It’s been quiet here for awhile. I’ve been working hard in my gym regaining strength, working out mobility issues, getting help from a few genius therapy modalities (here and here – I love you both!!), and generally enjoying a fairly chill phase of recovery and rebuilding. But, of course, there have been bumps, one of which has only one solution. Today’s news = I get to have another surgery! We are going for 14!
Going for 14
But bear with me here. Before you get upset, this is a GIFT! It turns out that the metal is really bothering me again. It shouldn’t be chemically, like the allergy issues I had with the last round of metal implants, but rather it is purely mechanical this time. We tested every single component of these implants, so we are all confident there is no allergy.
The screw tips are meant to protrude through the bones as you will see in the following images, so know that that is normal. It is to give the stability needed with this type of procedure and inherently thin bones. But what is happening is that since I am fairly lean and petite, those same tips are poking into my adductor muscles. It feels like steak knives stabbing me as I move about. Even rolling over in bed is unpleasant.
Also, I’m beginning to feel restrictive scar tissue forming around the metal plate as well as general, pervasive yuck in the entire region. This is all due to the presence of the metal.
So, I went to see Dr. Stoneback a couple of weeks ago and he agreed to take it all out! I was elated to get that response because he doesn’t normally remove this type of hardware unless there is very clearly an issue. This is more painful than my pre-op bad bones situation, unreasonable, and therefore needs to be removed.
We did CT scans to check healing so we can time everything. Timing is crucial here. We want to remove it all asap since it is so uncomfortable, but also be sure the bones are ready. So…
WHEN??
He called this morning after reviewing the scans and says that the top portion looks good, as he would it expect to look at this point, 6.5 months out.
The more inferior/posterior portion just didn’t take, as we kind of expected since that bone is so sclerotic and unhealthy. Nothing really grew in this space, but ultimately it will be strong enough with just the top portion being solid.
Based on this, he would love to get another 2-3 months of healing before we remove it since it is possible that there is a symbiotic relationship right now between the bone and metal, creating the structural integrity together. It would be terrible to remove the metal too soon leaving the bone not quite stable enough.
I can do that.
It takes a few months to get things scheduled since we have to also include Dr. Higuchi, a urologist, so we are beginning the scheduling process right now. So, it looks like Sept/Oct sometime!
This is going to be my favorite and best surgery of them all. It will mean that my pelvis is finally healed (as best as it ever will be) and that I will be completely metal free. My body will be mine again, no implants, no artificial parts, all original, purely me. Going for 14 and so happy about it!
Check This Out
It was fun to get the 3D imaging of my pelvis and finally get to see the bone harvest site on the left iliac crest. Check out my weird bone hole!
Meanwhile…
…I’m continuing to progress my overall strength as comfortably as possible. I’m continuing to enjoy an awesome summer with my family, camping, momming, beekeeping, doing photography, whatever feels good.
The image at the top of this post is a recent image of mine of a flower David planted that is a favorite of local pollinators. He worked very hard this Spring to set up a wide assortment of pollinator gardens all over our property to help support not only the bee colonies in our apiary, but also native solitary pollinators. It is beautiful and the bees of every variety love it all! I decided to put that at the top today to break up the pattern of so many bone images and add in some of my personal passions. It is also reminiscent of a sunrise, which this next surgery feels like to me. David pointed out that this image is prickly, which is what I feel, so that matches, too.
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