My visit to the surgeon yesterday, January 6, 2005
UPDATE: The visit with my surgeon went very well. He says I have about 2 more weeks & then I can start walking on my cast. He also discussed removal of the main screw through both bones. If insurance covers it my husband thinks it would be a really good idea since I have so much mobility in my joints. My husband is concerned about tissue damage from broken screw tips. I haven't made up my mind yet.
I brought up the issue with the nerve sensations in my foot. He had never heard of these sensations occuring in an individual with a broken leg who has had surgery (the same response I got from his assistents when I called last week.) The surgeon took my thoughts very seriously and is referring me to a neurologist as well as getting my started in physical therapy. I am pleased with his suggestions but I also brought up the fact that I am not sleeping well at night at all and that this certainly doesn't help my coping abilities throughout the day. I told him directly that, "Vicodin sucks." and explained how I've responded to all the various medications thus far. I was finally able to get through to him that Percocet does help me & the chances of dependency are very small. I am aware of how these narcotics work & what to look for, plus I will be saving it mainly for night time use unless I have a really bad day. I told him that I thought after meeting me a few times he had a good sense of what kind of person I am & that I hope he would give me one more refill until these nerve sensations subside a bit more. He agreed! I was so satisfied with his response to my comments. I had initially told him, when I brought this up, that I expected him to say no again but that I wanted to give it one more try. My husband thinks my comments caught him off guard, as if he didn't see himself as being too...how shall I put it...hardass. He has proven he isn't. The surgeon then also wrote a prescription for Ambien but since I'm not familiar with it I wanted to come home first & read about it before placing the prescription.
Lastly, and this was the most surprising because I honestly hadn't noticed it before but I have *2* plates in my leg! There is the large one on my fibula but I also have one on the back of my tibia. I guess the break at the base of my tibia was more than I thought it was. Today was my first good shot of the x-rays of my leg on the display screen so that may be why I noticed that difference this time.
Again, thank you for all of your thoughts through this little twist in my journey that has occured. It's a truly novel experience and I hope I am learning from it.
I brought up the issue with the nerve sensations in my foot. He had never heard of these sensations occuring in an individual with a broken leg who has had surgery (the same response I got from his assistents when I called last week.) The surgeon took my thoughts very seriously and is referring me to a neurologist as well as getting my started in physical therapy. I am pleased with his suggestions but I also brought up the fact that I am not sleeping well at night at all and that this certainly doesn't help my coping abilities throughout the day. I told him directly that, "Vicodin sucks." and explained how I've responded to all the various medications thus far. I was finally able to get through to him that Percocet does help me & the chances of dependency are very small. I am aware of how these narcotics work & what to look for, plus I will be saving it mainly for night time use unless I have a really bad day. I told him that I thought after meeting me a few times he had a good sense of what kind of person I am & that I hope he would give me one more refill until these nerve sensations subside a bit more. He agreed! I was so satisfied with his response to my comments. I had initially told him, when I brought this up, that I expected him to say no again but that I wanted to give it one more try. My husband thinks my comments caught him off guard, as if he didn't see himself as being too...how shall I put it...hardass. He has proven he isn't. The surgeon then also wrote a prescription for Ambien but since I'm not familiar with it I wanted to come home first & read about it before placing the prescription.
Lastly, and this was the most surprising because I honestly hadn't noticed it before but I have *2* plates in my leg! There is the large one on my fibula but I also have one on the back of my tibia. I guess the break at the base of my tibia was more than I thought it was. Today was my first good shot of the x-rays of my leg on the display screen so that may be why I noticed that difference this time.
Again, thank you for all of your thoughts through this little twist in my journey that has occured. It's a truly novel experience and I hope I am learning from it.