Mark's Notebook

Update: Accident Recovery

We had x-rays done last week. Earlier this morning we visited the doctor, the orthopedic surgeon who did the emergency surgery. He says things are healing up nicely. There is one section along the main fracture that is not getting as good a blood supply, so it is healing more slowly. Also, the second small fracture is healing up OK but not perfectly. But it is healed up enough that I can start moving my leg more.

Note: I made a mistake in the description of the x-rays. If you take another look at that journal entry, I've noted the mistake and corrected it.

The heads of the screws are sticking out a ways out of the bone. It is not unusual that as the bone joins back together it shrinks a little. The only potential drawback is that a bursa might form where the screws stick out. This could result in some bursitis later.

He also noticed some arthritis forming in each hip, on the pelvis, a little more on the left than the right. These are bone spurs. You can see them clearly on x-ray #1, but you have to know where they are. These might cause some pain in the future. He did give us some advice about supplements we can take to relieve arthritis: Chondroitin and Glucosamine Sulfate. These are advertised a lot on the radio, but the doctor says the research shows that they really do work, not just to relieve the pain, but to actually restore the cartilage.

He gave me some advice on some kinds of exercise I can do. The first thing he suggested was a stationary bicycle, which was the first thing I had thought of. This is a good way to get all the muscles moving without having to bear a lot of weight.

Others have suggested water therapy, and I asked him about this. He says it is very good to "lie in the water and kick." There might be enough room to do this in the hot tub at our local gym.

The gym where we are members has one major drawback. It is on the second floor of a large building and there are two large flights of stairs outside the entrance. I definitely can't navigate the stairs in my walker, and I don't really want to "hop up on one leg" without the walker. So I might look into getting a temporary membership at another local gym that is on ground level.

Our chiropractor suggested that we might want to pursue physical therapy at their facility. They have a treadmill where they can suspend you overhead to reduce the weight you're bearing. It is a nifty setup that I used once before when recovering from a bad back. They can start you out with just a little weight bearing (1/4 of body weight), then increase it incrementally until you're bearing full weight. The doctor wrote me a referral so that the insurance will pay for the physical therapy. If you need this kind of PT, I recommend them.

Health Now Medical Center
Fremont at Mary
Sunnyvale, CA
408-733-0400
http://www.healthnowmedical.com/

So, the bottom line is now I can start bearing weight on my left leg, but only just a little. I must still use the walker. Since even a cane bears only 30% of your body weight, I won't be eligible to use that for a while yet, when I'm able to bear 70% weight on my own.

Our next appointment is in early January, and the doctor wrote us a requisition to get more x-rays then. Since San Jose Hospital is closing, we'll have to visit the radiology department at Alexian Brothers (now "Regional"), which is closer to our house anyway.

Since the doctor approved that I can start bearing a little weight on the left leg, we're going to celebrate tonight by going to our favorite restaurant, Zahir's. They were closed for a while but recently reopened. We had our wedding reception there and we've been back many times. I wish we could say that we will diet afterward, but tomorrow 24 people are coming over for a huge Thanksgiving dinner. And we have lots to give thanks for.

Zahir's Cafe
1380 South Main Street, Milpitas, California 95035
408 946-4000
http://www.zahirscafe.com/

There was a good review of Zahir's in last Sunday's Mercury News.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/sheila_himme
l/10238253.htm

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008