To all stump grinder operators

[NJA]

This is not meant to start a political debate, but there are some amazing people in the NHS, you can rock up with an injury like that and they take in their stride.

 

Can't be complacent for a second when using some of this kit

7 hours ago, spudulike said:

hats off the the people that saved your leg.

 

[dangb93]

Thought I would pop an update on here, a recent CT scan has revealed that my tibia bone is being accepted at the docking site (under high compression in the TSF frame) and bone callous is starting to form (strikingly similar in fashion to the way a tree will produce callous tissue, leading to the formation of wound wood).

The bone callous is forming between the end of the tibia bone and the bottom of my knee, and also my body is creating new bone in an onion shape, each side of the docking site, a bit like bracing.

 

To explain the above, in the accident my tibia bone was ripped out of my leg (forget about the fibula bone - that was ripped out as well, but completely smashed to nothing), and a section at the top of the bone was destroyed, that along with the removal of a further splintered and muddy section in theatre, means that 71mm was missing. The TSF frame is the big black cage round my leg in the pics above. The frame was regularly adjusted (finished now) to slide the remaining section of bone to the top, compressing it against the knee - hence the term docking site. The tibia bone regenerated at the other end as it was being slid away from the ankle.

 

And talking of the tibia regeneration, that is also starting to calcify - the recent x rays and CT scan show its getting denser.

 

My surgeon says the TSF will need to stay on my leg well into 2024...

 

BUT....though things are moving along ever ever so slowly, it is getting there.

 

Almost 10 months since that horrific day.

 

Remember! switch the cutter wheel off on your grinder before you walk away from the controls!

[peds]

57 minutes ago, dangb93 said:

 

My surgeon says the TSF will need to stay on my leg well into 2024...

 

I had a brace on my wrist for about 6 weeks a few years ago, that was long enough, and I only had half a dozen pins. I can't imagine 18 months or more, you must be sick of the sight of it by now. 

 

Is it much of a job to keep it clean? Do the attachment points chop and change at all, or are they the same ones from day one? One of my pins got infected because the home visit nurse was a bit squeamish by the looks of it and didn't put the effort in with the scrubbing. I had to have the hand opened up and drained, the surgeon wasn't as shy as the visiting nurse and he just went to town with the iodine and a scrubbing brush like he was washing the dishes. I was awake for that one, I was an eye-opening experience. Anyway, I took over the job of cleaning it after that, I didn’t let anyone else near it.

 

What's the running total of surgeries you've had so far, and how many more do they think it'll take?

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, dangb93 said:

Thought I would pop an update on here, a recent CT scan has revealed that my tibia bone is being accepted at the docking site (under high compression in the TSF frame) and bone callous is starting to form (strikingly similar in fashion to the way a tree will produce callous tissue, leading to the formation of wound wood).

The bone callous is forming between the end of the tibia bone and the bottom of my knee, and also my body is creating new bone in an onion shape, each side of the docking site, a bit like bracing.

 

To explain the above, in the accident my tibia bone was ripped out of my leg (forget about the fibula bone - that was ripped out as well, but completely smashed to nothing), and a section at the top of the bone was destroyed, that along with the removal of a further splintered and muddy section in theatre, means that 71mm was missing. The TSF frame is the big black cage round my leg in the pics above. The frame was regularly adjusted (finished now) to slide the remaining section of bone to the top, compressing it against the knee - hence the term docking site. The tibia bone regenerated at the other end as it was being slid away from the ankle.

 

And talking of the tibia regeneration, that is also starting to calcify - the recent x rays and CT scan show its getting denser.

 

My surgeon says the TSF will need to stay on my leg well into 2024...

 

BUT....though things are moving along ever ever so slowly, it is getting there.

 

Almost 10 months since that horrific day.

 

Remember! switch the cutter wheel off on your grinder before you walk away from the controls!

Glad to hear of the positive progress bud .

[dangb93]

8 minutes ago, peds said:

Is it much of a job to keep it clean?

It’s quite straightforward, I just shower it off. Occasionally I use some exfoliating scrub on the remaining original skin because the legs not being used, it keeps shedding the skin. As you can see looking at a selection of pin sites shown here at the top of the leg, they form a sort of dry and dead seal of skin around them which helps keep the otherwise open pin wounds closed. 

There’s 19 pins which go straight through. So that’s 38 pin sites (entries and exits) plus three further pins much thicker that go half way through. So total 41 pin sites for potential infections. 
 

 

9 minutes ago, peds said:

Do the attachment points chop and change at all, or are they the same ones from day one?

They’re the same pins all the way through the process. The frame is attached to pins, which go through the leg from one side to the other. 
See the two red arrows below, they are both the same pin.( Each pin is loaded with 100kg before fixing!!)

 

 

 

I’ve had 7 operations so far. All general anaesthetic. I’m expecting an absolute minimum of two more, but could be over 10 in total !

10 minutes ago, peds said:

What's the running total of surgeries you've had so far, and how many more do they think it'll take?

[peds]

Mental.

 

Those pin holes have sealed up nicely, I wasn't expecting them to look so tidy. I guess they aren't really moving around that much, are they. 

 

Thanks for keeping us updated, really interesting to see. 

 

Edit

Ask if you can be awake for one of them, it's a total trip. I've done an epidural for knee surgery and a few nerve blocks with morphine, for wrist and hand. But I've also asked to be squarely knocked out when I wasn't in the mood. Probably simpler for everyone. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by peds

[dangb93]

32 minutes ago, peds said:

I wasn't expecting them to look so tidy. I guess they aren't really moving around that much, are they. 

Haha! Not moving now, but they were between February and July. As the TSF was lengthened daily on the adjusters, sliding the bone section up the leg and stretching the leg out longer, the pins were slicing through the flesh. Blood, fluid, and gunk all running down my leg different places different times. Not to mention the pain. 

[dangb93]

34 minutes ago, peds said:

Ask if you can be awake for one of them, it's a total trip.

I have asked but it’s a no. I’ve also asked them to film it for me, I particularly wanted to see them drilling through my leg so many times - super accurate as well as mental. But they won’t film it for me. 
And I’ve asked for souvenirs such as the drill bit, or bits of my TSF when it comes off. But they either re use parts or throw them away. And even the bits they throw away they won’t give me. 
The most I can get is my notes. 

[Mark Bolam]

Great progress mate.

👍

[NJA]

1 hour ago, peds said:

Mental.

 

Those pin holes have sealed up nicely, I wasn't expecting them to look so tidy. I guess they aren't really moving around that much, are they. 

 

Thanks for keeping us updated, really interesting to see. 

 

Edit

Ask if you can be awake for one of them, it's a total trip. I've done an epidural for knee surgery and a few nerve blocks with morphine, for wrist and hand. But I've also asked to be squarely knocked out when I wasn't in the mood. Probably simpler for everyone. 

General is way better than being 'sedated', when you're half awake but your brain is completely scrambled and going flat out trying to work out what is going on, and you're trying to work out how you got into this weird place in your head you can't get out of.  Then when you wake up you can't support your head or limbs for hours.   Horrible experience