Re: Healing after fusion surgery

[Guest guest]

I have had the same ankle fused three times in a little over four

years. The first fusion healed less than 10% and this was only

found out after six months when the dr. tried to put me in a shoe

and the ankle swelled the size of a grapefruit and ran a fever. He

used bone marrow on this fusion and it just died and dried up like

chalk.

Then the next fusion (different dr.) seemed to do better. He put a rod up thru

my foot into the tibula (big bone) in my leg. This held for about a year and a

half until I fell (other leg AFO had a hairline crack which allowed foot to

drop) and I broke the rod

in three places. The last fusion was in April '06 and this time he

just put in two screws on outside of ankle. Dr. realized when he

got in that the ankle joint had not completely fused.

All three times bone marrow was used as a fusing agent. I am having alot of

swelling and pain with this last episode and the foot seems to be turning. The

ortho dr. seems to be in denial about this and says I just need better

orthotics, but he doesn't seem to know what to prescribe.

Over the holiday I went back to my old podiatrist for help. He couldn't believe

the way the foot had healed. He is going to work on trying to build special

inserts and put them in high top boots. If this doesn't work, he says I may

need more surgery to cut a pie out of the bone and rotate the foot back and then

have pins.

This has been a really hard last four years for me. I spend about

half of the time in a wheelchair because of the pain and swelling.

Sorry if I just scared the beejevus out of you, but this is my

experience with fusions.

[Guest guest]

,

This is my 8th surgery on my feet. I have had 2 fusions on the left and about

to have third tomorrow, and so far 1 fusion on the left. The other surgeries

were tendon transfers and removal of screws and lengthening on plantar fascia.

Jen