ellen5e.com » surgery http://ellen5e.com Blogging about my 5 E's Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:37:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Halloween Best http://ellen5e.com/p/halloween-best/ http://ellen5e.com/p/halloween-best/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:20:33 +0000 ellen5e http://ellen5e.com/?p=509 DrKarl+BrideSmaller What was YOUR best Halloween costume?

I have always enjoyed creative things and that combined with the idea of doing that and going around and collecting candy or monetary awards, well, that was just icing on the cake.

One of my best costumes was my unique spin on BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. You see, as a result of getting hit by a car in 1987 (see link for more info_  ) I had over thirty surgeries to my left foot, ankle leg, knee.  A couple of these surgeries resulted in the application of an external fixator. Many people call it a “halo” —I’ll take a halo any way I can get it apparently. LOL.

I joked around and called it a rotisserie because it had many wires running through my leg, between muscles and bones…like a chicken. It’s purpose was to hold the surgically placed pieces in place while I healed. Since I found myself in this contraption during Halloween, I decided to find a way to creatively use it. I would be the most realistic Bride of Frankenstein that many had ever seen!

Here is a photo of me posing with my surgeon Dr. Karl Raynor as the Bride of Frankenstein! I had a real electrodes strapped to me and working with my TENS unit (used to help with pain) with it’s flashing lights on my belt (not seen in the photo).

You should have seen all the people at the Walmart and on the street trying to figure out how I got those wires to look like they were passing right through my leg.  When someone was brave enough to ask, I told them that it looked real because it WAS real. Then I had to laugh as some of those same people looked like they were gonna faint.

I did get runner up at one party (held at a downtown brewery). The first place winner was an adult male wearing a diaper and a bib with a fake appendage sticking out through one of the leg holes. Give me a break!! I said “BREAK” not as in relief NOT as in another broken bone. . . thank you very much.

Please comment and let me know: What was YOUR best Halloween costume?

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]]> http://ellen5e.com/p/halloween-best/feed/ 1 Without a Leg to Stand On http://ellen5e.com/p/without-a-leg-to-stand-on/ http://ellen5e.com/p/without-a-leg-to-stand-on/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:27:00 +0000 ellen5e http://ellen5e.com/p/without-a-leg-to-stand-on/
Surgery Discription
Originally uploaded by Ellen5e

The last few days have been really tough. I always have chronic pain, so I usually have a pretty high pain threshold. However, this latest surgery has ground me down more than any previous. Since I have had extra time awake in the middle of the night, I have used the time for closer examination of this phenomena. Why is this time so different?

Almost all of the other 39 surgeries have involved my LEFT ankle, foot, leg, knee. As a result I have gotten very good at making left-favoring body accommodations. While favoring my left side, I balance and make micro adjustments with my right side of my body, where there are no fusions or limitations to keep me from doing so.

Here is the crux of the problem. Now, that the RIGHT foot had to be operated on due to biomechanical changes resulting from all that unnatural gaiting and balancing, the LEFT foot simply cannot offer the same kind of support to the right, as the right has done for the left. It doesn’t seem fair, does it?

I can hear my right foot now. “Oh sure, I’m there standing right beside you for all those dozens of surgeries, picking up your slack; supporting you. Then, the ONE time I need a little help, you wimp out on me! What’s up with that?!” lol

It is by trying to play peacemaker to these two feet of mine that I learn that I have been just as guilty of not understanding the true nature of the problem. It is so easy to “blame” someone else, or to take on false guilt myself. I “should” be doing more. I “must’ve” done something wrong. Nope, I must examine what is really “true.” What is that?

These are the facts: 21 years ago I was struck by a car which changed the direction of my physical capabilities forever. There are things that I will NEVER be able to do again on this earth. There are things that I dreamed of doing, that I will never get to do, period. The sooner I face those facts, the better.

Because I am allergic to all the pain meds that most people can take for relief, I am not able to receive the relief from Chronic pain that many people have come to expect from modern medicine. Though I feel entitled, the fact is, I am not. This “thorn in my flesh” is mine. God only knows why. But, whatever the reason, I do trust Him. In a sick kind of way, I am honored. For God’s Word says that He will never give us more than we can endure. He has a whole lot more faith in my abilities than I do.

I’ve just returned from the follow-up appointment with the surgeon. Dr. Karl Raynor explained to my husband and I exactly what he did in there. He also showed us the x-rays. There is a bunch of swelling and bruising, but no infection. YEAH!

Recovery is underway. It will take some time, but I will get through it and be stronger on the other side. But, for now, it’s just one step at a time on this journey of life.

If you click HERE you will see more photos of the foot up close and they are not for weak stomachs.

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]]> http://ellen5e.com/p/without-a-leg-to-stand-on/feed/ 0 A Little Birdy Told Me http://ellen5e.com/p/a-little-birdy-told-me/ http://ellen5e.com/p/a-little-birdy-told-me/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:05:00 +0000 ellen5e http://ellen5e.com/p/a-little-birdy-told-me/
Oliver Comp perch 02
Originally uploaded by Ellen5e

Well, a not-so-little Patagonia Conure parrot actually told me to hang in there. This post surgery pain has GOT to let up soon. Oliver, the bird, actually jumped off of his cage, waddled down the hallway, climbed up the sheets and onto my shoulder. He was concerned about me and new that the Spirit the wonder dog had kept coming in here to see me.

Therefore, not to be outdone, Oliver made the extra effort to show that dogs are not the only loyal pets in this household.

You can see other flickr photos of my pets’ bedside manners by clicking here.

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]]> http://ellen5e.com/p/a-little-birdy-told-me/feed/ 0 Dig – Dug Drag http://ellen5e.com/p/dig-dug-drag/ http://ellen5e.com/p/dig-dug-drag/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:58:00 +0000 ellen5e http://ellen5e.com/p/dig-dug-drag/
Excavation Day2
Originally uploaded by Ellen5e

Please pray for Steve. My poor husband has been digging for two days now, in the cold weather trying to get to the place where the lateral drain has collapsed. He is determined to uncover the spot by hand and THEN have a contractor come in to pull permits and actually perform the repair in order to save hundreds of dollars.

The only problem is, well, not having draining water for our household has already meant that he’s made a run to the laundry mat; lots of sponge baths, and fine china equals paper plates. I am thankful that so far he is doing a good job of not overly straining his back and also takes frequent breaks to recover from working in the cold.

He has removed a lot of tree roots, but still hasn’t uncovered the area that the snake prodding says is only about six feet from the clean-out.

You have to wonder what the neighbors are thinking. Looks grave-like especially with the black plastic bags of straw nearby. lol

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]]> http://ellen5e.com/p/dig-dug-drag/feed/ 0 Big Pain with Ultimate Gain http://ellen5e.com/p/big-pain-with-ultimate-gain/ http://ellen5e.com/p/big-pain-with-ultimate-gain/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:20:00 +0000 ellen5e http://ellen5e.com/p/big-pain-with-ultimate-gain/ Okay, so I really thought that surgery number thirty-nine last February would be that last one I’d need in a long time. However, at my last ortho follow-up, my doctor and I discussed the need for another minor surgery. This one would be required on my “good” (right) foot.

You see, due to all the surgeries on my left (leg, ankle, foot, fusions, staples, screws and metal rod, etc….) biomechanics make me walk oddly across my right foot. Over time my big toe started turning more to cross over my other toes and metatarsal bone started shifting position.

So this surgery required opening from above, aligning the metatarsal bone with the others, and then taking another wedge of bone from big toe bones. That’s right… with my surgeon’s talent… I will now be straightened out and fly…. um, er, … “walk” right. LOL

Surgery is over, and the healing begins. Since I am allergic to pain meds it makes it a painful process, but I have gotten great relief from the surgically placed pain block (now worn off) and some morpheine. The few pills they did give me for take home are helping for now, tho’ the itchiness is building. Eventually, the rash reaction will outweigh the benefit of the pain and I’ll stop taking it. Hopefully, I can endure for the first three worst pain days.

I am therefore back on my crutches. My good ol’ friends that help hold me up as I heal. These are the original ones I got 21 years ago when all of this started. Faithfulness is the word. If these things had an odometer on them like a vehicle, they would have tripped over the 100,000 miles mark at least 4 times. : P

However, upon leaving the hospital yesterday, I was issued a new “boot” as I have now worn out my second one to shreds. I usually resole, put on new velcro and keep going. This new boot is more hard-shell plastic so will probably last even longer w/o shredding the neoprene and velcro of the fabric. It is a more visible light gray color instead of the black that I am used to. Which means I’m gonna have a harder time disguising it. Oh well, que sera.

Thanks to my Loving God, I can still celebrate walking with Him, even when I am not walking — think about it. My soul can dance even while I am on crutches. Time to heal or is it heel? LOL

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]]> http://ellen5e.com/p/big-pain-with-ultimate-gain/feed/ 0 Leg Work: a bit of bone surgery http://ellen5e.com/p/leg-work-a-bit-of-bone-surgery/ http://ellen5e.com/p/leg-work-a-bit-of-bone-surgery/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:28:00 +0000 ellen5e http://ellen5e.com/p/leg-work-a-bit-of-bone-surgery/
The 21st of February, the very day after I turned 46, I had my 31st surgery. God has been good to me in that I made it through another one.

This was the easiest surgery I’ve ever had on my leg. Dr. Karl Raynor went in and removed 2″ from my left distal fibula (smaller lower leg bone) and the internal bone stimulator that was placed in there when my ankle was totally fused in May of 2006.

You can see the wires sticking out of where the devise had been. See that sharp bone sticking out of the back of the leg? That is the place to which my fibula was cut this time (where some tendon attach). It was about 2″ longer but had grown toward the tibia to try to make a pseudo-joint which was causing unbearable bone pain for me.

The wires from the bone stim were wrapped around the ankle area along with some bone removed from my fibula to help attain a solid fusion. Though the bone stim is supposed to stimulate bone growth in the area where the wires are located, apparently some EMFs encouraged some bone growth at the end of my fibula that we didn’t want.

You can see that I have a metal rod and a couple of long screws that bind things together. It looks rather robotic on xray, but kind of nasty in real life. I have a crookedy lower left leg with no outer ankle protrusion at all. It’s flat and majorly scarred.

Still . . . I have my own leg and foot. I even have most of my sensory nerve functions so that I feel thing with that foot which is amazing given all that it’s been through.

I joke with people who can’t believe how many surgeries I’ve survived by saying, ” When God does finally take me home, it will probably be from an infection from a paper cut or something small like that.”

Seriously, the prayers of my friends have helped sustain me through everything. It is especially important since I am allergic to all the main pain medications.

I went into surgery at about 11 a.m.. My nurse’s name was also Ellen (43 y.o.) and she also likes to long distance run. Therefore she understood when I said I take the pain and push it aside like when you are waiting for your “second wind”. Still the different people including the anesthesiologist found it hard to believe that I was not taking anything for the intense pain.

I came out of surgery in record time and was very talkative even before I could open my eyes. I heard Dr. Summers (the anesthesiologist) check on me before he left. I asked him to please give us some “Summer” weather. It was a bad joke, but he laughed anyway.

At 1 p.m. I was home in my own bed! The nerve block that they gave me in surgery worked so well that I felt no bone pain, just sharp cut of the incision. The On-Q Pain med ball was in place to drip Marcaine right into the surgical site, and was a godsend for the three days it worked!

With my leg elevated in the wheelchair, I am finally able to get back to my computer to catch up (if that’s EVEN possible) with all the things I need to attend to. [Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition because that's how I would speak naturally].

Currently, I am using lydocaine pain patches next to the incision for 12 hours a day to help with the pain. I am to be non-weightbearing until at least Monday when I get the stitches out.

The most frustrating thing is that I can’t do housework that I want, cook supper, or be much help around here. AND I am lonely, since I am unable to go out just yet. Thank God for phone calls and book reading, cause there’s hardly anything worth watching on TV.

Well, I’m gonna call it quits for this post. I’ll just be “kickin’ back” and recovering for a bit.

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