Update on My Health – Physical Trauma

There has been a lot going on since my last blog.  I’ve been back in the hospital and E.R. a few times and in and out of the doctor’s offices.  But now that I think things have settled down a bit, I wanted to touch base and let you know what’s going on.

If you don’t know about my accident, here is the blog that gives you an overview of what happened… MY OOPS MOMENT

Now in today’s blog, I want to get into more details about my health journey so far.

But I want to warn you that I’m going to get “real” and this is not going to be an article full of sunshine and smiles.  So if you’re looking for a happy story or a fluff piece about horses, stop reading now.  This is going to be an update about my health journey so far.

If you have gone through a severe traumatic physical injury yourself, you’ll understand what I’m going through.  But if not, it’s a whole different world on this side of trauma.  I have a whole different outlook now and a huge appreciation for anyone else going through this kind of trauma.

Before this accident, I would never have comprehended the extent of trauma, fear, and depression that something like this could develop in a person.  It’s so unimaginable what the body and brain go through in the aftermath of severe trauma.

I’ve been through a lot and I’ve learned a lot.  And being a horse person, I can relate some of it to what I’ve seen with horses.  But I’ll save those stories for the discussion of emotional and mental healing.

And even though I nursed my husband through 8 months of recovery from a ruptured quadricep surgery and 3 years of recovery from a Traumatic Brain Injury…I still couldn’t have imagined the actual depth of mental and emotional trauma something like this could cause.

Let me get a bit deeper into the aftermath of my accident…

Right after my accident I was taken to the closest hospital and was told that the damage to my leg was so severe that the only option they had was to amputate my leg.  I was shocked!  Thank goodness in my pain that I was still alert enough to say “no” and try to find another option.

One of the doctors thankfully contacted another hospital, that had a trauma center and asked what they thought.  Luckily the head trauma surgeon there said he would try to help save my leg.  He gave me a 50/50 chance of keeping my leg.  So I was sent from one E.R. to another E.R.

My first emergency surgery was performed on 10/1.  I woke up from this with steel rods sticking out of my leg from the thigh down to the ankle. These steel rods went right through my bones to hold them in place.  It was so heavy I couldn’t move my leg at all.  I became bedridden and immobile.  But this was only the preliminary surgery to get my leg ready for the real detailed surgery on 10/9 (8 hours).

I have never had major surgery like this in my life.  And even though I have broken many bones during my lifetime, none have ever required surgery.

I had no idea what I had in store for me!

After the second surgery I was happy to see that I had a leg and that the doctors said that with the right recovery plan, I would eventually be back to normal.  So I thought it would be like any other time I had broken a bone…6-8 weeks down until the bone heals and then back to normal activities and daily life.

NOPE!

I was kept in the hospital for another two weeks in a great deal of pain (even on painkillers) and immobile. Then I was released to come home with a lot of medical supplies to help me during the recovery.  I had in-home nursing care and physical therapy visits.

I knew that I would have trouble with daily activities, but I didn’t realize how much.  I couldn’t do anything by myself.  I was in a brace and primarily immobile at home for 8 weeks and then kept non-weight bearing for a total of 12 weeks.

I have always been an active person and very self-sufficient.  Being independent has always been very important to me.  So now that I needed to depend on someone else was very difficult for me.

It has only been one month since I’ve been allowed to put weight on my leg, as tolerated, and started outside physical therapy.  A lot of emotions have come up doing this as well.

But I’ll get into the emotional side of this recovery in my next blog.

The physical damage –

I shattered my Tibia plateau.  It was pulverized and no longer exists.  Which is why they wanted to amputate my leg.  I lost the bottom section of my knee and there wasn’t anything left to fix. Plus I shattered the bottom part of my Femur and 2.08 cm just disappeared into pieces.

However, the surgeon put in rods and screws to replace those sections of my knee.  Now I have bone and metal making up my whole knee.

Then on top of that, I broke the Tibia bone lower from the knee section right in half.  So the top part of the bone was free and no longer attached to anything.  For this, the surgeon put in plates and more screws to put and hold it back in place.

Then on top of that, my fibula was also broken.  But luckily that bone could heal on its own with a brace and over time. It took a total of 12 weeks for the bones to heal.

And now, 4 months post-op…

• My kneecap is still frozen
• My ankle is still frozen
• My quads are atrophied and do not work at all
• The muscles in my lower leg are atrophied and do not work at all
• My foot, ankle, leg, knee, and thighs are still swollen and painful
• My shoulders, arms, wrists, abs, hips, and good leg are very sore because of overuse, compensating for not using my broken leg
• I have a DVT blood clot and am on a blood thinner for the next 2-5 months
• My leg is still a dark red as the circulation is slow
• My leg will only straighten to 5 degrees (should be at 0)
• My leg will only bend to 97 degrees (should be 145)

And because of the current issues…

• I can’t stand or walk by myself
• I can’t pick up my leg when sitting
• I can’t do anything that requires my quads to work
• I can’t stand longer than 30 minutes with a walker
• I can’t sit in a car, or a chair, longer than 45 minutes
• I can’t use a walker to move around longer than 30 minutes at a time
• I can’t get out of a chair without help
• I can’t get into or out of bed without help
• I can’t turn my leg and I have trouble rolling over in bed
• I can’t take a shower without help
• I can’t go up one step without help (can’t do more than one step at all)
• I can’t move around without a walker or wheelchair
• I have difficulty with my balance
• I can’t pick up my leg very far or step over anything
• I can’t walk normally, even with a walker…not even close
• I can’t cook for myself, clean the house, do laundry, or do other household chores
• I can’t get dressed without help
• I can’t do any normal physical activities
• I can’t leave the house, go see my horse, or go to a restaurant without help
• I can’t drive
• I get weak and tired very easily and quickly
• I can’t read or be on the computer very long as my mind gets tired quickly
• I am physically exhausted and sleep 12-14 hours a day, off and on
• I sprained my wrist and wear a brace

These are just some of the main issues I am going through physically right now.  Not to mention the complications due to a DVT blood clot and POTS.  And these are only the physical aspects of my recovery. I’ve been told that my recovery may take another year or longer.

As much pain and trauma as I am currently going through, I have to be grateful for a few things as well.

I am grateful I still have my leg and that I had an amazing surgeon.

I am blessed to have a great Physical Therapist who is very knowledgeable about my specific situation, a good Mental Health Therapist who is experienced with traumatic injuries, and a compassionate husband who had a similar traumatic event a few years ago and who truly understands.

On top of the physical issues, there are also emotional and mental issues that have arisen due to this traumatic event.  I’d like to discuss these, how they have changed my life, and what I’ve learned from them in my next few blogs.

I hope you continue to follow along with my journey.  Have a safe and great weekend and Happy Horses!