 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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little ms spock - thanks very much for the words of support and encouragement, good to hear from you 
I hope we can ski again together one day, but it'll be a while before I'm up to scratch, you'll have to go easy on me!
Oooh, yes - holidayloverxx's pics are crazy - looks like a facehugger has been implanted into that leg!
kitenski - Christ, that is filth! So glad you made a full recovery though - makes my injury look like a sprained thumb!
I've gone into overdrive with the physio, but am only doing it in the evenings, as work is manic at the moment - I should try and move it more while I'm sitting down though.
Thanks for the positive vibes - I'm hoping that I'll make a full recovery, but I have been told to expect my knee to be pretty weak after all this, ah well!
holidayloverxx - I'll get some photos up when I get a chance - they somehow don't seem that impressive now though, hehe!
The actual crash is all captured on film too, but it's not particularly interesting viewing, no big wipe out or anything!
Red Leon - yep, Sudoko - and I believe chess and fishing have also been suggested here 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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RachelQ - apologies, didn't see your post before I replied.
Thanks very much for the good wishes, and the link to the knee bindings, I'll take a good look at that.
Sorry to hear about your accident, and I hope it all sorts itself out in the end - the scans I've had don't show any ACL damage, so I was pretty lucky on that score. All the best
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Iski - sorry, I meant to to say thanks very much  I hope you're well and enjoyed the rest of the SC trip.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Emmeline, OMG. That is truly impressive....and horrendous  I can't begin to imagine the shock and pain you must have gone through. I sincerely hope that the breaks heal well. Are you having regular xrays/scans to monitor progress?
...pretty cast
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Emmeline,
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I can't begin to imagine the shock and pain you must have gone through. I sincerely hope that the breaks heal well
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+1
For a first fracture that's an impressive effort.
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holidayloverxx, pam w, - thanks very much
Weirdly I don't remember it actually hurting at the time, I just felt a pulling/twisting sensation, then heard/felt snapping and thought 'ooh, that's not good!', especially as I couldn't move afterwards.
After the ski was off and we packed the leg with snow (the knee immediately swelled up) I didn't really feel anything, it was only when I was being packed onto a stretcher thingy by the rescue guys that I was 'twingeing' - the air did turn blue, I have to say. At this point we're all laughing and joking, because everyone thought it was just a bit of a twist and I'd be ok after a day of rest, hehe!
It was only when I got the x-rays done at the medical centre and the guy goes 'this is not good' that I had a bit of a girly cry, haha! Then I blubbed a bit more after being left on my own for a couple of hours at the hospital, when my OH arrived. There has been plenty of pain since though - especially being put in and taken out of casts, and having x-rays, and physio can be a bit trying too!
Next x-rays are on Wednesday next week - the last one was done on 26th March. They'll see how I'm healing up (hopefully it'll be good news). I'm presuming I'll still need a cast for a bit though, for stability, but they might want to change it as this one is loose now. If so - what do we think colour wise? I'm leaning towards bright green and yellow - or black and yellow if they do black
I had a bit of a blunder on the stairs yesterday - I've been getting too cocky I think, crutching it up and down the stairs on my own. Was 3 steps from the top and suddenly forgot the technique, didn't distribute my weight evenly and my crutch slipped out from under me, so I put my foot down - automatic reaction, aaaiiiieeee! Seems to be ok now, but it did smart a bit at the time - oops!
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Emmeline, I think adrenaline kicks in when it needs to during the initial shock. I an so thankful I've had no pain to speak of. I iced my knee within minutes and as a result was able to push it straight over half an houror so while it was numb. After that ut stayed straight and no one needed to touch it til the op. I held it and moved it myself onto the bed as necessary, easy enough with a straight leg and the breaks all in one place. Now with the plate I don't have a broken leg anymore so no pain when bending my knee or having treatment.
No the wonder you had a good cry...you deserve it! And you are very brave crutching up stairs. I can hop up a couple but I don't have the strength to do more so I'm shuffling on my bum.
Black and red...
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holidayloverxx, it's the bodys' endorphins kicking in.
The most vivid memory I have of it was coming off my mountain bike, dislocating an ankle and breaking the leg in two places at the same time. When they kicked in, it was like cold water being poured through my veins. Really weird, but no pain just numbness.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mosha Marc, that then 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Emmeline wrote: |
| the air did turn blue, I have to say. |
It did, and so loud it echoed around the valley. But other than that I thought you were incredibly brave
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holidayloverxx - good news that you haven't had any pain, and you could get the leg straight very soon after the accident. Also great that you were able to manipulate the leg yourself - I think half my trouble has been that people haven't known where to hold my leg to support it without hurting it, the worst bit was when they opened the full leg cast when I got back to the UK, and pulled my leg out of it by the foot, I think some expletives were uttered there too, haha! Glad you're not in any pain when doing your treatment, I bet you set airport metal detectors off though
Thanks - not sure if I'm brave or stupid The nurses taught me to do it with one crutch, holding on to the banister, but I thought I'd push it and use both crutches instead. Nowt wrong with bum-shuffling, it's quite a comfy (and safe) way of doing it. I've got to learn to deal with the stairs though as I can't move back to my place until I'm really confident with it (I'm in a first floor maisonette, so there's stairs from the front door to the living area). Hope everything mends quickly and you're skipping up the stairs soon enough.
Yes - black and red, I didn't think of that - hmm! 
Mosha Marc - ooooh, nasty. I don't remember a cold water sensation, but everything was kind of in slow motion. When I watch the video back it was just a few seconds, but it felt like minutes. Hope you're all recovered now.
rob@rar - hehe! Thanks - I think I was taking my cue from you guys, as everyone was being so positive, making me laugh and feeding me chocolate etc. I just remember I kept saying sorry, cos the rest of the group were hanging around and I felt like I was taking up their skiing time. Like I say, at that point we didn't know anything was seriously wrong. I think you might have had an inkling but were downplaying it as you didn't want to panic me - if so thanks for that
I don't suppose anyone knows the answer to this one, but I'm wondering when I'll be able to go skiing again. We were hoping to get away this December but some people have said it's too soon. If that's the case then I need to think of another holiday to have around December time, that will aid in my recovery - i.e. something that involves some kind of activity, but not too risky or strenuous. I'm not a fan of lying around on a beach, but if anyone has got any ideas about a non-skiing alternative holiday in December, I'd love to hear about them  Ta.
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You know it makes sense.
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Emmeline, FWIW I broke my femur in March, was skiing in Scotland the following May for 2 days to see if I still enjoyed skiing.....that was after a 2nd operation to remove all the metalwork....
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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kitenski - cheers, so when you say the following May, I'm guessing you're talking about a gap of over a year? I was going to ask what the verdict was - i.e. did you still enjoy skiing, but I think the fact that we met on a skiing trip in Tignes last year means that you must have done Your injury was much more serious than mine (involving multiple operations) so I'm hoping that it won't take me that long to get back on the slopes. It's a tricky one though, I've done some searches and had various results - some people with tibial plateau fractures have been up and skiing within a couple of months (!!) but I don't think I'll even be able to weight bear during that time, let alone ski, plus my fractures were a fair bit more complicated than just a simple break.
I'm assuming the recovery period will differ from person to person, injury to injury - so there's no hard & fast rules, it would be good though to get an idea of whether I'd be pushing my luck planning a skiing holiday for December, or whether 9 months (from date of accident) is more than enough time to have recovered. That's assuming I'm doing all my physio, and other exercises (probably cycling etc) to strengthen everything. Maybe it's a bit soon to be thinking about it, and I should wait until my cast is off and I'm working on walking, but I just wanted some idea.
Red Leon - aww, hehe! It's really not that bad actually, now that I've seen the other pics I feel like I'm making a fuss about nothing
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Emmeline, if you can find it with the rather useless snowHeads search function have a look for a thread of mine called "Don't break your leg skiing"
Four years ago I also broke my Tib&Fib with a bad spiral fracture....slow and twisting in deep slush.
My bindings did not release, but bindings are not really able to release in such falls (according to the binding designer I met a couple of years later at the Ski Show).
My only heliski experience was the chopper to hospital....at least they propped me up a bit so I could see the view.
I had no cast, they just pinned the Tib, left the Fib, and a lot of screws to hold the bits and pieces to the pin.
Interesting to hear about stairs...the day after the operation a physio came to my bedside, ordered me out, gave me crutches and took me to the stairwell!
The first thing she had me doing was stairs...."you must learn this first, otherwise you will be like in a prison" (say that in a Swiss-Germen accent for effect).
I broke my leg in April and was skiing that Christmas, a bit slower than previously, not much off-piste.
By the end of the season the only thing that really hindered me was my brain...confidence.
Each of us are different (I was 48 at the time), some heal faster, some slower.....but be sure that you will heal, you will ski again.....and if it takes a bit longer than you hoped, well so-what really? The main thing is that in time, you'll be fine.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Emmeline, yes a gap of just over a year....however I think the 2nd operation was around Dec time from memory..............
but it took a fair few years for me to get back into a schuss (which is what I was doing when I broke the leg)
You could aim to ski "next season" then play it a bit by ear, and have a chance of skiing somewhere between Nov 2013 and April 2014
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| Emmeline wrote: |
| I think you might have had an inkling but were downplaying it as you didn't want to panic me - if so thanks for that |
Yes, I thought it was a serious problem. The scale and rate of swelling was not typical of a "twisted knee" kind of accident, so I thought it was a significant injury. But you were very calm so I didn't think there was any value in me getting in to a flap; just get the rescue services on scene and make sure that there was someone to accompany you to the first clinic (Greg was a bit of a star).
rungsp, thanks for posting your experience.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I broke my tib and fib in a bad way back end of last year in a water ski accident, never even occurred to me that it was anything but an unfortunate accident.
There is a label on the ski / binding that says 'if used incorrectly may cause injury or death'.. guess I was lucky!
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rungsp - thanks for your comments. Sorry to hear about your accident, I trust everything is now healed I'll try and look for your thread when I get a chance
Cool about the helicopter ride, none of that for me! No operation either, as the vertical break goes all the way through my shin, but at an angle, so there wasn't enough stable bone to pin anything to. Plus my consultant said there were too many risks involved (nerve damage, infection etc) and thought I'd prefer not to have a huge scar (he was right!). Good idea to get you on the stairs straight away, I'm hoping to brave the steps at work soon, just the ones up from reception - so I don't have to keep going up in the little disabled lift!
I went back to the hospital on Wednesday for my consultant check up and new x-rays. My consultant seems happy enough with the rate of healing, but he's said I need to remain in the cast for another 6 weeks, then I'll need an operation to get my bones back into alignment (as my lower leg is at a wonky angle) and possibly reconstruct my ACL. Originally they thought from the MRI scans that I hadn't damaged the ligament, but now they're saying that in most cases where these fractures occur, there will have been tearing sustained to the ligament - not great news.
So all a little depressing really as I was hoping to be weight bearing by mid-June, but now it's looking likely that I'll be laid up in early June for a bit after the op, before I can even start physio. I'm reckoning best case scenario is that I'll be walking by the end of July, which is a pain because we had a holiday planned for July 7th (non-skiing!) which we're going to need to cancel 
With all that going on, and from what other people have said (thanks kitenski - I won't be schussing for a while myself!) it's not looking likely that I'll be getting away skiing in December. I think we'll aim to do a March/April holiday in 2014 (I did Les Gets the other year when the Ebouelle contest was on, and that was great!). I'll just have to take it easy for the rest of the year.
rob@rar - much obliged, no point in unecessary flappage! Agreed that Greg was a star, and he does the 'there there, it'll all be ok' thing very convincingly
Neville - thanks, I'll try and get hold of a copy of that book - I hope it's not too gruesome though! Hehe - not sure about GS - you never know though
allanm - hope you're all healed up.
Wow 'may cause death?' I'm definitely going to check my bindings and settings before my next ski, make sure I'm not putting myself at uneccesary risk.
Cheers all
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Emmeline, So, still a way to go, but best to get everything fixed up now rather than recovering for a while then having to have nore interventions later IMV. Keep us informed on progress - did you get a new cast? Hhow are you getting to work - is it far?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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re work - that's handy! I work a "walk, train, tube, walk" away from my office in one location and an 85 mile drive to the second. I can't drive till I'm fully weight bearing (suspect you won't be able to either), and I'm not allowed the train/tube combo till then either (and not being ablet o carry anything much makes it difficult too) - to be honest it would be too much faff and take too long. I am working from home on slightly reduced hours plus time off for appointments. If I can get a lift I might get into the second locaton for a day or two to do my staff appraisals but other than that I'm here at home till middle of June - which is not great for keeping in the loop on things.
looking forward to new x-rays - have a look at my thread, Batman123 has posted hers now and given a progress report
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Emmeline, gosh, that's a long haul, isn't it? Not surprised you feel a bit daunted by it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Emmeline, I was looking on course to be skiing approx 9months after surgery for ACL reconstruction, the only thing that stopped me was the doctor telling me I shouldn't ski will pregnant which I found out I was 6 months after surgery.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Emmeline, You are thinking exactly the same as me re a holiday! I am definitlely going on my hols in July (but that is a needs must really and will be quite difficult with all the stairs) and September (a little tour around central Spain) but I would really like a cruise for maximum chilling. I can recommend a Nile cruise - did it for my honeymoon.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Aruba has been mentioned too...
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ghastly, ghastly, place. Don't bother. When i was there (working) it was full of old men with attractive young women and had the naffest "wedding arch" you ever saw, in the airport, made of hardboard entwined with plastic roses. So you could get married without even going through immigration. Your other options sound infinitely preferable.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pam w, My friend went on an all inclusive to Aruba, very luxurious but absolutely nothing to do really (although she was rather limited in what she could do having recently had surgery to fuse her back). She wouldn't go back.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Oops, I didn’t realise anyone had posted on this thread since my last entry – my webmail junked the emails from Snowheads saying I had a reply to my topic! I only noticed because I was looking through my junk for something else – sorry about that. And sorry for keep resurrecting this thread
ironsidexx - where are you going in July? Steps sound daunting but it’s still a way off, maybe you’ll be fine with them by then, and if not at the start of the holiday – you will be at the end Central Spain sounds nice, I’m sure the weather will be nice in September, not too hot, but warmer than here. Mind you – I went to Barcelona at Easter a few years ago, and it peed it down most of the time
Would absolutely love to do a Nile cruise, but there’s not much coming up for October this year sadly – especially as we want to do around 10 days, so combining a cruise and a hotel stay in somewhere like Luxor. We can’t stretch to 14 days due to work commitments, but a week is not enough! I know – picky! We’ve also looked at Sharm ES, as I love snorkelling, but it’s a longish flight.
I think Egypt is going to be somewhere to think about for the future, as are things like safaris in Africa, and visits to Ecuador & the Galapagos islands (as we’ve been looking at those) as there’s long flights (some indirect) and a lot of planning involved. The less planning the better for us at the moment, as we’re not sure when I’m going to have this flipping operation to straighten my leg.
Thanks to you (and pam w) for the Aruba comments – it doesn’t sound like there would be enough to do there really. I know I’m meant to be chilling and recuperating and all that, but I need to have options!
We were thinking that I’d probably be having my op in June, so we thought October would be ‘safe’ – i.e. after the 3 months they said I might have to wait after the op before flying. We’d pretty much settled on going to Marrakech (less than 5 hours flight, a fair bit to do, decently priced, nice accommodation options, very good weather), but now things are back up in the air as we have now found out that my op isn’t vital to me being able to walk (potentially – depending on the level of ‘deformity’), so I’ll probably go on a waiting list, meaning I might not have the op til late July
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I only found this out because I went to see my GP, who’d had a letter from my consultant. The letter also had info in about the op – I found out it’s an HTO (Higher Tibial Osteotomy), which may involve re-breakage and a plate put in (my consultant skirted over that bit, haha!). Anyway, so I might well be walking again earlier than I’d hoped (albeit with a very wonky leg!), then having the op at a later stage. So at this point I’m not going to book any holidays until I’ve got a better idea of what’s going on – as I may still be able to do the July holiday to Hungary. Also – people have said that Marrakech may be too much, as there’s a lot of walking, and steps. So I’m still none the wiser – haha!
I’m hoping to sort out some new photos on FB this weekend, found my original X-rays from the medical centre in Italy, and actually you can see how well I’ve healed, looking at the new scans
Blimey – rattled on there a bit – apologies! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend, speak soon.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Emmeline, Wow, lots happening but with uncertainty as well. Probably best not to plan (as hard as it is not to have something to look forward to) but I'm sure you;'ll be able to pick something up nearer the time when you know it's doable. We combined the Nile cruise with hotel in Luxor, well worth it.
My July holiday is to my apartment in Flachau; I've got the builders coming in and I need to finalise details with them, as well as buying some furniture.
I'll keep an eye out on FB for new pics, my latest are on page 16 of the Snowhead Down thread in apres
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| kitenski wrote: |
| pic below of my femur.... |
Yeah, that's a good un! Did that require pinning? Friend required this as a result of a crash while race training this season. Must take strong force to snap a femur in such a dramatic fashion...? |
Sorry for the thread hijack but I found my X-Rays, taped them up to a sky light and snapped (pun intended) a shot of the 'after'
From memory this was all removed around Xmas time, and I was skiing the following May...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Emmeline, commissioning an expert report is the only way to know for sure if the bindings were faulty. If the expert finds a fault then you may have cause to sue.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sun 19-05-13 22:07; edited 1 time in total
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Do Not Feed The Troll
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ironsidexx - yep, lots of uncertainly but actually know quite a lot more after going to see a private consultant this week. He was really good, explained absolutely everything. As it happens he knew about what was going on anyway, as my consultant consulted him Anyway, we sat for a good hour or so going over everything, him gleefully showing me the MRI scans and explaining how I'd 'quite comprehensively trashed' my knee joint, haha! He was getting quite excited about things, and saying 'wow, you couldn't have done any worse to the bones', and using phrases such as 'exploded' and 'shattered', and 'pulled the knee away from the shaft' - I was actually starting to feel quite sick. I hadn't realised how badly I'd damaged the top of my tibia until I saw the scans, there was a bloody great crater on one side - no wonder I've been on anti-thrombosis injections since the fall, as I've basically had a big blood clot going on in there, ugh!
Anyway, he's happy that I'm getting the best care from my NHS guy, so I'm staying with him for now. He explained that the re-alignment op would only be necessary/possible once the bones had fully healed, and I was weight bearing. He said the knee breaks should be healed by the next time I go for my x-rays (June 5th), or shortly after, but that the breaks down the shaft will be considerably longer as there's not as much blood flow, so it could be a few more months yet. If it's not healed after say September, they'll look at doing bone grafts, chemical injections to stimulate bone growth, or this special ultrasound technique that they use on sports people, that can decrease the healing time by 50%. The important thing he's said now is, once I'm healed enough, to crack on with the physio. He couldn't see evidence of ligament damage so that's quite positive. He did say physio would be a long process, so I'm not hoping to be walking soon
So I guess I'm resigned to that now, but at least I know I won't be having an op within the next few months, so I'll probably be ok to fly in December, and could reschedule the Hungary holiday. It's still unknown though, so the private guy advised that when I go & see my NHS guy on 05/06, I ask him what the plan of attack regarding holidays would be - i.e. completely cancel everything and wait until we know more before booking anything else, or rebook Hungary to December and hope that nothing comes up in between, and that I'll be walking ok by then. I'll try that approach!
So yeah - will do as you suggest regarding October - book some time off work and just see what's about, and what I can manage. Marrakesh is probably unlikely now, due to the walking.
He did say that things will never be quite right again, i.e. strength, mobility, appearance etc. He said it was a good thing that I didn't have the plates put in, in the end, as in the future I may have to have the whole knee joint replaced, and it would make things very complicated if they had to do it on a leg that was plated up, as it can cause further breaks, down the screw line!
I'll have to check out your apartment, for when I'm back skiing again (hopefully I will be, but the prognosis aint all that brilliant now - trying not to think about that too much though!).
Still haven't sorted out my pics, or looked at your latest ones! Oh well, another weekend coming up soon (and a long one!) so will make sure I make time to do all that. Hope you're well too
kitenski - holy crispy carp on a cracker! Looks like a centipede has attached itself to your leg, or a long, skinny face-hugger. Flippin' heck - did you keep all the metal when it came out?
PJSki - interesting, I've pretty much veered away from thinking about pursuing things with the manufacturers now after what people have said. I am going to try and get the bindings tested though, I just haven't got round to it yet. If they are dodgy then I might just contact the manufacturers, just in case there's a faulty batch. Chances are I was just unlucky though
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Emmeline, that all sounds really intimidating, and such a long time to get it sorted. Lots of sympathy.
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pam w - thanks very much, appreciate it Yeah, I thought it would be straightforward - broken leg, 3/4 months to heal, walking within 6 months, skiing within 9..... not so! Argh!
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FAQ
