Had my meeting with my orthopedic specialist yesterday at Boston Medical Center. The specialist I regularly see, invited his partner Dr. T (a nationally renowned ortho surgeon) to give a second opinion, and they both agreed to hold off on surgery. There are two factors that make them think that surgery is not necessary/helpful right now:
1) The bone is progressing toward healing.
2) The bone is not changing position–it has remained at the same angle.
That angle is 12-15 degrees off, making the injured leg 1.5 centimeter (3/5 of an inch) shorter. The question is: is the deformity going to prevent me from a high level of activity? Dr. T said that it won’t. I should be able to lead an active life, with the help of a heel lift that I will put in my shoe. There is a risk that I could develop arthritis in that hip in thirty years, but they would deal with that if/when it happens.
So surgery is off at this point, they expect it will continue healing, but recognize the possibility that the screws could snap or the position could shift. I am finally “weight bearing as tolerated” which means that I should walk on it as much as possible unless I feel discomfort or pain.
If something were to happen, the surgery would officially be called a “valgus intertrochanteric osteotomy,” and they would make a triangle incision and insert something to correct the angle which is currently misaligned.
If nothing goes wrong I could be 100% in around 4 months. Finally, some kind of light at the end of a very long tunnel.
I return to the doctor on September 26.
