[TheForge] Fall <grin> winter project.

[Tod Estes]

That is one hell of a fracture, Open and communited. I wouldnt fire the Doc
sounds like they really busted ass and trying to give Frosty every chance to
heal well with minimal consequences. The reference to useable I am certain ment
that in the Docs opinion they could save every piece of bone and therfore no
grafting of bone. Sometimes you get in there and you find mush and splinters.
Not many options at that point, I am really happy to hear that they had good
approximation of the bone. Its surprizing but lots of docs are not that good at
explaining to patients what they mean, specialists are the worst at that in my
opinion. Thats something I learned as a kid getting cut on. I always try to
spend that extra 4 to 5 min to try to be clear with the patient. Wish more did.
Tod.
Quoting Steve Smith <sos at alum.mit.edu>:

> Jerry, you ought to fire that doctor, calling your nine pieces of
> humerous usable! I'm glad you're on the mend, sorry to hear of the
> cause. Please take care and get better.
>
> Steve
>
> Jerry Frost wrote:
>
> > Two tuesdays ago I was loading an excavator on a tilt top trailer at
> > work and somehow fell off it, pile driving my left arm into the ground.
> > I shattered my humurus into nine useable pieces and got to spend 8 days
> > in the hospital, returning home last wed.
> >
> > There were two surgeries, the first, the day of my injury to stabalize
> > things, stop bleeding and repair or mitigate damage. I was equipped with
> > a metal tinkertoy looking thing called an external fixator and 4-5, 6"+
> > long bone screws to act as a splint. Being an open fracture there was a
> > serious risk of infection, compounded by my diabetes so they had to
> > leave it accessible to drain, monitor and treat.
> >
> > The second surgery was a week later after the antibiotic round, swelling
> > and bruising had gone down and the reconstructive surgeon git back to
> > town. <grin> This surgery lasted around 6 1/2 hrs. and according to the
> > doc went well. His biggest priority was to make the two piece joint as
> > good as possible. He says it went together easily leaving a smooth
> > contact surface and is well aligned. The rest of the bone went together
> > well, though he had to move a nerve to avoid damage.
> >
> > It'll be a few weeks before I'll be worth much as anything except to
> > keep an easy chair from blowing away. Even typing is a PITA, I'm used to
> > writing around 50wpm and am now in one hand hunt and peck. I'll be
> > mostly lurking because typing is such a pain so please don't think I'm
> > snubbing anybody, I'm only up to a little if this at a time.
> >
> > Be careful out there will ya?
> >
> > Frosty
> > -------------------------------
> > If it ain't forged
> > it ain't real.
> > Wrought iron is.
> > The FrostWorks
> >
> > Meadow Lakes, AK.
> >
> > http://www.artmetalradio.com/
> >
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Tod Estes

People do not care about how much you know
until they know about how much you care.