Visualizing Healing

Today marked yet another post-op appointment. Unlike the last two, this one was not at the main St. Paul hospital but rather in a clinic out in the Twin Cities suburbs. Also unlike the last two, I did not show up in a wheelchair but rather trundling along with my walker.

As far as notes from the appointment go, basically I'm on schedule to have the frame removed around the end of April or beginning of May, about four months after it was placed. In an interesting change of pace from when it was put on, a process which required a three hour surgery and six days in the hospital, removing the contraption will take about ten minutes and will be an outpatient procedure. For now, the pin sites look good, the leg is (more officially) straight, bone has started filling in the cuts made during the surgery. For day-to-day life, weight-bearing is according to the level of my comfort. I should be able to leave the walker behind at home before too long and leave it behind altogether within a somewhat reasonable time frame.

Proof of the healing came, as before, from x-rays. Last time I was x-rayed, Dr. Sundberg ordered a standing x-ray to get an idea of how my leg alignment was faring. That particular experiment did not go particularly well—I felt dizzy and nauseous, barely able to remain upright. This time was much easier. I walked over to the x-ray, barely leaning on the walker, got up and was able to help in the positioning of my legs. There was no nauseousness. All in all, it was really quite simple.

And I got proof of healing.

The leg with its final alignment. Note how close the weight-bearing axis (drawn in red) comes to the center of the kneecap. This puts it in a normal position, a great improvement from before Christmas when the weight-bearing axis skimmed the knee (which is not normal).

That the leg is in its final position is, as it turns out, a very good thing. The bone is starting to come back in, which would presumably make continued corrections much more difficult. While the frame still fixes my leg in place, the leg is starting to fix the frame into its current position.

See? The tibia is starting to fill in the cut from the surgery! Another few months of such improvements and I'll have the frame off my leg…

While the gap in the tibia is fairly small, the fibula has a much larger distance to fill back in. While my leg was not corrected a huge amount (about 11˚), the correction was still enough to do this:

See the gap? That gap will eventually become what Dr. Sundberg scientifically calls a "swoosh." Also, kind of hard to tell in this picture, but apparently the gap is starting to be filled in.

Another event to behold at today's appointment was my frame's first interaction with the paper they use to cover the beds in doctor's clinic offices (previously, it has been confined to blankets, the wheelchair and furniture). In a quick scuffle, the hard metal edges of the Taylor Spatial Frame easily dismantled the paper, as evidenced by my photographic proof:

It wasn't even close…

So that's where I'm at today. Still trundling around, bearing weight. Still wearing the frame, although not for forever (distressingly, if the four month prediction turns out to be right, I'm only about 25% of the way through this experience…the hard 25%, sure, but another three months of bonus bulk around my lower right leg does not sound like an appealing enterprise). Dr. Sundberg did not mention physical therapy during the appointment, which tends to make me think I won't need it—I'm walking around, which helps, and the tendon in my ankle didn't freeze up, a major concern.

And, in really exciting news, the wheelchair will be sent back to where it came relatively soon. In even more exciting news, I'll be moving upstairs to my normal room before too long. I've still got a week of sleeping downstairs, but normality is coming.