April 29, 2003

New Status

am in fact still alive.

I went to the doctor today. I got that last of my staples out and a removable adjustable walking boot. I can't walk, but I can put a limited amount of weight on it. The Dr. said that the only way I could really damage the bones was to jump up and down on it multiple times. Right now the big task is to get my knee and ankle back. My knee is about 80% there but my ankle only has about 5 degrees of motion. I need to do a lot with my ankle. The best news is my brace is removable so I can take a shower without a bag taped around my leg. The Dr. did talk to my about a 10% chance of failure to heal. There is a 10% chance that my tibia won't grow together and I will have to go though one of two alternative. The first is just electrical stimulation of the tibia to force bone growth. This is the best option if it fails to heal. The second alternative is to go back under the knife, have the rod removed, get the bone re-reamed and a bigger stronger rod that will encourage more growth installed. This is the worst option. It doesn't look like this will be a problem but it is something that I can't forget about.

The other thing that happened recently is a copy of the bill Washoe medical center sent to my insurance company arrived at my house. The grand total for my surgery and my time in the hospital: $40,000. Yes, forty thousand dollars.

For those that don't know I'm back at work starting yesterday. Other then not realizing how far apart buildings 2 and 3 are and not being able to get my own coffee it was pretty good.

Posted by pqbon at April 29, 2003 6:20 PM | TrackBack