Another Step in the Tibia Reconstruction Process

On April 10, 2008 I had surgery that encompassed cutting my right tibia and fibula in order to insert the wires of an exterior fixator and separate the top and bottom of the tibia 2 centimeters to hopefully grow back the length I lost when the bones healed in 1972. The tibia, being the stronger of the two lower leg bones, was the one through which the metal pins of the fixator were attached to my leg. The fibula was left cut and as long as it is attached to my ankle and knee, there is no reason to add the length to it.

I wore the fixator (see An exterior fixator to fix a problem) for three weeks short of a year before it was finally removed by another doctor other than the one who did the initial surgery back in 2008. The doctor is a trauma surgeon, and when I went to see him, he thought, like me, is was time to remove the fixator. And so on March 26, 2009 I had it removed. In its place, a plaster cast was put on my lower right leg and I went home with a PI CC line inserted into my upper left arm. I had to use IV antibiotics for four weeks, twice a day, to prevent any infection in the open holes in the tibia caused by the pins of the fixator. That was easy, and finally on April 23, I went to have a titanium rod inserted into my right tibia that would straighten the not-yet fused bone. During the infusion of the antibiotics, I could put as much weight on my leg as I wanted to, but because the bone had not fused together, the action caused the tibia to bend to the inside(left) and make the bone crocked. The rod was to straighten it.

The second surgery, as I mentioned, was a piece of cake compared to the first surgery an the last. I was an inpatient for three nights and was discharged on Sunday, April 26, 2009. This surgery was more difficult than the first one. It seems that the Anesthesiologist had trouble intubating me. I have no idea why because I am not really overweight (just have a bit of extra body fat I intend to get rid of once I can walk and exercise) and my throat is not exceptionally small. I felt really terrible coming out of the general anesthesia this time, and because of the really sore esophagus, I could not eat or even drink anything for several days. That first night and next day, I had terrible pain just inhaling! I needed to gain strength, but with severe pain from the damaged esophagus, I could not eat much or even drink much at one time. I tried to eat and drink a little often to try to keep hydrated and, hopefully, gain some strength back.

Each time I awoke from surgery, I had a surprise attached to my leg, and this one was no exception. I had a "club foot" to end all club feet! There is only a partial cast, but everything is wrapped well in several layers of Ace bandages and makes my leg about 3 times its normal thickness. And it is heavy! I guess I did not expect this surgery to be as difficult a procedure as it turned out to be. I was in surgery for 4 1/2 hours and did not get to my room until 10:30 pm that evening. The surgery began at 1 pm. The fixator surgery was only 2 1/2 hours long and I was in the hospital for two nights. I was hooked to the morphine button and found myself pushing it about once and hour to take the edge of the pain. It also helped to eat when the morphine hit.

On Sunday morning, I tried to get as much food as I could eat. I downed Cheerios, yogurt, V8 juice and chocolate milk. I needed some strength to make the hour-long ride home. I had two prescriptions, one for pain and one for antibiotics, to take as soon as I could. I hit the bed as soon as I got home and took the pills to help me sleep. The oxycodine is a heavy narcotic and put me under as soon as I would take it, so I would try to eat a yogurt and drink some V8 before I went to sleep. It worked enough for me to begin to get a bit of strength back.

It is now 10 days since the surgery, and I feel much better. My esophagus has healed and only really cold drinks are a bit painful. I only take one oxycodine every 6 hours during the day and two before sleep. This is the way I weened myself of the oxycodine after the fixator surgery. It took me 16 weeks to free myself entirely off the oxycodine, something I was thrilled to do on my own without terrible withdraw. I am not sure how long I will need to take it this time. but I am glad it is there. I cannot go walking, running, or ever twisting (???) as if I would, I cannot do much of anything for two weeks. I have antibiotics for two weeks and I go back to the doctor's office on May 6 to see how things are progressing and to have this monster-cast thingy removed, and, hopefully, I will have a plaster cast put on and will be a bit more maneuverable then. With patience--a lot of patience--I hope to have one very-well healed and longer tibia so I can continue walking my dogs, sledding and show shoeing in winter, and back to above normal without pain in my ankle and knee in no time. I hope!