When I first got home from hospital, and I had no prognosis of how long anything was going to take, I did some Googling about broken femurs (yes, yes I know!). General consensus said 6 weeks non-weight bearing, it'll be healed in 3 months, although there was one woman who said her son had a break that still hadn't healed after 2 years; I chose to ignore that one.
Friends warned me "don't believe what you read on the internet!" but it's irresistible to look and it plants a seed of something in your mind. So when my consultant said "3 months non-weight bearing, and probably 8-9 months before it's fully healed" it came as a bit of surprise; although it didn't upset me because I was happy to do whatever was going to Fix It.
The reason it was 3 months can be seen in the x-rays (for those of you who didn't see them before); the only thing holding my leg at the correct length is the titanium nail.
Last night I had another Google because I wanted to see if anyone said anything about how general well-being is affected when your body is spending an awful lot of energy rebuilding bone, and nerves and blood cells, and whatever else it is having to do in there. I read stories like "I broke my femur in June and it took until August before I was able to try running." Oh, you poor dear!
I have had people asking me if it's all fixed and better now... to me it's 'er, no of course not' but I suppose they are basing it on 'my friend broke her wrist and it was fixed in 6 weeks'. Yeah, not quite the same thing.
So if you break a bone and someone tells you how long they think it will take to mend; don't believe them unless they are the surgeon/consultant with your x-rays in front of him.
looks like pretty nasty break to me, i be surprised if it didn't take long to heal
ReplyDeleteJuniper: You know what is really great? It will heal. I threw away my watch in 1987. I don't believe in time.
ReplyDeleteMy son suffered a complete, offset tib and fib break while playing soccer, and it took a full six months for him to even approach recovery. It was a nasty experience that underscored how radically different one case can be from another.
ReplyDeleteThankfully we have online tools like these to connect us when we're recovering. I remember when I was a kid - 2 years in a cast for a hip disease, then another 2.5 years of physio - life was decidedly quieter when I was in the hospital. I may as well have been on another planet!
Sending you good health/quick recovery vibes.
JJ: I started not wearing a watch 2 or 3 years ago and immediately felt unencumbered and free; there are plenty of places to find the time when you need it. Then my work gave me a really nice Omega watch for 25 years service! so I do wear that on occasion (besides Mr H. says it will stop working if I don't as it's self-winding); but prefer to go without.
ReplyDeleteCarmi: this is the first broken bone that I or my friends/family have had and I am now learning about the all the variations in types of break etc.! 2 months in a cast as a child must have been very trying for you, no wonder you became a writer (I like your posts by the way!)
~Juniper~