The complete broken femur/hip blog
Hi everyone.
I am new here, but my interests and now, challenges, coincide with many of yours, so I decided that I should start this blog. I´m a healthy and active 35 year old skiier, golfer, skater, surfer etc. etc.
I´ll try and keep the info updated in the top of this thread and reply below.
Here goes;
Tuesday 03/23/10
This day was when the accident happened. Every other tuesday through the winter I´ve been organizing a skate session with other "Old boys", aka over 30´s in the local indoor skate park.
After about 15 minutes out I miss a trick and land on my left side. Limping off the miniramp i sat down with some ice-packs for a few minutes but quickly found out that something was wrong. So i got a friend to drive me to the ER.
After getting there, and with a super-quick examination by the doc, he put me in a wheelchair and sent me on to get some x-rays. Luckily this night, one of my best friends who is an orthopedist, is working. We get the x-rays, but they are inconclusive as to what kind of femural break it is, and so he orders a CT as well to be sure. At this point he thought there might be some distress to the muscles on the outside of the hip that stabilizes the pelvis, and that is something that isn´t an easy fix. It could be me and Dr. House for the rest of my life he said....Anyhow, the brake is classified as a "Fractura pertrochanterica femoris" - classified in the Muller AO scale as a multifracture 31A2.
http://iloapp.erikhaaland.com/blog/b...1270058639.png
He puts me up at the ortho ward at the hospital overnight with morphine through the night and tells me he has to consult the other doctors the next morning before deciding what to do, operation or 6 week cast.....
Wednesday 03/24/10
Well, they decided to operate my broken femur and later this day they wheeled me in, gave me a spinal, and heu presto - 30 minutes later they´re done. Remarkably quick, really ! Also I didn´t loose more than probably 150 ml of blood.
Here is an x-ray after the surgery, with the CHS in.
http://iloapp.erikhaaland.com/data/b...1269860460.png
For those of you who would like to know more about the technical aspects of the plate and screw fix, it´s a model from Smith & Nephew called a 2 hole Compression Hip Screw, made out of 316L stainless steel.
And here is a picture with my thigh´n´stitches.
http://iloapp.erikhaaland.com/blog/b...1269691471.jpg
Thursday 03/25/10
Had some pain through the night, but asked for some extra medication which relieved the pain some. I have always been extremely careful with any kind of painkillers, so getting some morphine wasn´t really my choice but a necessity I guess. Around lunch-time I bit my teeth together, got up on a sort of elevated stroller, and managed to get to the bathroom unassisted. I did this 3 three times this day. Managed to follow up some practical tasks as well this day. The doc´s put me on a total of minimum 6 Paracetamol tabs, 3 Tramadol tabs and a nightly blood-thinner through syringe.
A room with a view ? My god how boring !
http://iloapp.erikhaaland.com/blog/b...1269890042.jpg
http://iloapp.erikhaaland.com/blog/b...1269890039.jpg
http://iloapp.erikhaaland.com/blog/b...1269890043.jpg
Friday 03/26/10
Friday morning and the doctor who operated me, not my friend, tells me everything has gone well. He doesn´t suspect the muscle-pelvis thing to be a problem, which is a sigh of relief for sure. And he asks me if I´m ready to go home this same day, upon which I reply that I would rather stay another day if possible.
Then the PT comes to pay me a visit and instructs me in the use of crutches. He gives me some info as to what to do and what not to do. Not a few hours later a nurse comes to tell me they are closing down the ward for the weekend, and do I mind changing ward or do I wanna go home ?
I decide to go home, as I today have managed to use the crutches a few times, also in stairs and when in the shower unaided. But I must admit, just 2 days after operation, I felt a bit apprehensive.
Saturday 03/27/10
Home taking it slow, feeling the operation and the meds. Using much time on the net googling similarities to my case and thinking of how I can make a full recovery a quick as possible.
Sunday 03/28/10
Here I´ve got Medscapes take on the situation:
"For femoral stress fractures of the medial compression side, protected crutch-assisted, touch-down weight bearing is implemented for 1-4 weeks, based on the resolution of symptoms and the appearance of callus. Progression to full weight bearing can gradually commence once pain has resolved. Patients must avoid running for 8-16 weeks while the low-impact training program/phase is completed. The progression can include (1) cycling, (2) swimming, and (3) running in chest-deep water before resuming more intensive weight-bearing training. Patients must maintain upper extremity and cardiovascular fitness and avoid lower extremity exercise early in the healing process."
Which is basically the same as the ortho and PT told me at the hospital. I¨ll therefore try this program until told otherwise on my next PT appointment, which should be around 06/040/10:
Alle excercises to be done 4-5 times daily, reps. 20-25.
Excercise 1 - Walk as much as possible every day. Focus on proper technique. Maksimum 20 kg weight on my left (injured) leg.
Excercise 2 - While standing, crutch assisted, move left foot slowly as far forward from the other foot as possible. Try not to "help" by swaying the body.
Excercise 3 - While standing, crutch assisted, move left foot slowly as far to the side from the other foot as possible. Try not to "help" by swaying the body.
Excercise 4 - Take a seat on a chair, angle the left foot as much as possible and move the foot forward and up as much as possible.
I´ll let you know on my progress.
Update 19.34 hrs - I´m able to lift my left leg up in the air whilst lying on my back.
Monday 03/29/10
Had a fairly god night without too much pain, not feeling to bad today and minimal fever. Pretty tender around the insertion area of the CHS and very tired as the evening came. Stiff around the knee and the front left thigh muscle is not very mobile.
Tuesday 03/30/10
A good day today ! Got out today to hand in my sick-leave notice to work and also managed to get to the tax office no problems. Walking on crutches works fine. Looks like getting around as much as possible helps speed the mobility part up, if not the bone growth. It´s also a big difference sitting with my knee inclined as much as possible as opposed to stretched out, epecially when getting up afterwards in terms of stiffness. Significantly better hip movement today. Did not do my excercises today as I walked and moved around a lot.
Wednesday 03/31/10
ROM (Range of movement) - a week after surgery
http://iloapp.erikhaaland.com/blog/b...1270203043.png
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Thursday 04/01/10
Nothing much to report today, got out´n´about a bit. Getting dressed is getting easier as I am now able to put my trousers and socks on without too much trouble. Still pain in my operated thigh and stiffness there. Can´t wait to get to PT next week !
Fri-Sun 04/02-04/10
So I have found a walking route where i live that takes appx. 15-20 minutes, and I am walking this twice a day. I am feeling significantly improved moveability and flexibilty as a result and getting dressed is getting easier every day. Just another few days until I get to se the doc and PT again and I can´t wait to hear what they are saying in terms of my improvement. The only worry I have now is that I might be placing too much weight on my injured leg, but I am trying to do it right and not more weight than instructed.