Quote from: overandover on May 10, 2022, 10:35:12 AMI got my surgery 1 week before you. How's the pain situation for you?
Hey Overandover! Pain is not that bad. I think it's just soreness and tightness due to the surgery. So far it's good and manageable.
How are things with you? Were you there last Friday for your appointment?
Day 9: First distraction. Usual routine and still on the hospital bed. Doctors team Dr Rejul, Dr Mehul and Dr Anurag arrived with a technician from cure surgical (the Indian counterpart of Nuvasive). Dr Rejul asked the technician to double-check the previously set programme on ERC. So I was prescribed to lengthen 0.3mm three times daily, making it 0.9mm per segment. I asked Dr Rejul if I can have 1mm daily making it easy for the daily count. The answer was Dr Mangal Parihar prefers 0.9mm (0.3mm TDS).
I already had a 1mm distraction done during the surgery. This means a total of 1.9 mm on each leg today. Excellent start to the new journey. I was having some pain in the legs and neck but it wasn't that bad. I think it was more like soreness in the legs than actual pain from broken legs as it would be intense.
Dr Parihar and Dr Ahuja came to see me in the evening. He asked me to carry on exercising and follow the same method of distraction (0.3mm tds) & visit the hospital in a week time for the x-ray and follow up.
Day 10: The nurse came in to change the bedsheet. I said I am being discharged today. I started thanking the nurses and Mousis for their incredible support. I did my first distraction at 9.00 am. Dr Rejul popped in to say he will prepare a discharge summary and then I can go home. I was like if I'm allowed to go back to London.
I missed the physio session as I left the hospital early. I wanted to thank the physio team as well. Maybe next time when I visit the clinic.
Day 11: Trying to settle down here at the family house. Also, we collected a wheelchair (self-propelled), Walker with wheels, and an adjustable commode chair for home use.
I only did two distractions on day 11 coz of a long journey. I had a weird kind of pain at the night making it hard for me to sleep. I took paracetamol to help me sleep. Again I took Nimesulide as the pain was still there.
Quote from: overandover on May 10, 2022, 10:35:56 AMMousi is not a name it's a designation. It's like saying good to know the nurse is still there.
Learn something new every day. Hah, well I had a particular nurse in mind 😅
Day 12 - Day 17
On day 12, I woke up around 8:30 am and had my morning distraction done at 9:00. Did my first set of stretching exercises and then had my breakfast.
Diet: I was trying to sort out my diet plan for the next few weeks as I was not planning to have any protein supplements for the next few weeks. Obviously, I'll surely have protein-rich food. For this week, I was having a light breakfast including fruits, slices of bread (fibre) & cup of coffee with full milk (Calcium), lunch was a bit heavy mostly Indian, with things like varieties of vegetables, beans yoghurts, lentils, paneer & rice. Dinner: Mostly salads. I follow a vegetarian diet so I had to balance out what I eat. This is to make sure I get enough vitamins, minerals and protein. I was having mixed nuts and seeds (roasted) in between as well as a glass of milk at night.
Excercise: following the same exercise as I was doing at the hospital, Quadriceps strengthening, Knee ROM (0-90) exercises, Hip abduction & extension, stretching of hip flexors, ankle & toe ROM exercises, active SLR, prone lying and upper limb strengthening exercises. I aimed to do four sets of all these exercises on daily basis. I think doing 6-8 sets a day will give you muscle soreness and doing just one set won't help you in the recovery. I did already ask my physio and she said to try doing 3-4 sets a day at regular intervals.
ERC & Distraction: Same rate as advised except missed once (less 0.3mm). Using ERC is easy but I can not locate the actual mark to place this ERC on my own. It's ERC 2 and not the latest ERC. It has a big middle bit that won't allow you to bend and look for the marking, Anyways, this does the job. Should provide ERC 3 tho.
Work: I work for the health sector, working from home doesn't apply to me. 'so yeah It's more like a vacation. I still try to go online and catch up with my colleagues and do backend work.
Pain: I would say the pain level is not as expected. I was actually expecting moderate pain as seen and read. Some of the diaries here did mention the level of pain and sleepless nights. I do get pain here and there, mostly muscle pain and headaches but it is manageable. I only take pain medicines as required, including paracetamol and Nimesulide. Also, Aspirin if you can consider Asprin as a pain killer.
I did/do not take any opioids (no oxy, no tramadol) except pain injections containing opioids while I was at the hospital.
I had my first follow up appointment with Dr Parihar on Friday 6th May.
Quote from: KiloKAHN on May 10, 2022, 01:03:04 PMLearn something new every day. Hah, well I had a particular nurse in mind 😅
Both Nurse and Mousi are there. You probably meant sister Mouli? Mousis are there to support you as a carer/helper.
Day 18: I had my first follow up appointment. I was supposed to have an appointment on Wednesday but I requested to be on Friday. Dr Rejul met me at the reception and he took me straight to the X-ray room. Took AP & lateral X- rays. I asked Dr if he can notice the distraction and he zoomed it just to show me. I was like yay ERC is working. I did morning distraction before this X-ray and the total distraction was 9.1 mm per segment. Just about 1cm.
After that, they checked surgical sutures. Dr said they are healing well and I can start taking a full shower. Then, Dr Anurag asked me to see him in his office, and he asked me about pain and recovery. He then made notes on his computer. He said the same thing as Dr Rejul. One more win. Straight away in my mind, slowly slowly winning the race. He asked me to wait to see Dr Parihar. I then went to see nurses and physio to greet them.
Dr Parihar called me in and said things look good. Dr Divya Ahuja was there too and asked me to raise my legs one by one. He also checked knee ROM. Advised me to carry on doing regular exercise and to contact them If I see any problems. Dr Ahuja said I still need to work on my right leg which I thought was doing pretty good. Dr Parihar said to look after my diet and exercise.
Well, all went well except for the Mumbai traffic. Not to mention, Indian summer and Mumbai traffic can go as bad as you can imagine.
I was told that I can take a regular x-ray every 2 weeks and send it to Dr Parihar. They will review it and give me feedback. I don't need to visit them unless there's a need for it like any complication. But yer I'll have to visit them once before I fly back to the UK.
I'll attach X-ray images. It is very early to say but do let me know if the X-ray looks good.
Quote from: fitness2022 on May 10, 2022, 01:06:59 PMBoth Nurse and Mousi are there. You probably meant sister Mouli? Mousis are there to support you as a carer/helper.
Oh yeah, Sister Molly was it (I had to go back and read my patient experience to double check). Can't believe its been 8 years already.
Great diary man! I would love to see some pics of the facility, etc if you managed to get any.
Is it really possible to fly to the UK soon? Do you have someone to go with you? I have no idea how you can manage the 12 hour journey without any weight bearing. If you are really going, please check with the doctors if you should take stronger blood thinners for the journey.
Quote from: KiloKAHN on May 10, 2022, 01:11:45 PMOh yeah, Sister Molly was it (I had to go back and read my patient experience to double check). Can't believe it's been 8 years already.
Wow, 8 years very long time. You're still helping everyone here. Amazing but true. I'll defi say Hi to Sister Molly from your end when I go there next. Once again, thank you for all you do for this forum.
Quote from: mumbai on May 10, 2022, 01:20:11 PMGreat diary man! I would love to see some pics of the facility, etc if you managed to get any.
Is it really possible to fly to the UK soon? Do you have someone to go with you? I have no idea how you can manage the 12-hour journey without any weight bearing. If you are really going, please check with the doctors if you should take stronger blood thinners for the journey.
Hi Mumbai! I didn't click any pics. I can say the facilities are good. I wouldn't say it's a world-class or modern hospital but they do deliver the best possible care.
No, I won't risk myself going back to the UK now. I'll fly back once I finish the lengthening phase. I then need to be seen by Dr Parihar before I return back.
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