Appointment with Brumback

Today I saw Dr. Brumback, the orthopaedic surgeon, for the first time in over two months. My x-rays looked good. No signs of infection still and no movement of any of the bones or hardware. I'm bearing quite a bit of weight now, so my fear has been to have a repeat of last summer - things shifting and collapsing as I put more weight on my right leg. That isn't happening this time and he used the words "the bone is healed" so that obviously is a good thing.

He was also pretty impressed with the progress that I've made at therapy and gave me a new slip to take to them so that we can continue to work towards getting me off of the cane and get me walking without any assistance.

What I've found out at therapy, and it was reinforced by what we saw in the x-rays today, is that my use of the cane has far less to do with the bone and knee joint now and much more to do with the atrophy that occurred to my muscles over the last year. Amanda (my physical therapist) has really zeroed in on specific muscle groups that I need to rebuild and strengthen in order to walk with out my cane. Basically the muscles on the right side from my lower back down to and including my thigh are not strong enough to keep me lined up when my left leg is off the ground. So my hips get torqued and twisted which will cause problems down the road if I don't fix that. I'm already noticing muscle pain and strain on my left side, especially in my lower back.

I'm still in a bit of limbo as it pertains to the workman's compensation flow chart. Sandy, my nurse case worker, talked to the church about my duties as facilities manager and will present those details along with Dr. Brumback's report from today's visit to the insurance company's adjuster to find out whether I move to the vocational phase or not. Apparently some companies will not move you to the vocational step if you are still in the medical rehabilitation phase. In cases like mine, where it is pretty apparent that returning to the same work is not realistic, but where there is still a need for physical therapy and rehabilitation for life in general, some companies will allow some overlap of the two phases. We don't yet know whether that is what they will decide or not. Dr. Brumback has given me three more months to work on things and I will see him again in June.

As I mentioned above, Amanda is really focusing on specific areas where I need improvement and she has been increasing weights and adding new exercises almost every time I go to therapy. My appointments now take over 2 hours. She's got me sidestepping over cones with 6 pound ankle weights on, using nautilus equipment, scooting myself up and down the hallway on a stool with wheels using only my injured leg, and even using the StairMaster.

Occasionally I get frustrated with my new limitations and I loose site of just how far I've come. It really is all about perspective. This clip of one of my favorite comedians, Louis C. K., on Conan illustrates just how quickly we forget the way things used to be and how silly we can be about things that aren't going how we want them to.



So with regards to my leg - Everything is amazing, and I'm extremely happy!