Broken Bones and Koi

March 24, 2002

Peg and Jim:

Sorry to hear about the fall and resulting fracture. Let me share some

second hand experience with you re unusual fractures. A friend of my broke

his ankle playing soft ball on a weekend and went to the ER. The fracture

was very unusual in that it was hard to get good Xray views of it. As a

result, the fracture was unknowingly set improperly in some subtle way. The

result was improper healing and loss of functionality. Long term, it caused

much aggravation when the underlying problem was discovered later by the

appropriate specialist. Ultimately, a 100% fix was not possible with the

result of some permanent impairment for a young man.

I also had a similar experience myself in an ER on a weekend with a

ruptured quad tendon. The ER folks put a temporary splint on it and said

it was not serious. Later, my orthopedic doc had to operate. Later, he

found the ER doc and reamed his you know what out. Fortunately, I did not

lose any long term functionality as the result of quick action. Is Peg one

of our " pushy broads? "

As President Reagan used to say, " trust but verify " as best you can the

work of all involved. And, hold out for the best specialist you can find

to review the case.

PS Feeding the Koi does sound relaxing - keep us posted on their growth.

The good luck should be timely for the fracture repair.

Message: 13

Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 09:23:56 +1000 (GST)

Subject: Broken Bones and Koi

Peg fell down yesterday while taking a bath with her caregiver. She broke a

bone next to her left wrist. We went to the emergency room and they put on a

cast. We see the bone specialist on Monday. I'm afraid it's broken in a

place where it will not be easy to heal.

We've only had time to read a few of the digests over the last few weeks so

we may not be up on other's activities. We hope that everyone is well. We

have a new " toy. " We bought a 70 gallon stock tank made by Rubbermaid and

placed it in the front of the house. It's filled with water and has about

four kinds of floating plants. We keep four young koi in the water, about

five inches long now. Koi are multi colored like goldfish only they are

shaped like carp and can get ten to twelve inches long. Keeping a " koi pot "

in front of an Asian home is a sign of good luck. Peg and I go out and feed

the fish a couple of times a day. It's relaxing.

Peg and Jim from Guam

Sennewald Charlottesville, Virginia

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