Click on the picture to read the complete story around my
broken leg!
Now all related blogposts available in English!
After another X-ray of my leg it was medically confirmed that from a pure orthopedic point of view nothing stands in the way of walking, jogging and running in homeopathic dosage.
X-rays from 06.09.2011 / 29.09.2011 / 08.11.2011 / 15.12.2011 / 28.03.2012
More fractures are currently not planned.
The only positive aspect from the permanent X-rays since September is that I meanwhile have an inner glow and can use my right knee as reading lamp and headlight for night-time trips.
Translator BL
Whereas for a pedestrian the growing together of the bones after a leg fracture without surgery is assessed with roundabout 6 weeks, it is around 6 months for us para-/quadriplegics. This is related to paralysis, blood circulation etc.
After the fracture of shinbone and fibula in early September a plastic leg orthosis was my permanent companion.
I have reported extensively about the fracture, hospital stay,…(see older blogposts), then you know the complete story.
As self-confessed football fan of Eintracht Frankfurt I got of course the special edition Frankfurt.
In the complete time during which I was wearing the orthosis Eintracht didn’t lose a single match. I am closely connected to my club and sit out almost everything, but eventually I wanted to get rid of the orthosis.
Just in the moment when I slowly began to do without the orthosis – how nice… -, a match was lost. The re-promotion was at risk!
I wasn’t sure, was it my fault???
What next… should I have to wear the orthosis until the German championship title 2013???
Yesterday I didn’t put on the orthosis the whole day and was worried that Eintracht wouldn’t lose the match.
Of all things the opponent was Rostock. There was an occasion in the early 90s, I don’t want to remember this match… (translator’s note: 20 years ago Eintracht lost against Rostock on the last matchday of the season and thus didn’t win the German championship title.)
The spell was „broken“ and the fracture will heal soon!!!
The orthosis is standing well next to the closet and is only put on when needed.
For the championship celebration 2013 I voluntarily put on the orthosis again.
Translator BL
The day before yesterday I went to have an x-ray of my
Yet there was a vacant parking place for disabled persons.
Next to my car a minibus was parking. If you want or if you don`t, automatically you take a look at the windscreen and you search for the
(blue-coloured parking permit for disabled people)
What a pity, like very often a driver forgot to place the parking permission. Ho, ho, ho… I do believe in Santa Clause again!!
Just as I got off my car, and was sitting in my wheelchair, a lady came on foot in a distance of 30 meters in my direction.
I spent my loveliest and a bit malicious grin to the lady.
I really don`t understand it completely myself, but this lady didn’t have her best day this day. First she harassed the sliding door of the bus, then she jumped on to the driver’s seat, went into reverse gear and then attack…
The sad aspect in this story was, that a few meters behind her instead of me there was a not to be scoffed concrete pillar. She managed to nudge it to the ground nearly. My grin spread much wider when she repeated this action for a second time.
My new friend, this
Her front bumper now looks a bit like a cat scratch pole.
She’ll ever remember this parking place for disabled.
My fracture from September 4th slowly heals up – anyway, my day was saved.
Translator Teo
2 months after the involuntary flight show from my wheelchair during which I broke my shinbone (see older blogposts as of 06.09.2011) I was yesterday at the
X-rays from 06.09.2011 / 29.09.2011 / 08.11.2011
Since my accident 4 years ago I was x-rayed so often that I meanwhile have an
“Inner Glow” !!
That the fracture is healing very slowly due to my spinal cord injury is nothing new, but even for me this is “going” a bit too slow.
To my question to the doc if I could maybe leave the orthosis out at least at night I got the reply:
Well…, if it’s cracking, you have to wear the orthosis longer.
When the doc is right, he’s right…!!!
Everything is going to be alright!
I have decided to stay calm and to “sit it out”.
Translator BL
The instruction of my chief physician to rest my injured leg in an elevated position meanwhile causes sleepless nights for me.
Because the special
with foldaway footrests is innavigable for me and far too big I am already thinking since the time in hospital how I could realize to mount something on my wheelchair so that I can permanently rest my leg elevated, but also bend it.
I got the tip several times to put a wooden board below my cushion. Everybody who was ever sitting on a rocker knows where that ends.
Yesterday morning I woke up after a leg-elevation nightmare and miraculously I had a foldaway, removable footrest from my tank wheelchair on my everyday wheelchair. Strange things happen…???
I was very much delighted, a miracle, it must have something to do with Halloween.
I would never dare to drill holes into my medcial supply store wheelchair.
Translator BL
After 3 weeks of permanent lying in a hospital bed I was glad to be home again.
I knew that the whole situation with broken leg and orthosis would be a little inconvenient in everyday life, and usually I see everything quite sportingly, but the quantity of small and big fouls can hardly be compensated even with larger amounts of pills.
It’s hard to believe how a broken leg which is anyway “standing” useless on the footrest or stool can bother you.
Thus I haven’t written a new blogpost for a couple of days due to lack of time.
Although I have a customized car with hand throttle I can’t use it because the broken leg has to be constantly rested in an elevated position so that it won’t swell, great…
Outside trips are not possible with the tank wheelchair (see last blogpost). Well, now the weather is quite crappy anyway.
If you have finally reached the desk with the leg on the flower stool to do something useful the printer paper is empty, or you can’t reach the correspondence in the filing basket any more.
Because I “may” lie in my bed frequently and early and my finger function is quite crappy anyway I thought the acquisition of a tablet PC with touch screen instead of a laptop with internet connection via WLAN for the bedroom would be quite smart. For everybody who suffers from chronic boredom I recommend an Acer 500 with Android operating system. This thing is comparable to an iPad.
Synchronization with my Windows PC is possible, but you “just” have to look for suitable apps out of perceived 2 million in the internet first and install them. New job profile: Certified App Finder, this would be something nice. Then feed this multimedia device with some data, connect to the router, and lying about in the bedroom is possible with world connection as well.
My home network router might bring WiFi connection through the complete Gobi desert, but in a reasonable reinforced concrete building with iron door cases in which I live it ends from office to bedroom after 9 meters. Great…
A second router is quickly organized, but about the installation of it as WLAN repeater I will write a scientific essay some time and submit it to Stockholm.
I was momentarily willing to return my certificate as electronic technician to the chamber of commerce. Is that possible???
With all the wire mess I had managed in the meantime that a cable got entangled in the spokes of my wheelchair so that it was not possible to move neither back nor forth any more.
So, enough moaning, now I will dedicate myself to the chaos caused in the office, it can be only a matter of days…
Translator BL
As mentioned, even the white orthosis was at some stage finalized, and I left the hospital.
The great thing with this kind of orthosis is that you can bend your leg. Therefore you are quite mobile in the flat because you can sit in your own wheelchair. The leg should be rested in an elevated position as much as possible, which I realize with two flower stools and a cushion. The transfer to bed, shower… is ok.
With the rented
in which you are supposed to drive with outstretched leg, independent navigation even in the flat is not possible for me.
This thing makes no headway, and it doesn’t have hand rim coats either.
Furthermore with this size I would need a new set of furniture after two weeks. A transfer to the bed is very critical, even with a second person.
A trip outside with pusher can’t be expected from anyone. At the
the finetuning was still missing. Now it fits
Translator BL
Between these X-rays lies a period of 3,5 weeks.
I can see a little change and I don’t currently mind if my right leg is standing 2 mm shorter on the footrest of my wheelchair. But don’t you think as well that it is “going” a bit too slow???
Post a comment!!!
I know the bone structure quite well.
Translator BL
Master Gepetto from the orthopedic craft shop actually managed to finalize the orthosis on Thursday afternoon so that nothing stands in the way of being released from the hospital. However I have to correct the naming of the orthosis. The name snow lionpard is invalid.
At closer examination it is clearly the model known from Star Wars:
After three wins in a row I have hung up the Eintracht Frankfurt pennant above my bed at home as well.
Translator BL
Escape from the hospital, target: Friday
Meanwhile my hospital stay has escalated to an
Type one, the “Blue Lionpard” (see older blogpost Chock IX), had a very eventful life. After a couple of cuddling hours in the first night my heel cancelled the friendship with the orthosis. I better refrain from posting a picture of my heel.
The “Blue Lionpard ” was permanently parked on the chair opposite of my bed for the time being.
As an interim solution until “Leo” only would be completely cushioned, I got orthosis two, the
After the chief physician himself brought the orthosis back to the orthopedic craft shop to Master Geppetto, it was gone for the next eight days.
On Monday, despite of the morning call from my doctor and verbal promise, I was waiting for Master Geppetto without success.
Tuesday noon Master Geppetto came to my room with orthosis “Leo” under his arm, cushioned and stretched. After the fitting he said they would have to rework it again. It still would be a little tight (so true!), but promised to come back in the afternoon. Geppetto didn’t really come… Total failure, nothing again!
Wednesday morning the same. On inquiry of my physician, where Geppetto had been on the previous day, he said he had worked on the orthosis and he would come during the day. When???
This time I called myself and asked when he would come. What a miracle, Geppetto came with reinforcement and the lower part of a substantially wider and cushioned orthosis. In the first moment I thought he had repainted the Blue Lionpard .
This thing was white.
Far from it, orthosis three, type
White Snow Leopard
Geppetto promised to come back definitely in the afternoon with the then double cushioned lower part so that I can try it in the night. He would “carve” the upper part the next day.
I knew that he was closing the craft shop towards 18:00 h and called him at 17:40 h. I talked to Angelo who reported that Geppetto would be out of office, probably on his way to see me.
This was not the case. On my second call the master told me he had done something different, but would come the next day at 11:00 with the finished orthosis.
I called on Thursday at 11:00 h, he put me off to 13:00 h. Master Geppetto actually came with the supposed finished
Snow Leopard Orthosis
He observed during the fitting on my leg that the upper part needed to be adjusted a little bit, but this should be done quickly, and he would be back in a moment. The master was back only 40 minutes later. Geppetto observed that the whole orthosis still needed a little fine tuning, but this should be done in around half an hour if nothing unexpected would come up, and off he went. This was at 14:00 h. Let’s wait and see if my fracture has completely healed when I see Master Geppetto the next time…
And the moral of the story:
I know now how Pinocchio got his “long nose gene”.
Next time I will carve my medical devices myself again!
Translator BL
I’m still in the hospital, but conditionally online again. If everything works out well I will execute the escape plan still this week
I am quite glad that the shinbone fracture is treated conventionally, i.e. no additional screws, nails or other titanic parts are built in my body.
With a set of screws in my neck and medication pump in my belly, with tube and needle in the back, I feel a little bit like “Seven of Nine” of Star Trek anyway.
The usual treatment of a broken leg is simple, plaster from toe to comfort zone, wait for six weeks and see what has happened.
The whole situation is for a wheelchair user a bit inconvenient, and the daily routine with a leg in plaster is hardly imaginable.
Basically another wheelchair is required in which the leg can be stretched as well to prevent swelling.
At the thought of a different wheelchair I already get toothache.
With outstretched leg I hardly fit on my platform lifter to reach my flat in the first floor, transfer to bed, etc. etc. etc…
It was decided to make an orthosis for me. For this, a plaster cast of the leg is made and plastic splints type “Run Forest Run” fabricated. Because this orthosis is only reaching the knee, the leg can be bent nevertheless. It “just” has to be cushioned, but I am already introducing it, the
Ok, I can’t fully compete with the appearance of “Seven of Nine“!
What a cheek, that plaster leg filling guy wanted to paste a sticker from the rivalling football club inside of the orthosis.
Translator BL