Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 31

Thread: Wife broke her ankle

  1. #21
    Senior Member Tekboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    323
    vCash
    500
    Points
    279,378
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    279,378
    Donate
    Quote Originally Posted by slgrieb View Post
    In the meantime, my wife has been ignoring her doctor's instructions for the last couple of weeks, and a follow up visit to her orthopedist and a new x-ray suggest that her fracture has gotten worse, The doc wants her to check into the hospital next week so he can put a couple of screws into her shin to close the fracture. I already told her that I've got an 18 Volt DeWalt drill and some 2 inch stainless steel screws, so we don't need an orthopedic surgeon, but she's still planning on professional surgery.

    I think I'm still paying off my wife's hip replacement, and Younger Child needed $7000 braces plus some oral surgery. Every month I get medical bills, and I just write checks for what I can afford. I still keep pushing the DeWalt and a bottle of Cuervo Gold option, but I don't see it going anywhere.
    What are you gonna do? Make sure that DeWalt has a good charge on the battery, in the interest of shorter elapsed time of use. It should equal less pain.

  2. #22
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas Panhandle
    Posts
    2,647
    vCash
    800
    Points
    578,452
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    578,452
    Donate
    Quote Originally Posted by Tekboy View Post
    What are you gonna do? Make sure that DeWalt has a good charge on the battery, in the interest of shorter elapsed time of use. It should equal less pain.
    I don't know, wife doesn't listen to any thing I say. She's got an employee that continually tries to undercut her. I've given her advice on how I'd deal with the issue, but her response is "I don't want to be that kind of a manager." I'm sorry, but I did about 15 years in mid-level corporate management. I ran delivery and production operations in 4 divisions of the company, and three plants. Yes, I got fired, but then I was rehired with a 50% pay raise, and at my level of management, our CEO had to approve my rehire. I have a certain level of competency, and if my wife disregards my advice, I think that's a mistake.

    First thing I would do is take her behind closed doors and present her with a letter of resignation and a very nice letter of recommendation. Sign the first, get the second, or be prepared to get a warning letter every time you fart while you work for the company. She could go out the easy way, or the hard way. Trust me, I'd find some reason to fire the woman, and I'd do my best to ensure the next best job in her life might have been providing day care for the "specially challenged."
    Last edited by slgrieb; 08-29-2014 at 11:33 PM.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  3. #23
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas Panhandle
    Posts
    2,647
    vCash
    800
    Points
    578,452
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    578,452
    Donate
    I intended to update this thread, and realized I might have gotten a little off topic. Stress and frustration can do that. Still, wife decided against the screws, and won't use the crutches, or take her meds. However, she continues to complain about the discomfort. shoot me.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  4. #24
    Senior Member Webhead's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    1,829
    vCash
    500
    Points
    679,913
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    679,913
    Donate
    Quote Originally Posted by slgrieb View Post
    I intended to update this thread, and realized I might have gotten a little off topic. Stress and frustration can do that. Still, wife decided against the screws, and won't use the crutches, or take her meds. However, she continues to complain about the discomfort. shoot me.
    How bad is the fracture in her tibia? And how long ago did the injury occur? If she did get the screws, can she bear weight on that leg?

    See, the way bone heals is that it has to be either drilled into or cracked or some damage has to happen to cause blood to come out. The blood then heals and forms into bone. So when you get screws, the holes are made, screws inserted, blood comes out and turns into bone. That bone then grows and covers up the screws. Then you either leave the screws in or take them out. If you take them out, then you have to scrape the bone off, drill out the screws and then not bear weight for at least 4-6 weeks (probably more like 3 months) while those holes fill back up.

    So the whole screw thing can be quite a big choice to make depending on what the doctor says. Heck, if the doctor thinks he can put the screws in and leave them in and on top of that allow her to bear weight, then that might be a wise choice. Also, I didn't think they normally used screws on tibias?

    Also, I agree with her about not taking the meds. I stopped taking the Norco I had when I realized I was just popping the pills just because I had them. Although I still had pain so I switched to Advil. Then asap I stopped taking everything. The only thing they can really give you is pain medication. But if you can tolerate the pain, then why take the drugs? The drugs are just bad for your kidneys and do all kinds of unknown other things that might make the healing process slower.

    I know I sound like a broken record and keep repeating the same things,... but I swear the only way to heal is to eat right, get rest, don't do drugs or alcohol (smoking, wine, beer, etc,), elevate, compress and just freakin let the damn thing heal! I don't know why that is so hard for so many people. Everyone wants to be a hero and get up on the crutches and move around and blah blah. But doing all that just slows the whole process down.
    Last edited by Webhead; 09-05-2014 at 04:57 AM.

  5. #25
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas Panhandle
    Posts
    2,647
    vCash
    800
    Points
    578,452
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    578,452
    Donate
    We are into the 4th week since the fracture, and she's been up and walking without aid since the second week. Again, no brace, crutches etc. So this appears to have enlarged the fracture. Didn't see the photos, since she also went to the orthopedist without me. She's a manager now, but she's also been a practicing nurse, so she should know better. But, whatever the doctors tell her to do, she does the opposite. In fact, about the only time I've seen her listen to a doctor was a few years ago when she had a hip replacement. Now suddenly, I long for the romantic days and nights of having to help on and off the potty seat, getting her on and off the tub seat and helping bathe her. But, at least she was following the plan.

    I agree I would like to get a second orthopedist's opinion, even if it would be just to see if she could ignore 3 sets of doctor's orders simultaneously.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  6. #26
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas Panhandle
    Posts
    2,647
    vCash
    800
    Points
    578,452
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    578,452
    Donate
    So, Tekboy, how's it going on your end? Recovery still exceeding expectations?
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  7. #27
    Senior Member Webhead's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    1,829
    vCash
    500
    Points
    679,913
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    679,913
    Donate
    Quote Originally Posted by slgrieb View Post
    We are into the 4th week since the fracture, and she's been up and walking without aid since the second week. Again, no brace, crutches etc. So this appears to have enlarged the fracture. Didn't see the photos, since she also went to the orthopedist without me. She's a manager now, but she's also been a practicing nurse, so she should know better. But, whatever the doctors tell her to do, she does the opposite. In fact, about the only time I've seen her listen to a doctor was a few years ago when she had a hip replacement. Now suddenly, I long for the romantic days and nights of having to help on and off the potty seat, getting her on and off the tub seat and helping bathe her. But, at least she was following the plan.

    I agree I would like to get a second orthopedist's opinion, even if it would be just to see if she could ignore 3 sets of doctor's orders simultaneously.
    Yeah, 4 weeks is barely enough time for the fracture to do much of anything. It will heal eventually but it's going to take forever and probably end up with complications since she's not following instructions. Hopefully the fracture isn't too bad to begin with. If it's just a hairline then it might not be bad. I'm mean, I'm no doctor obviously but having gone through the whole process I learned a lot more than I ever cared to know about this topic.

    By the way, I'm not sure you saw my injury before. I posted a picture a long time ago of the x-ray. For me, it was a compound injury. Tibia broke off the foot and came out of the skin and fibula cracked in half at the bottom. So basically my foot was just hanging by some fleshy tissue. They reattached the tibia and sewed up that side. Then they sliced open the other side and put a plate and screws on the fibula and sewed it back up. So 2 back to back procedures in one shot took about 8 hours or something. Then it was splint, another splint, then air boot. 4-6 weeks initially, then another 4-6 weeks, yadda yadda. The whole thing took about 3-4 months to heal. Then PT took several months. These days all the cartilage is basically scar tissue now. 85% mobility. But I still run and hike. I have periods of arthritis but I ignore it. And I never got the screws or plate out. Still debating whether to do that or not but I probably won't. If I did, it would be 4 months on crutches.
    Last edited by Webhead; 09-06-2014 at 03:53 AM.

  8. #28
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas Panhandle
    Posts
    2,647
    vCash
    800
    Points
    578,452
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    578,452
    Donate
    Yeah, I know how bad the break was and all the attendant surgery and stuff that went with it. Nasty.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  9. #29
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas Panhandle
    Posts
    2,647
    vCash
    800
    Points
    578,452
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    578,452
    Donate
    Yeah, I had a couple of friends in bad motorcycle accidents who needed all kinds of plates and pins, and in the end decided to keep all the new hardware. For one of my buddies, that meant having a left leg that was permanently an inch and a half shorter than his right leg. It just wasn't worth all the surgeries and PT to fix it.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  10. #30
    Senior Member Tekboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    323
    vCash
    500
    Points
    279,378
    Bank
    0
    Total Points
    279,378
    Donate
    Quote Originally Posted by slgrieb View Post
    So, Tekboy, how's it going on your end? Recovery still exceeding expectations?
    Well, she is using the post-op shoe, but only when she leaves the house. She is really close to being all healed up, though she does baby it quite a bit. She has other medical stuff going on, so i am glad that this one is nearly finished. She really has a great attitude about it all.

    Sorry your wife is so stubborn.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •