As many of you know, dad broke his leg in November 2011. His femur snapped before he hit the ground. Two days after he fell, he went through surgery to repair the break. The doctor put in a plate to help the bone stay in place. He was supposed to put minimal weight on the leg. They did go to Florida at the end of December that year.
However, we all realized something was still wrong. When mom and dad came home, we went to the orthopedic surgeon. When doc walked into the room and put the X-rays up on the screen and said, "this appears to be a problem" as he was pointing to the xray on the left. However, my eyes were drawn to the one on the left. I think my jaw hit the ground when I saw it. Dad's leg was not healed. Actually, the bone had slipped, the plate was completely loose...no wonder the man was in pain when he walked.
He had another surgery. This one the doc used wire, bolts and screws to sustain the leg. Also, this time dad was to keep all weight off of the leg for 3 months. Right? Uh-huh. An 80-year-old man was supposed to use a walker and hop on his good leg. Doesn't work too well. The second surgery took place in April 2012.
Now, we are in May of 2013 - Dad still use a cane to walk; his leg is extremely unstable; and he is only in pain if he is on it too long. (Try to keep the man off from his leg. :-) ) Well, that is exactly what we are going to do.
We had dad back to another orthopedic surgeon today. The nitty gritty is that dad's leg is still broke...he is bending it at the break..still. The x-ray today showed that there are three bolts right above the knee (replacement). The one closest to the knee still appears to be intact. However, the two right next to it are not connected to the plate. The bolt heads have separated and they are loose. Dad's leg is 13 degrees out of alignment (side-o-side).
HOW is the doc going to fix it? Good question...
He is going to add a new bone on the inside of dad's leg to give stability along with a healthy bone to screw bolts into for the plate to give proper support. He is also going to make dad's incision the length of his femur up to his lower hip. This way doc can go in and release some of dad's thigh muscles that have built up scar tissue that prevent dad from bending his knee.
Dad will be in the hospital at least 4-5 days. He will be non-weight bearing on his left leg for 3 months. At home, we will have a hospital bed and wheelchair, among other medical equipment to help with his care.
Please feel free to ask questions or leave messages for dad and mom.
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