Update on Broken Bones

My son had surgery yesterday and it went well. It took hours, though - significantly longer than anyone thought it would. But at the end, the surgeon was pleased with it and our son's recovery will consist of one week with an immobilizer brace to prevent him from bending his knee ... and a lot of ice. My wife bought a special knee cuff that connects to a motor-driven pressurized water cooler. This cuff gets ice water pumped through it to routinely cool the knee to prevent painful swelling. Much more comfortable for the boy and easier to remember to keep applying the ice because the motor does it for us. This fun little toy wasn't covered by insurance, but thankfully we've been saving money for medical expenses for a few years using a Health Savings Account, so we felt free to buy the luxury item believing it would make our son more comfortable. It seems to be working.

He'll go back to the doctor in a week where he'll get a fun new cast for about three more weeks. If things are going well, I think we'll be just about done and he'll be able to get back to a semi-normal life. I'm not really sure what a normal life is; hence the qualifier. It wasn't a complicated procedure and the surgery was orthoscopic, so there is less risk of infection and other complications and should make for an easier recovery. I'm really thankful for modern medicine; however, I'm sure our medical costs are going to be out of this world in the first month of the new year. Medical expertise is very expensive and there was a lot of it brought to bear on my son. With the materials and medicines used, I'm guessing we've passed our deductible already.

Then there's my ankle. I went to the doctor today and he gave me a choice. There is a gap in my bone where it was fractured, which means it will take longer to heal if we don't do surgery. That may mean I end up in a cast for closer to 8 weeks instead of 6. It could be even longer, I suppose. However, surgery has risks associated with it that a cast doesn't. With the ankle as it currently stands (sort of), he's confident it will heal well, but will take longer to fill in the gap with bone tissue. The crack is in my fibula and the X-ray shows a nice clear break near where the talus and the tibia join. I always learn a little more about my body each time I injure myself.

I opted for the longer route to health without the surgery. Hopefully it will heal in a reasonable amount of time, but even if it doesn't, I'm getting used to getting around on crutches; colleagues have been very solicitous and flexible, and I hope this gives me more excuses to spend time with my family. :) It looks like our family continues to be blessed and I'm grateful for bodies that heal themselves and for medical experts who help us out when the body just can't seem to repair itself alone. My son and I will be on crutches for several weeks more and I think we'll get a lot of good laughs out of watching peoples' reactions as we hobble around.