[Closed] WCA ankle picture update - chicks dig scars?

as I cannot use Facebook.

Why?

Hmm think I'll have ham hock for dinner.

I found this very hard to masturbate over.

Cannot use Facebook - Monitored by work with some strangely draconian measures taken if they deem your posting to have the potential to damage the company, their image or the prospect of placing you with clients. Basically not worth the hassle of explaining any post they choose to pick on.

DezB - But as a true professional I am sure you stuck with it to the end 😉

That actually looks pretty good and now you're in a backslab it's amazing how quickly it'll heal.

Awesome! People in the office gave this about an 8.5 out of 10 for gruesomeness.

What's the score with it now? Is it fused, or does it have some movement in it? Have they said how long it will take to heal up properly yet, or is that purely dependent on how quickly the post-op infection takes to clear up?

Get well soon by the way.

'kin 'ell - the best I can say is at least that looks like a foot unlike the earlier photos 😥

As always best wishes WCA

In order "bond" with you I'll dig out some photos Vietnam's approach to road safety public info warnings, ie some gruesome photos posted on a large notice board outside the hospital in Ha Noi

Can you give us a recap on how you did it for those that missed that episode.

Mostly Balanced - Member
Can you give us a recap on how you did it for those that missed that episode.

It was some serious rock and roll, live fast die young shit 😉

I found this very hard to masturbate over.

It is a bit early, maybe try again later?

frankenstein!

Truely Gross.

Keep it to yourself..

(joke)

If you put a sock on it you'd never know it was there.

BOL and GWS.

[i]Cannot use Facebook - Monitored by work with some strangely draconian measures taken if they deem your posting to have the potential to damage the company, their image or the prospect of placing you with clients. Basically not worth the hassle of explaining any post they choose to pick on.

[/i]
Is this becasue you are using a company mobile or do they actually monitor your personal online usage from any device?

Need to wait 12 weeks for then to decide whether to fuse, amputate or leave along.

How did I do it? Saving small children from a wild eagle attack while balanced on a ladder for charity*

*some if this sentence is true

Previously - leg bone pushing out to the left forming white circle. Foot completely dislocated and moving up the shin. Heel totally dislocated and moving forward with the tib and fib resting hard against it. Talus bone which should be on the end of the leg bones is hiding out of shot to the right of the leg bones
[img] [/img]

100% your fault or some equipment failure?

tbh I hate ladders, and use them quite often at home - but scaffold can also be hairy, when its cheap/home stuff.

It could have been 100% my fault, ladder not tied on etc, but I am definitely blaming the wild eagle attack and am going after Bill Oddie and the RSPB for compensation 😉

Second most horrific picture on STW today. Good work.

I remember my temp back slab being taken off the day after I had mine pinned and plated (not quite as impressive as yours mind..). As the cut down the middle and pulled the two sides apart it opened up the wounds on both sides and blood pished out.. I fainted- prob due to the amount of blood lost quickly.. Ahem.

[i]Second most horrific picture on STW today. Good work.[/i]

Most horrific?

[img] [/img]

Most horrific?

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/lycra-wearers-how-tight-should-bib-tights-be

You win!

Pass the mind bleach

DezB - Member

I found this very hard to masturbate over.

😆 arf

Get well soon WCA, that's pretty gruesome

Good luck with it all, sounds like they are looking after you.

Have seen plenty of patients with injuries that were horrendous do way better than they logically should have done, will keep fingers crossed!

Good effort there!

The goo, bit wiffy was it? Pretty nurse passing out from the stench or just an oozing of non smelly gunk?

Has Mrs WCA banned you from ever doing anymore ladder climbing?

I was just eating an egg sandwich when I looked at these pictures and your blister gunk looks like my egg yolk.

Not a nice thought. 😕

Green egg yolk? You may need to return that or are you this bloke?

[img] [/img]

Ooo, that looks nasty.

I don't think that my suggestion of an Ilizarov would necessarily have done the trick, it looks pretty complicated down there.

I had a fracture blister on my leg just above the ankle but I was lucky as it didn't pop, it simply dried up and withered away after a couple of months. It's weird as it seemed to me at the time that the thing the doctors knew least about was the cause of fracture blisters.

I know you know this but keep everything as clean as you can, I used chlorhexidine twice a day to clean the places where the wires entered my leg etc. Bone infection is something that you really do not want!

Best of luck, get well soon.

Was this:

WorldClassAccident - Member
Need to wait 12 weeks for then to decide whether to fuse, amputate or leave alone

In answer to this:

DezB - Member
I found this very hard to masturbate over.

[i]the thing the doctors knew least about was the cause of fracture blisters.[/i]

I had an interesting conversation with on the the Drs/Nurses about this.

Me) I have Googled this and seems they are quite rare and no-one has a firm policy on how to deal with fracture blisters, what is this hospitals policy?
Them ) It is under review
Me) What was it?
Them ) It was out of date and we can't discuss it
Me ) What is the current practise?
Them ) It is under review
Me ) So what are you going to do? Google suggests leaving the ones that don't burst alone and de-roofing the ones that have burst to remove the risk of infection from dead skin
Them ) Sounds reasonable, we will do that then
Me ) Would I get a different treatment if I used Bing instead og Google?
Them ) Don't be stupid, no-one uses Bing. Pass the iodine...

Oh my goodness that sounds horrific and yes - infection is your worst enemy. Good luck with the healing and get straight back at the first sign of any infection!

You might just as well have done Red Bull Rampage after all - less dangerous - only bruised heels to be had there 😀

[i]I had an interesting conversation with on the the Drs/Nurses about this.[/i]

Must be reassuring to be in the hands of professionals.

That was pretty broken, is there any hope they are just giving you the worst outlook, but you might well heal up pretty well from this?

I should heal up but there is 0% chance of the blood supply to the ankle joint surviving. This means that rather than the bone growing back and healing it will remain highly fragmented.

They have a couple of screws holding the bottom of the tibeia on and a couple of screws holding the two biggest bits of the talus together but a lot of the rest is just rubble.

They need to decide if they should leave me walking on the remains of the ankle and hope it holds or try and fuse the joint. From what I have read, fusing the joint basically means encouraging the bones to grow together by removing their protective layer. Not sure how this works if the bones are not growing. If those two options aren't viable I shall be getting a direct implant SPD grafted on where the foot used to be.

Oh god that is the grossest thing I've ever seen I actually did a little sick up

DezB you are a sicko 🙂

If those two options aren't viable I shall be getting a direct implant SPD grafted on where the foot used to be.

God forbid, if you end up going that route, make sure you hook up with a fellow cyclist unidexter* missing their left foot, then you can share shoes and save 50% on cycling footware!

*thanks to Peter Cook for that word!

it seems a shame that we can't* put your 'good' leg in an MRI scanner, produce some 3d STL images of your bones, and make some mirrored copies in a 3D printer** - and pop these in to replace your shattered bones...

(*whenever i've mentioned this idea to a doctor, they've looked at me like i've got 2 heads)

(**we've got an Arcam and an EOS jobby here at work, we've made all sorts of mad things from stainless steel and titanium)

[i]If those two options aren't viable I shall be getting a direct implant SPD grafted on where the foot used to be.
[/i]

A bit like when Barry Sheene broke his wrist, and brought his handlebars in so he knew the angle he needed the cast to be set it at...

[i]**we've got an Arcam and an EOS jobby here at work, we've made all sorts of mad things from stainless steel and titanium)[/i]

You may be getting a call in about 12 weeks.

I have been thinking of ways to stabalise the tib and fib and fit some kind of universal bracket so I can add external attachments - foot, skate board, food blender....

The medical professionals seem to lack the imagination to turn misfortune into opportunity. They see a missing foot, I see a bionic connection bracket.

What is the current practise?

*No Dez - it's not a euphemism

Just found a cheerful website

http://www.mdmercy.com/footandankle/conditions/trauma/fractures_talus.html

The make a lot of mention about how avascular necrosis (AVN) is a bad thing and talk about worse case scenarios with greatly reduce blood flow etc.

Just re-read my operation notes "Serious nature, limb threatening nature and risk of AVM(100%) explained"

Does anyone have a positive spin on "risk of SVN(100%)" meaning anything other than I will definitely have AVN?

I guess it then comes down to how it manifests itself. Oh well, here's hopping

I'm guessing it means what % of the bone will be involved

seen [url= http://www.wheelessonline.com/ortho/anv_and_salvage_of_talus_fractures ]this ?[/url]

Thanks for the link, I seem to be reading a lot of this sort of stuff at the moment. It is sometime difficult on the internet to work out when you are reading facts opinions or adverts giving information(advertation/)

On the link I posted there is a picture of various x-rays and mine looked like the one above this text " n this fracture the entire body of the talus has dislocated out of the back of the ankle, and AVN develops in 100% of these fractures."

Human body is capable of remarkable regeneration.If there's no necrosis in 12 months,and blood vessels regenerate you may well not need the SPD implant.I wouldn't be rushing them to decide about amputation unless increasing necrosis is present.I'd also ask if you can have an opinion from a vascular surgeon,to see if he feels he can improve the blood supply by grafting.

P.S. I thought the wound doesn't look too bad at the moment,I've seen much much worse,but that's another thread entirely.

P.P.S I would show your linked site to your consultant and ask him his opinion,he may move beyond "it's too early to tell yet" and give you a serious opinion of the likely outcomes.

i am not aiming for amputation, i am aiming for full recovery!

I did the same thing to the same ankle but a bit less dramatically about 7 years ago. That time I got away with 29 weeks in a cast, an arthoscopy and months of bloody physio.

That was followed by 7 years of painful limping. I was actually arranging further physio for the following week until I broke it.

Glad I broke my bad ankle, it would have been agony limping on the bad ankle. It is bad enough using crutches now with a broken/bruised wrist.

[i]P.P.S I would show your linked site to your consultant and ask him his opinion,he may move beyond "it's too early to tell yet" and give you a serious opinion of the likely outcomes.[/i]

I am taking my linked page and the one you sent and asking his opinion on them, what he would recommend and why he would recommend/reject the other approaches.

Have you bought that bloody Maserati yet?

That is cool.as.tits.

I had an offer on one of the Maseratis but it was rejected on Friday night thank god. Can you imagine how pi55ed off I would be sat in bed with a Maser parked on the drive!

I'll look after it for you 'till you're mended.

In fact, buy it, then have an auction temporary ownership, a week at a time. 🙂

And I do believe that pets aid recovery from traumatic injuries.
Have you considered a cat?
[img] [/img]

I wasn't suggesting that you were aiming for amputation,but you may need to be firm with the surgeons about what you are aiming for,and what you are prepared to accept.To an orthopaedic surgeon amputation is an easy operation with a reliable outcome,and rehab is fairly straightforward,and mostly done as an outpatient,it ticks a lot of boxes for them.

ah, pig's trotters! I knew there was something I was meant to get from the butchers.

Pah, thats nothing look at my mates leg....
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8094655948_a45f774243_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8094655948_a45f774243_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmygrainger/8094655948/ ]Stu's leg 3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/jimmygrainger/ ]jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8094657018_33fceccae5_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8094657018_33fceccae5_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmygrainger/8094657018/ ]Stu's leg 4[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/jimmygrainger/ ]jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8194/8094648655_384534d7ab_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8194/8094648655_384534d7ab_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmygrainger/8094648655/ ]Stu's leg 2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/jimmygrainger/ ]jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

He was basejumping in Patagonia with one of those wingsuits & hit a bird which he thinks might have been a goose of some sort, went out of control somewhat & crash landed into some rocks. He thinks the impact of the bird affected his chute deployment hence the crazy landing & smashed legs. His other leg was actually a worse injury but doesn't look as dramastic.
He's an ex Royal Marine though & therefore, as hard as ****.
Can't ride his bike yet though. 😐
& before anyone asks, yes he was wearing a helmet!

is that tattoo what I think it is?

[i]is that tattoo what I think it is?[/i]

Ha ha, no but I know what your'e thinking. It's a sword handle or something.

yeah, I was thinking sword handle. what did you think I was thinking?

Cos you wouldn't have said, 'is that tattoo what I think it is' if you thought it was a sword handle!

I'm wondering if a few of us can use this thread as very good reason to not do any DIY.

Especially 'at height'

and esselgruntfuttock, why does Stu's leg look like its got a red coloured haggis on it?

Dunno what that is, hang on a bit & I'll find out.........

Right, that 'red haggis' is a lump of muscle taken off Stu's back as he had a bit of calf muscle missing. The mesh looking thing is a skin graft.

Thanks for letting me know,

I think 🙄

Could be worse I know a guy who's ladder slipped I guess in quite a similar fashion to yours, he broke both arms quite badly landing hands first. His missus had to wipe his arse for months.

Dezb for post of the week!?

Jeez and there was me feeling all sorry for myself with my arm in a cast with a suspected scaphoid fracture. I have no idea how I would even begin to deal mentally with your injury. Speedy recovery to you and remember there's always a small army of well wishers, forum strangers and smart arses to provide support/light hearted relief.

Could be worse I know a guy who's ladder slipped I guess in quite a similar fashion to yours

His missus had to wipe his arse for months

another good reason to stay indoors.

Good luck mate!

Ooof.

That's all really.

[i]my arm in a cast with a suspected scaphoid fracture.[/i]

I have one of those too but didn't like to mention it as I couldn't use crutches properly with a cast on. Wrist strap and pain pills all the way...

* LATEST UPDATE **

Saw the consultant who did the operation yesterday and he is really pleased with the healing rate which is great.

He reckons I should be able to put my foot down but not fully load bearing in the next 12-16 weeks which he was very pleased with but I am slightly less excited by the prospect.

Anyway, more pictures but less gore.

It is like opening presents at Christmas
[img] [/img]

The dressing is nice and clean
[img] [/img]

Wow! It doesn't look like the same ankle as last week
[img] [/img]

Gone is all the puss and rotting skin and all that is left is a small scar and some dry skin
[img] [/img]

Amazing how quickly the calf muscle has wasted, this is three weeks
[img] [/img]

Managed, finally, to get a picture of an x-ray. You will be glad/horrified to know that the bolts are Titanium
[img] [/img]

Updated x-ray to show the problem area - bone loss
[img] [/img]

wow, some improvement in looks at least.

The 2 largest screws, are they going to come out before weight bearing?

2 big screws will probably stay in place because Doc reckons the most likely outcome at the moment would be to fuse the ankle with some more metalwork joining the heel to the talus and the tibia/fibia.

There is significant bone loss around the fracture (see updated x-ray) so it is unlikely to take my body weight especially as the blood supply to the joint is from the front and has be totally severed by the fracture.

Still, best result I could have hoped for given what I did.

Doc reckons it was the worst injury he has seen all year and a couple of times during the operation when he couldn't get the bits back together he considered amputation but decided to give it 'one last try'. I am a really big fan of 'one last try' right now. 😉

WCA, that's looking a lot better than in the last set of photos! Glad to see that things are healing well and that you are staying positive. I'm also glad to see that you have got proper Ti bolts. My wife only had stainless steel which is really not that cool.

Doc reckons it was the worst injury he has seen all year and a couple of times during the operation when he couldn't get the bits back together he considered amputation

Blimey, well done doc! Bet he's on your christmas card list now!

could he not have reconnected the bloody supply?

Apparently not.

From Googling about the fracture it says that the fact that I fully dislocated the rear of the talus including the talar mount(?) means there will always be a loss of blood supply. This suggests there was nothing he could have done.

I am trying to get hold of some pre-op x-rays but as he described it to me, the rear of the talar bone (the bit with the big screws in) was fully dislocated and was stuck behind the heel and the fibia. He had to cut the bottom of the fibia off to be able to get the pliers in to grab the bone and then use some kind of reverse clamp to push the fibia up, the heel down and then pull the big bone fragment back into the gap. He then screwed the bit he had cut off back on which is the two small screws.

I guess most people have (or choose to have) a romantic picture of surgery which is all careful incisions with intricate and delicate work using tweezers and magnifying glasses rather than the reality of hacksaws, pliers, hammers and chisels.
thanks for sharing all this by the way. I find it fascinating in a voyeuristic* way.

*the non-fwappy type

Doc reckons it was the worst injury he has seen all year and a couple of times during the operation when he couldn't get the bits back together he considered amputation but decided to give it 'one last try'.

Bet you're glad you weren't last on the list on a Friday... 😉

DrP