As some of you may know I went for my hospital appointment yesterday. I did the usual arrived for my appointment, had the x-ray and waited to see the professor. When I went into the room for my consultation the professor had my x-rays up on the computer screens. I was so nervous about what he was going to tell me. Has it healed since the last time? Is there any improvements? How much longer does he expect it will be on?
At my surprise he said ''Its healed! Lets get that thing off.''
The professor then went and got his 'tool box' and began to loosen my frame. Once the frame had been loosened the professor applied pressure to my bone.
He explained that if the bone was to move less than 2 millimeters it was ready to come off, if the bone moved more than 2 millimeters the frame would need to stay on for a bit longer.
My bone moved less than 2 millimeters so he asked the specialist nurse to remove my wires and pins.
At this point I was overwhelmed with happiness and shock! It was finally coming off! Today! OMG!
Not only was I happy I was extremely nervous as I felt so unprepared for the removal. As the professor had already loosened the frame, the nurse began to disconnect the wires from the frame. Once all the wires were free she removed them from my leg using pliers. Pulling the wire through from one side to out the other. It sounds worse than it actually is!
The first wire to be removed felt like a sharp dragging pain but only lasted for a second. The second wire to be removed I didn't even feel it coming out! The ones after that were not to bad but felt quite a bit of pulling and tugging.
Once the wires had been removed there was only the 3 top pins left to remove. I was most anxious about these pins but during the removal it just felt like bone ache and slight pain / discomfort. This is nothing after what other pain is felt during the whole process of having an ex-fix. So do not be overly concerned about the removal! :)
The top pins were larger than the bottom wires so these were removed differently. The nurse removed these by applying an instrument around the pin allowing her to screw the pin out of the bone and tissue.
I was very nervous & worried about the removal when I was told I would have it taken off without any anesthetic or pain relief, however after having it removed I would say to anybody else in the same situation not to worry as it is not as bad as you imagine. I think it is more the thought than anything!
Once removed there were small wounds as you can see from the above picture. These were simply covered with sterile gauze and secured with a bandage and micropore tape.
On a funny note can you see the white looking squares around my pin sites? This is where the dressings where in place to protect my pin sites & as we have had some lovely sunny weather you can see where I have tanned but left un-tanned skin around my pin sites! Looking like white squares!
Its quite funny isn't it?
There are also 19 week long hairs on that leg in between pin sites where I was unable to shave. That just made the leg look even funnier! But I'm not sure if you can see that on the pictures.
Finally Free!
My leg is back! It feels amazing just not to have the weight of the frame surrounding my leg! When I returned home I was able to rest my leg on a cushion & it was the best feeling! I could feel the soft cushion on the back of my leg! Such a strange feeling after 19 weeks of it being held in a cage.
I was informed that now the frame has been removed I must always walk with two crutches & not to fully weight bare. I need to build my leg back to weight baring gradually over the next 4 weeks.
It is of extreme importance to take extra care at this stage as once the frame is removed the bone is very weak & is still recovering from the injuries.
My next appointment is on the 31st of August were I will have another x-ray to ensure the bone has completely healed.
After being on my leg for 19 weeks looking at it from across the room was so surreal!
All the hard work & effort has all paid off in the end!
Yesterday was like winning the lottery when he said it was healed & could be removed!
