Today's update is going to be a very special one and it will be from Mike himself. Yesterday after his doctor appointment with Dr. Gellman, he typed this up.
Family / Friends... as many of you know I've got a couple of doctor appointments (my two surgeons) this week and next which will determine what's next on my recovery journey... Today I met with Dr. Gellman, he's the surgeon who's been working on my ankle and did all the fixator stuff but he's also been following (tracking is more like it) my upper leg and knee. Earlier, I had some new x-rays and a CT scan taken of my knee and upper leg as it's been hurting and I have a internal growth that's bothering me. Today was the follow up to that earlier appointment. We started with a full height x-ray of me standing as upright as I could to give him a total picture of my leg. The following is the take away...
First, my left leg is 3cm's shorter than my right leg, that's just over an inch... 2nd, my left leg has an 8 degree bow in it as compared to my right, this I could tell just by standing so that wasn't a surprise. As for my foot/ankle, there's no change and everything down there is healed and I can continue my current rehab but as he put it... "... you'll never be 100% and most likely will always have a limp etc..." not something I wanted to hear and frankly I'm going to kinda reject for now as I WANT to return to as close to 100% as I possibly can. There has been so much trauma to the foot he feels that it will be impossible for me to have full range of motion in my foot... we'll see about that!
So, what's next? I've got a surgery, No.14, scheduled for Friday, Feb 21st, at O:Dark30 at Emanuel's Day Surgery. This surgery is going to do two things: 1st, he's going to take out all (at least I'm pretty sure that's what he said) the screws in my knee as they are no longer needed and the one, possibly two screws that have backed out and are causing a lot of pain in my knee when the tendons have to move over them. 2nd, he's going to remove the bone growth that formed just above my knee and is uncomfortable to lay on when I'm on my side. He said that once that's removed it won't grow back which is good news. The recovery from this should be pretty quick as all the bones etc are fully healed and it will be more about healing up the incisions.
Down the road and what to do with my shortened leg and bow? He wants to wait on that until my foot/ankle issues are resolved, meaning the de-bulking etc., that appointment is next Tuesday with Dr. Frome. What he hopes to be able to do is to operate and lengthen my left leg as much as possible, he thinks he can get about half of what I'm short back but that's about it. (Hey GL... I'm wishing now you'd have saved the chunks of bone you found... Poor joke I know). He feels he can also take out the bow completely which will be good. As a result of my 8 degree offset I'm walking on the side of my foot and not the whole foot bottom which is uncomfortable and not a good long term situation. The bummer part of that surgery is the recovery, it's long, as he more/less has to break apart my leg (remember it has an SS rod in it), spread it as far as he can, reset it and hope it all heals. I'm thinking that surgery won't be for a while given that he wants my foot/ankle done before he tackles this.
Anyway... I guess the journey continues. Sherry is going to do an update (post) on the blog site and I'm sure she'll do a better job of capturing the details but I know some of you wanted to get a report.
On a related topic but one that dates back to my time in St. George, UT the hospital, Dixie Medical Center has updated its web site and on the site's front page and half way down is the video we did for the hospital. This was done the day before I was to be discharged and suffered my heart attack... : O Anyway, if you'd like to check it out the link is: http://intermountainhealthcare.org/hospitals/dixie/Pages/home.aspx
We'll have to see what Dr. Frome says next week... but I'm going to continue with my PT and also doing my near daily routine at 24 Hour Fitness. It's been a LONG time since I stepped into a gym and it feels good to start to rebuild the muscle that I've lost. It's going to be a long haul but I'm more than committed to getting back. Thank you all for your support, something I need to remind myself to say again and again, as it truly helps. Sherry is with me each and every day and does such a great job in lifting me up from time to time. She's also tracking the progress, in this case the "shrinkage" of my free flap on my foot and it has gone down. We measure it each week and it is shrinking... so in this case... shrinkage is a good thing... That's it for now and again, thanks for your love and support.
MC/Mikey out
MC walking into the Dr. Office - his new trick is getting around with just one crutch.
Happy and hopeful that the Doc will have good news.
X-Ray of the screws and nails in Mike's injured leg.
Well you heard it from Mike himself today. It's nice to hear what "he" has to say!!
As always, we love to hear from you and we'll be sending out another update after next week's appointment with Dr. Fromm.
Big Heart Hugs, the S&M couple.
