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Who Likes Titanium?

Stephen

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Location
Never Far From Nowhere
Spork said:
How has work handled you being out? You doing remote or leave of absence/short term disability?
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I was out for six and a half weeks in all. I got on FMLA right away and at the U that means that you start using your leave time as soon as the paperwork is approved. Sort term disability doesn't kick in until after you've exhausted your leave time (sick and vacation). Fortunately, I had a lot of sick time saved up, so I only ended up using a couple weeks of vacation there at the end.

While I was on FMLA, my boss was very strict about me not doing any work, which is how its supposed to be. She was insistent that I focus on getting better and not worry about work; particularly when I landed in the hospital. I still fielded a lot of e-mails and phone calls at the beginning, but after a few weeks I think word got around and that tapered off. I've been back full time since last Tuesday. I can't do everything I used to, I mostly just sit at my desk. No more covering games (which is OK, because its only softball and baseball right now. *yawn*). But, its good to be back in the office, seeing people and getting back to a routine.
 
Kevin B.

Kevin B.

Big hippy
Moderator
Location
Vehicular limbo
They're probably under prescribing because of the opioid scare. If she's still in pain and doesn't have a history of abuse you guys should lean on her doc to get a stronger dose.
 
Stephen

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Location
Never Far From Nowhere
Yikes, that looks horrible! Hopefully it heals up OK. What sort of pain killers did they give her? The most effective one I got was Norco/Lortab. Fortunately i haven't had to take one since I was in the hospital, but once that kicked in my pain was pretty well gone.
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
Good grief Shane! I've only ever broken one bone, and it was the end of my ring finger last May. It's still halfway numb. Aleve was all I got for it, but it went well with tequila.

Obviously mine hurt a lot less than Amy's, but anything you can do to get the swelling down and not bump that hand is the best thing you can do.
 
Stephen

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Location
Never Far From Nowhere
Had a post-hospital follow up visit with my GP today and there has been no improvement since I was discharged. Not the worst news I could get, but not the best. When I was discharged there was a little bit of fluid left in my chest cavity that was hopefully just going to be re-absorbed; it hasn't. So now I get to go back up to the pulmonary clinic at the hospital and they'll do whats called a Thoracentesis, or sticking a big needle in there to see what the fluids like. I've had that done twice before when they put the chest tubes in, so I'm not really looking forward to that to say the least. My hope is that is all they do and I'm not landing back in the hospital with another tube sticking out my side. But hey, at least its not worse!
 
Stephen

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Location
Never Far From Nowhere
Alright, so my Friday was a whirlwind of medical visits. First I had an hour long breathing test where I had to do all sorts of breathing exercises on a machine. Not bad, just kind weird to be told when in inhale and exhale. Next I had another CT scan (number seven, I think I glow now). And then the appointment with the pulmonary doctors.

When the doctor came in she said, "So the reason you're here is because your GP said that you were doing much worse; have a lot of pain..." I stopped her there and corrected by saying that no, the reason I'm here is because the GP compared the X-Ray's from my discharge and the 24th and saw no change. On the whole I feel great, 500% better than I did when I was discharged and that the only pain I have is soreness that I've assumed was due to the damage to the lung healing.

Her response was, "Oh, well yeah! If you feel good, then all your scans look great! We see vast improvement over your discharge imaging." She then pulled up the CT scan's from the day of my discharge and that day and you could see the fluid has dissipated quite a bit. She confirmed that the pain's I've been having (which has really been minor) was exactly what I suspected they were. And then she explained that I'll always have scarring on my lungs that will look odd on future X-Ray's.

So basically, my GP misinterpreted what he saw. To be fair, he's not a pulmonologist, and for all I know my chest X-Ray may be the worst one he's ever seen. And I'd rather have a GP that's concerned than one that just dismisses. But F***! Wednesday to Friday at noon I was fully expecting that I'd be back in the hospital. So that was a huge relief to hear that I'm recovering as expected.

Finally, I had my PT appointment at 4pm; where again they said that my leg is looking good. Still can't drive though... :(
 
Stephen

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Location
Never Far From Nowhere
bryson said:
Don't fool yourself Stephen... You've never been able to drive.View attachment 119769
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You never have learned how to live your life a quarter mile at a time, have you Bryson? :cody:

Glad to hear you doing better though.:) But hurry up already! I'd rather hear about it while sitting next to a campfire than reading it online...
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Tell me about it...
 
Stephen

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Location
Never Far From Nowhere
Last week I spoke with my surgeon and she said I'm good to start working up to 100% weight bearing and I can stop wearing my boot so long as I'm comfortable. So on Friday at my PT appointment I was given instructions on how to do all that. We did some tests to see what 100% weight feels like, and it really didn't feel that bad. Surprisingly the most uncomfortable part was not were the break was (as I'd assume) but rather the top of my foot, my Achilles tendon, and my heel. Which I guess makes sense because none of those muscles have really been used for the last 11 weeks.

I was also instructed to start only using one crutch, which is nice because now I have a hand free! But it's been interesting to try to get my gait right. Since my ankle still doesn't move quite right, I've been having to think pretty hard about how to put my foot down so that I don't just put all my weight on my heel. Its interesting because you just never think about how you walk. I'm sure it'll get easier as I do it more and as my ankle loosens up.

I'm told that once I'm 100% weight bearing without pain, then I can drive again. I'm sure I could drive now, but I can only imaging how an emergency braking scenario would feel! Ouch! I'm hoping that with how things are going, I'll be back behind the wheel by the end of the month! Though I've been advised that competitive driving (such as autocross and track days) aren't advisable for awhile longer.
 
Stephen

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Location
Never Far From Nowhere
Mobility has GREATLY increased since my PT appointment on this past Monday. She worked the crap out of my ankle and really loosed it up, I actually have side to side motion again! Yesterday, I figured I'd give driving a try. So Heather and I headed over to a wide open parking lot and I gave it a try. No issues at all. No pain when I slammed on the breaks, no issues moving from the gas to the brake, no issues shifting. So I'm good to go! The only thing I still wonder about fatigue from holding my foot in position for an extended period. Fortunately I only live 10 minutes from work, so I'll start with that and try longer drives to see how it feels.
But man, after three months of no driving; I cannot express what a relief it is to be able to get back behind the wheel!
 
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