Bradley Patterson
Four weeks ago I had surgery on my right hip. To recap, I have a condition called avascular necrosis in my bones, primarily in my legs. This condition is directly related to steroids I took during cancer treatments. What this means is that certain areas of my body are not receiving adequate amounts of blood and oxygen, causing the bone to decay.
The surgical procedure I underwent is very complex and seldom performed.The surgeons made an incision about 15 inches in length on the lower part of my right leg. They then shaved off some bone from my fibula (a bone in the lower leg) and removed some arteries from that location. The second step of the procedure began with an equal length incision on my right hip. From there the doctors drilled about one and a quarter centimeters into my hipbone. After coring out the hip and removing the decayed portions of the bone, they packed it with the good bone that was removed from my fibula.The arteries were then reattached to my hip, which was the real trick of the surgery.
All of this was done in efforts to put off the inevitable hip replacement that I will have sometime later in my life. We are hoping that this will not occur for twenty years or so.
The procedure lasted eight and a half hours and was a success.
Now on to my recovery. The first couple of days after surgery, I was understandably in quite a bit of pain. I really can't comment too much about that as the morphine I was prescribed put me in another world.
Though the surgery went well, there was a problem. Apparently I was rolled over on my right hand during surgery, and when I got out, I had no feeling whatsoever.To this day I still cannot feel three fingertips in my right hand. I am wearing a brace which I hope will correct the problem.
Surprisingly, my hospital visit was short. I was out in a remarkable (at least to me) six days. In fact, I wanted to stay, which is not at all like me. But the doctors all concurred that I was very strong and could be released. This sounded good except for the fact that I cannot put any pressure or weight on the leg for THREE MONTHS! So much for a social life!
Next month, I will get into how I have been getting along at home since I was released from the hospital. I also plan to discuss the pain I am going through, both on a physical and mental scale. And I would like to explore how this pain affects me as well as my friends and loved ones. Stay tuned. To those who would like to communicate with me about anything, serious or otherwise, even to just chat, I would like to hear from you.
Bradley Patterson
48046 Ben Franklin
Shelby Twp., MI 48315
or e-mail at patter49@pilot.msu.edu
P.S. Everything you've heard about hospital food is true. Beware!