AnalogRTO
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- Diaper Lover
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I posted a while back--the latest doctor actually went looking and found I had torn ligaments, dislocated tendons, and a failure of the joint to fuse after my previous surgery. I shattered the left heel (calcaneus bone) a bit over five years ago. A few weeks after the break was the first surgery to bolt back together the major pieces of the bone and let it heal. Three months after that was a removal of the hardware as it was giving me pain. Pain never stopped, so after several years of fighting it they decide to try and fuse the joint to stop the arthritis that comes with the damage.
Well, before this doctor, nobody ever did anything more than X-rays. They really couldn't see what had transpired with soft tissue damage. This guy actually ordered both CT scan to get a 360 view of my heel via X-ray, and an MRI so he could know what was happening with soft tissue. I have been SO happy to know we are going to address EVERYTHING!
Because my foot got infected after the hardware removal surgery, this had to be done in two parts. The first surgery was on Monday. The doctor went in, pulled out the screws that they put in to try and fuse the joint, found the dislocated tendons (those were torn as well) and repaired and relocated them. He then cleaned out the joint and packed antibiotic cement spacers in it as well as taking a sample of the bone to make sure there was no infection. He said it all looked healthy, so I crossed my fingers.
Today, the pathology report showed up in the online chart. No infection! So glad that is the case, because it would have meant a long course of IV antibiotics and an extra two months before I could do the second surgery. With the clean pathology report, I should be able to have my second surgery at the end of February!
Surgery #5 will take out the antibiotic cement spacers, add bone grafts and stem cells in the joint, and finally some screws to put it all together and hopefully get it to fuse this time.
I'm non-weight bearing on that foot until at least three months after my next surgery. Pain in the ass, but if it means I can walk and do normal things again, I'm all for it.
Well, before this doctor, nobody ever did anything more than X-rays. They really couldn't see what had transpired with soft tissue damage. This guy actually ordered both CT scan to get a 360 view of my heel via X-ray, and an MRI so he could know what was happening with soft tissue. I have been SO happy to know we are going to address EVERYTHING!
Because my foot got infected after the hardware removal surgery, this had to be done in two parts. The first surgery was on Monday. The doctor went in, pulled out the screws that they put in to try and fuse the joint, found the dislocated tendons (those were torn as well) and repaired and relocated them. He then cleaned out the joint and packed antibiotic cement spacers in it as well as taking a sample of the bone to make sure there was no infection. He said it all looked healthy, so I crossed my fingers.
Today, the pathology report showed up in the online chart. No infection! So glad that is the case, because it would have meant a long course of IV antibiotics and an extra two months before I could do the second surgery. With the clean pathology report, I should be able to have my second surgery at the end of February!
Surgery #5 will take out the antibiotic cement spacers, add bone grafts and stem cells in the joint, and finally some screws to put it all together and hopefully get it to fuse this time.
I'm non-weight bearing on that foot until at least three months after my next surgery. Pain in the ass, but if it means I can walk and do normal things again, I'm all for it.
