The Day of the Olive!

I returned to the hospital for my first check-up with Mr.Dennison, the guy who sorted my leg out and attached the Ilizarov frame. I ran into Nic Sellars at the main desk and had a good chat about the accident, everyone seems to be a bit shocked that something this severe can occur in a relatively safe scenario (big mats, no rocks).

Firstly they X-rayed my leg and then I went in to see the consultant (using only one crutch I might add. The other physio suggested that this would make his day). According to him, at the three week period they expect to see no real change in the X-rays. My X-rays showed clear bone growth in the gaps which he was most impressed with, even to the extent he started calling in other people to take a look. Being stubborn at this point and constantly weighting the frame since day 1 has seemed to pay off in a big way!

We then discussed my frame and he told me that he wanted to remove the wire he previously mentioned and also to weaken my frame. This was done by removing one of the sets of threaded bar from the middle section, reducing this to 3 instead of 4. This leads to more load being carried by the bone and as the bone heals better under loading...etc. After this I went next door to have the wire removed. The wire in question did not pass fully through my bone; instead it had a spike that resided in the bone, a ball and then a wire, allowing for the frame to "push" one of the fragments in place. The nurse removed the tension on the wire by releasing the nut (it doesn't feel quite right when someone in the medical profession is brandishing two spanners in your direction...). One minute later and she produced a pair of red handeled pliers, she clamped them on the wire and without any warning (or anaesthetic) pulled. It didn't hurt for long but having something similar to a small ball bearing pulled through any kind of tissue hurts a reasonable amount. I'm not quite sure whether the nurse's prediction of "that hole will heal in a day" is all that realistic. She then removed the stitches that remained in my leg.

I'm back in four weeks to check progress, however if it continues in the way it is now the consultant has suggested that they will totally disconnect the frame, it's then left in-situ for 1-2 weeks to check nothing moves (it's much easier (read less painful) to do something about it then, rather than having to have 3 hours worth of surgery to refit the frame), before it will be removed for good. The initial time period given to me of 6 months I was told today was an upper limit and 3 months was more reasonable, however the record for having one of these frames on and off is 9 weeks, which I'm currently set to hit. Good news...