So just a bit of a story for fun. Just shows how things can go wrong and a simple mistake can cause a bit of grief.
So as many of you know 31/2 Months ago I had a total knee replacement and as of 2 weeks ago I was able to run and jump. just the normal mucking around you may do at the beach and in no pain which was unreal after a year or so of quite bad pain.
And so here is the story.
2 Weeks ago on a Saturday evening after 8 Corona's (
) and generally having a good time I decided it would be a great idea to prune some of our palms using Daniel's (Son) Samurai Sword that he had purchased on line during a fad Naruto I think. So here I am running down the drive way jumping, slashing away better than Freddie Kruger.
Anyway the next day I had sore Calf Muscles which is fair enough after not using them for a while.
On Monday off to Melbourne for work but during the week I had a bit of swelling which is quite normal after excessive use and flying and so on the Sunday after I returned to Broome and after running into a Doctor friend thought it worth checking it out by going to ED. I'd made a deal with my self that if it wasn't busy then I would stay, if it was I would go.
So they had a quick look but with out any one there to do and Ultra Sound or get results of a blood test they decided to give me a treatment dose of Claxane 200mg that night and again the next morning.
At 9:30 the next morning I went and had the ultra-sound and to my relief there was no sigh on a clot which as you would know can be fatal if you do and it loosens then causing a pulmonary embolism.
So I was heading back to ED to check out so to speak and while I was waiting I started to feel first uncomfortable in the lower right leg and then becoming more and more sore and after an hour I was in so much pain. Not long after after that I was called through and the drama began to unfold.
So to cut to the chase on that staurday a few weeks ago I had torn the calf but it was so close to a vein that it would not take much to rupture. By giving me the blood thinner exactly that happened while I was in the ED causing my leg to swell and swell. The thing that can happen with that is a condition call Compartment Syndrome which if bad enough kills the cells in the area then requiring amputation.
So I'm now in the emergency department and they are filling me up with Morphine as the pain is bad by now. Then the surgen tirns up and I am out in a ward there they find a 17x5cm Hematoma basically from under my knee to my ankle. Now concerned that I was indeed suffering from compartment syndrome took action.
First while in the high dependency unit at 4pm they first drained 180ml of blood from the calf to relieve presure which felt great as that so swollen it would burst feeling was terrible.
The as the presure built up they agai decided to drain the Hematoma this time getting 60ml and once again relieing the presure and pain.
They then put me on blood thickeners and told that if the Hematoma continued to fill by the next morning I would need a fasciotomy which means slicing from ankle to knee down to the calf. The picks below then show that journey
This was during the surgery on Tuesday am
Thursday am. Waking from this was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I was begging to be put back under until the Fentianyl, Morphine and other stuff was pumped into me
Then to begin the process of bringing it back together they used what is called a shoelace stitch. This was preferable to me rather than a skin graft and in that respect I was lucky we have a very good surgeon in Broome
Then ever second day or so, three days in a few cases they would tighten this up until you can see it was closed on the last Pic.
I am now at home but back at work for mornings and have a splint to restrict my ankle movements for a week.
So there you go
