To be frustrated, but not post blame...?

[CallMeExhausted]

I misstepped and hurt my foot in the middle of September. After about a week, I realized I had really done it to myself and had it checked out. Sure enough, it is broken. I was sent to a fracture clinic and it was casted for 4 weeks.

After 4 weeks, the cast was removed and more X-rays were taken. There was no evidence of healing at all (the gap between the broken segments was wider) but the consultant said that it was unlikely it wouldn't heal and sent me on my way without cast, brace or support. He said he'd see me in 6 weeks for more X-rays.

My GP flipped, and sent me to another consultant for a second opinion, who recommended either a bone stimulator and walking boot (that I must pay out of pocket for, but cannot afford) or surgery to reattach the bone fragments. As the first option is out of my reach financially, I opted for the second.

My surgery date is 17/02/15... a full 5 months after the injury. The scheduler has assured me that she will out me at the top of the cancellation list. My DD is disabled and requires me to provide her daily cares. I know I will be out of commission after the surgery, as I cannot put any weight on the foot after it is done - at least 6 weeks.

My DH is livid, as he feels that the original surgeon should have operated when I injured it (the U.S. standard is immediate op) and a 5 month wait is unacceptable. I feel that he is entitled to be unhappy, but his anger is misplaced. The second consultant and his team are doing what they can within the theatre time they have allotted, and I don't begrudge them anything - we are just caught in the downfalls of a publicly funded health system. My case is hardly severe enough to bump someone else...

So, am I too easygoing, or is he blowing it out of proportion?

[SusanIvanova]

Your original consultant is a fool but i agree about your second one. YANBU

[Bulbasaur]

5 months for a broken foot?? I agree with DH.

This is unacceptable.

What you can do about it, I don't know.

But that's far to long to wait.

[NormaStits]

You can apportion blame to the first doctor who shouldn't have just sent you away.

However, why is your dh comparing it to the US standard? The US health care system is completely different, both in terms of finance and ethics. You could compare it to the health care system of an Amazonian tribe, they won't operate at all but what has that got to do with NHS provision?

[alwaysstaytoolong]

When I broke my collarbone I was x - rayed in the early hours and given an appointment with the orthopaedic clinic for several hours later. By then I was in shock after the accident and felt too shakey, weepy and dosed on codeine to attend so cancelled the appt.

When I went to my rearranged appt a few weeks later they told me I had needed surgery as a bad break but if it's not done within a few days of the injury they miss the right window of opportunity and they then have to wait a few months to see if it will heal itself.

Mine didn't so was offered surgery six months after the injury. Maybe it's a similar thing with your fracture?

[Hotbot]

Can't believe you would opt for surgery if a walking boot would work. Surely your gp would fund this. A boot must be cheaper than a g.a. And assoc. follow ups. Op fight for a boot.

[whois]

That's what I was thinking Hotbot surely an op will cost thousands and a boot a few hundred? If there is little difference in outcome it doesn't make sense to find the op and not the boot.

[LardyDa]

I don't know how much a bone stimulator and foot brace would to buy or rent but have you looked at how much it would cost you to be out of action for so long.

Also, might there be help from MOBILITY CHARITIES info here. (I've not looked)

[CallMeExhausted]

We live in Canada, so while visits to a doctor, hospital stays and operations are covered, things like bone stimulators, walking boots, casts, medications and physiotherapy are not. Like I said above, I would have to pay out of pocket for the stimulator and boot to the tune of $4500, and the consultant yesterday said that the device works best on fresh fractures (which mine is not).

Hotbot I was already casted for 4 weeks immediately following the fracture - it didn't work then, so the likelihood of a boot working now is even lower.

I am not out of action until February. I am currently (and have been since the accident) walking on the foot. I was given a walking cast initially, then when the first surgeon removed the cast, his instructions were "activity as tolerated, regular footwear as tolerated, I will see you again in 6 weeks for another X-ray".

I can't be out of action until February (and then for a couple of months afterwards) as I have a child with disabilities that requires care.

It was my GP who was most upset at this course of treatment, and sent me to the second surgeon.

I see the first surgeon again on December 8th - the GP recommended that I keep the appointment - and there are only 2 hospitals available in town.

I will keep my fingers crossed for a spot in the theatre off the cancellation list.

[Hotbot]

Call me.... Wasn't criticising was frustrated on your behalf,... Have wine and cake and a speedy recovery .....x

[CallMeExhausted]

Wine... stellar idea

Right now, DH seems more frustrated by the whole thing. I am just hoping I get in on a cancellation.

Perspective, I guess.

[DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease]

Are you in pain and/or incapacitated while you wait for the op? Does waiting change the likelihood of success?

[CallMeExhausted]

Pain, yes. And while I am definitely very limited in what I can do (walking on a broken bone is not high on my list of favourite activities) I think it would be overly dramatic to say I am incapacitated. My GP's primary concern is that I am running the risk of putting a bone fragment through my foot when I walk on it (the fracture is diagonal, so the fragments are long and thin). Consultant doesn't seem to have the same concern.

Waiting doesn't necessarily change the likelihood of success, but it does broaden the scope of surgery - because of the wait, it'll require debriding the bone fragments and a bone graft off my shin bone as the edges of the fracture are no longer "fresh".

I am still crossing my fingers for an opportunity to get in on a cancellation or that my surgeon gets an extra day in theatre between now and then...

[AcrossthePond55]

I'm in the US. I fractured my ankle in 3 places and had immediate surgery (within 10 hours). I fractured my wrist in 3 places 2 years later (yes, I'm dead clumsy when walking on ice) and had surgery 7 days later. My wrist surgeon told me that he liked to do surgery before healing sets in and bones have to be broken and re-set and that 7 days was well inside that window.

The doctor in the ER tried to set my wrist but was unable to get the fractures lined up to his satisfaction so referred me for surgery. He did mention about fractures that are set, thinking it'll be OK, only to find out when the cast is removed that the fracture didn't set right. I'm assuming that's what happened in your case. But I will agree with your husband that making you wait now for an additional 2 months for surgery isn't something I'd be happy with.

[CallMeExhausted]

No, that is not the case... This is a picture of the X-ray when the cast was removed 5 weeks after the initial injury. No healing at all, and now the bones are further apart.

There was a 2-3 mm gap between the bones when it was initially casted, now it is about 6 mm, and there is no sign of a "callus" forming (the first step in the healing process).