my left leg consists mostly of skin grafts and other issues, I may be more prone to infection after surgery as well. But, the doc says that that could easily be managed. I hope. Obviously, the biggest problem could be that there are issues with the surgery and then I wake up with no knee and am a bilateral, AK (above knee) amputee. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Loooooord…..
So, I have to schedule my MRI, have the docs review the images, have all parties involved devise a surgery plan, coordinate everyone’s schedule, then schedule surgery…possibly end of January. Schedule #13. I’m not looking forward to it, but want to schedule it as soon as possible so that we can get it taken care of and move on. On the bright side, or maybe I should say on the dim side…being out of commission in the heart of winter isn’t the end of the world.
So, that’s the biggest/latest medical update.
Five days ago was the 1 year anniversary of my accident. “Observed” it by hosting a dinner in the city with some special people. Dinner and the company was great and I made it home without getting hit by a train, or a car for that matter. So, I guess, the night of December 26, 2014 ended better than the night of December 26, 2013. And I guess December 27, 2014 was better than December 27, 2013 for my friends and family.
Even though 2014 was filled with many milestones, I still feel like it was an unproductive year for me. Yes, I know…I’m coocoo. I realize that if I didn’t get into this accident, it’s not like I would have spent 2014 bringing peace to the world, feeding starving children, or anything else of that magnitude, but me being the psycho that I am, it felt unproductive. Irrational? Yes. Well aware. But all the “milestones” I had this year were only milestones because of the accident. Ok, that’s all with the negativity. I’ll get over it. I know I accomplished a lot this year. And I want to thank everyone for the support and love they’ve given me along the way. It is much appreciated. Let’s hope surgery goes well and that once I recover from it, I’ll be back on track and 2015 will be filled with even more milestones.
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Ben and I didn’t get each other anything for Chrismukkah this year. We’ve ordered our new car…that was our gift to each other. Once the car is in, I’ll have to send it off to have hand controls installed. Car won’t be in until early February and then the installation of the hand controls will take a few weeks. Ben, or anyone else, will still be able to drive the car even though it will have hand controls. He can drive it with the foot pedals or choose to use the hand controls. It’ll be great when I can drive myself around. Scary and nervous as hell, but the independence will be awesome. Although I’m sure Ben is going to miss driving me around all over the place! Ha! =)
What else has been happening? Oh!..Ben and I went to the mall, without my wheelchair. That was exhausting. We only needed to go one store so I didn’t think it would be too bad. Boy, was I wrong! Going to the mall involves A LOT of walking. I never thought about how much walking one actually does when they go to the mall. Why would I? Walking wasn’t an issue. Going to the mall is good exercise for your legs and wallet. I had to walk through the parking lot, walk through the mall to the elevator (riding an escalator isn’t in my barrel of tricks yet), walk from the elevator to the store, and then walk around the actual store, except by the time I got to the store I was so exhausted I had to find a spot to sit down and rest so that I could actually walk out of the store. I popped a squat in the store and took a little rest while Ben returned the item in the store for me. Luckily, I mustered up enough energy to make it out of the mall, slowly but surely. Looks like I should still to online shopping for a little longer..or stick to small strip malls!
I’m sure there have been some other little things, but this is what I get for waiting so long to post something! Hopefully I’ll get better in 2015 with this. Sorry! I’ll need to write things down to ensure I don’t miss anything for you guys.
I hope everyone has fun tonight on NYE, whatever you might be doing. HAPPY 2015!!!

*Heterotopic Ossification – the presence of bone in soft tissue where bone normally does not exist.
*Neuroma – growth or tumor of nerve tissue.
*Medial – Pertaining to the middle; in or toward the middle; nearer the middle of the body. Medial is as opposed to lateral. For example, the medial side of the knee is the side closest to the other knee whereas the lateral side of the knee is the outside of the knee.