I started down this long road of discomfort and pain on Friday June 11th 2010. I was making a delivery of propane and pulling the delivery hose around the corner of the house I was delivering to. This was a difficult pull as the home owner had no regard as to the safety of the person making the delivery. The home had a lot of junk to avoid as well as having the propane tank set as far away from the point of access as possible. The Ground I was pulling the hose on was level but very soft with pine needles and decomposing leaves. I was struggling to get the hose to the tank and as I was pulling I heard a loud "pop" and then a wave of pain hit me. I looked down to what should have been the top of my work shoe and saw the bottom in stead. I had to crawl back to my work truck. I was lucky that I had an electric real so that I was able to wind up the delivery hose. I then crawled across the pavement to the cab of the truck and pulled myself up. I checked both my work Cell phone and my personal cell phone in hopes that I would have service so that I could call for assistance. I had no service, I was on my own.
I Decided I would have to drive the truck, no easy task do to the fact that the truck was a standard and the biggest piece of crap in the Amerigas Fleet. I had to shut the truck off and put it in first gear and then start it in gear in order to get the truck moving as I was not able to push the clutch peddle to stop I had to put the truck in neutral and brake. I was able to speed shift and managed to drive the truck (Thank you Dad for teaching me how) the 40+ miles to the Amerigas Office. I reported the injury and went home and Iced the injury. I called my work hot line to let them know I would be seeking medical attention.
On Saturday June 12th I was able to get an appointment at The Horseshoe Pond Medical Center ( one of the many offices belonging to Concord Hospital) to the Walk-in Clinic or in my case Hop-in Clinic. I might add that this was also the first day of my vacation and the first day of bike week, not that I would be able to enjoy it at all. The Staff at the clinic took ex-rays and said they were unable to tell what was wrong do to the extreme amount of swelling. They gave me crutches pain killers and an ice bag and ordered me to stay off the injury until I could get an appointment at Concord Orthopaedics .
Thursday June 17th, More Ex-rays and an appointment with Doctor Ronald Resnick at Concord Orthopaedics . Dr Resnick Told me that I had a severe sprain with possible tendon and ligament damage. He also said I had a little bit of arthritis in this ankle possibly do to a prior injury, (I sprained this ankle 30+ years ago when I was 18) . Dr Resnick decided to Cast my left ankle. After almost 4 weeks in the walking cast we went to an air cast for another 5 weeks and started aggressive Physical Therapy for 8 weeks. The PT helped in reducing the pain and swelling but the joint remained un-stable and weak, when I walked without a brace it felt as if my ankle was flopping in the breeze. I had an MRI in the beginning of September and it indicated that I had tearing of the tendons and ligatures.
I had been on Light duty this whole time at Amerigas, and I was not allowed to do the job I was hired for (driving truck and making deliveries) I was given assignments that were not considered light duty by any means including doing Body work , mechanical work, and tank evacuations. I was forced to evacuate a tank that had sustained damage in a motor vehicle accident, a duty I was not qualified for and I told my boss I was not comfortable doing . While attempting the evacuation the tanks evacuation valve froze open and it sustained a major leak. The fire department got involved and to make a long story short I was let go from my job for the incident.
Dr Resnick was not happy with the level of progress with my ankle and gave me the option of reconstructive surgery to stabilize the ankle . I was given the option of harvesting tendons from my foot or using donated parts from cadavers. needless to say I opted for using my own parts. On November 18th 2010, more than 6 months since the initial injury I took that next step.
I arrived at the surgical unit @ 8 AM. The staff was extremely friendly and informative. After I had changed out of my street clothes and into the hospital johnny I was made very comfortable on a surgical gurney. A Doctor came to me and explained to me what was about to happen, she explained that she was going to give me a nerve block in my leg to limit post operative pain and that the nerve block should last at least 24 hours. The attending nurse put an IV in my right arm and I rolled over so that the nerve block could be administered to the quad area of my left leg. That was the last thing I remembered until I woke up in recovery 5 1/2 hours later, to me it seamed like I had blinked and then I woke up. I was sent home with a split cast to allow for swelling. I returned 5 days later to have the dressing changed and a full cast put on. I took a couple of quick photos with my cell phone to document my progress. "Caution if you have a weak stomach do not look at these photos."
Dr Resnick Had replaced both the left and right side ligaments on my ankle, He also detached my Achilles tendon, cut off my heal bone and replaced it in a different angle with a 4 inch surgical steel screw and re-attached the tendon I totally understand why the procedure took 4 1/2 hours
The Very next week I returned to have the sutures removed and another clean dressing applied. I returned 2 more times at 2 week intervals for ex-rays and cast replacement. I then received a walking cast for 2 weeks, got an ex-ray and then got another walking cast for another 2 weeks. On January 11th 2011 I was upgraded to an mechanical cast. with this device I could shower without restriction (thank goodness) and I could sleep without it as well. Tuesday Jan 25th and yet another visit, Dr Resnick is making sure things are going as well as possible. I am now approved to go back to physical Therapy and I have my evaluation for the Physical therapist on Jan 26th .
Wednesday Jan 26th 2011
I received my physical therapy evaluation today at the Concord Hospital Medical Offices East in Epsom N.H. today They also gave me a list of passive exercises to do to help me along with my recovery. I will be recieving physical therapy from both of the people in that department. They are both very good at what they do and I am looking forward to being on the road to recovery.
You repeatedly advertised this site on a forum and then it only contains 1 post? I just find that somehow condescending.
ReplyDeleteHope the surgery worked out well for you.