Learning To Walk Again

In case your wondering whats with my post title today. Well...

I mean it literally! ~ I am learning to walk again, step by step..

Haha..

Okay, okay, maybe you should read up on this first ------->> Brief Flashback . It'll give you an idea of what i'm talking about.

So did you read it? Well thats just what happened. I wrote that letter to the News Straits Times a few weeks after I was discharged from the hospital.

Left: That's almost similar to my X-RAY result; Right: A clean fracture like I had

(picture courtesy of Mr.Google)

After taking the X-RAY and deciding not to do an operation, the orthopedic doctor had me wear a full cast (made of fiber glass) and send me home after 2 days at the hospital. For the 1st three months, I was in full cast and used my crutches to move around at home.

Long leg cast or full cast
(picture courtesy of Mr.Google)

My long leg cast

(picture courtesy of ME.. ;p)

And now after 6 months, the doctor had my cast removed and said I don't need it anymore. Yay!! It was such a relieve although I still have to use my crutches for support. I am very happy (did I mention VERY happy? just making sure, haha..).

You might be wondering why it took me 6 months before I could have my cast open, right? Well thats cause I didn't have any operations to put in a plate or to fix an aerial on my leg. Mine was a clean and closed fracture, so I just had a fiber-glass cast instead and waited for it to heal on its own. My bone did grow but at a very slow rate. So I had to go through a small (well that's how the doctor categorized it, small) procedure called Autologous Conditioned Plasma (ACP) injection to help speed up the recovery. It cost us RM 650 per injection, as it required a specially designed syringe to withdraw the blood and separate the plasma.

ACP injection procedure

(picture courtesy of Mr.Google)

I had to go for ACP injection once a week, for 3 weeks. It was painful but I managed to bare it as I thought 3 painful injections are way much better then having to undergo an operation. The injections had to be given in a sterile environment so they did it in the Operating Theater (OT).

It was a new and spooky experience for me but thank god its just for an injection and not an operation. Being wheeled into the OT in a wheelchair was really nerve wrecking especially the 1st time. It was damn freezing once inside the OT and i was practically shivering away as they had asked me to undress earlier and only wear a patients gown. But then the nurses and doctors inside there were used to it already.

Inside the OT, it was almost similar with what we see in movies.. operating table in the middle, big round lights above, screens here and there and nurses in aid to the doctors.

Inside the Operating Theater

(picture courtesy of Mr.Google)

For the 1st injection I was really really nervous, not knowing what to anticipate or how painful it would be. The doctor did explain the procedure to me earlier but still I couldn't help being nervous. I was not given any anesthetic or pain killer (it was not required for this procedure), so I was aware of whatever was going on around me.

The whole process usually took about 45 minutes to one hour. For the 2nd and 3rd injection I was not as nervous as I already knew the routine and was not scared anymore. My doctor was really cool and good to me all the time. He even talked and joked with me in the OT and he would tell me when he's about to poke me to withdraw blood or when he was going to inject me, so I'd be prepared. He would ask me to take in a deep breath and .. OUCH!.. he poked me already.
And it hurts.. 
It would continue to give a mild pounding pain and later some soreness for about 24 hours following the injection.

My leg with half cast

(picture courtesy of ME again.. ;p)

I didn't have to wear the full cast anymore after the injection procedure. They reduced it to a half cast (till below my knee) which was much more easier to move about with. 3 weeks after my last injection and we could see that the results were pretty encouraging. There were new bone growing at the fractured part. It was good news for me. At last all that waiting was starting to show some positive results.

If I had went through the operations it might have healed a little faster but the doctor advised me against it as those procedures have their own complications like infections and others. And I really really didn't want to go through any operations. I didn't want to have my leg cut open and sewn back together with a metal inside, holding my bone together. It'd be there in my leg for the rest of my lifetime unless I undergo yet another operation to remove the metal plate. Na'ah..

Thank god all went well and all is well now.

Stages of bone fracture healing
I am now in between stage 3 and 4 of healing. Bony callus have formed but they are not hard enough yet.

(picture courtesy Mr.Google)

What i'm very excited about is that, today, for the 1st time since I was injured, I walked up the stairs using both my legs with the support of one crutches on my right and holding the railing on the other side after sooooo long. Yay!! It did take me quite some time to reach upstairs but it was worthwhile. Hahaha...

For those who are experiencing anything similar to I'd say go for the ACP injection method. Talk to your orthopedic doctor if you can avoid going through operation to put in a plate or an aerial.

Well that's all for today.. toodles.. =)
Take care guys..

p/s: Fiber glass cast is lighter and more costly then the usual cast made of Plaster Of Paris (POP).

Credits to: Mr.Google and orthoandsportspt.com for the pictures. They helped me describe easier.