As I am (hopefully) nearing the conclusion of my leg lengthening journey, I'm realizing that I haven't talked much at all about certain aspects of this process, and if this blog is to help others who are about to have leg lengthening, I should talk about those aspects in a little more detail.
One aspect of the process that has been present the entire time is the bone ache. And it's occurring to me to talk about it now, because ever since my doctor transferred all of the weight from my fixator to my bone, I've been having a lot of it.
The bone ache first started when the lengthening started. And it was horrible. It was the pain that needed the drugs, that kept me from sleeping, that never went away. It's hard to describe pain, but if you're about to have leg lengthening, the kind of pain you can expect is a deep bone ache that you can't do anything about.
But I will say that towards the end of the lengthening, the pain did seem to get a little better, so perhaps the pain is front-loaded in that way. My doctor did allude to something like that, and since my lengthening was only 3.5 weeks long, I might have not experienced the decrease in pain level that a person with a much longer lengthening period would.
Once the lengthening was over, the bone ache mostly went away. I would still have it a few times a day, but the intensity of it significantly decreased, and the sensation was almost comforting in a strange way. It felt like the bone was growing.
And now that the weight is fully on my bone, I'm experiencing much more bone ache. It's not back up to the level of intensity of the lengthening, but it's much more constant than it was during the consolidation period. And it's freaking me out. I know that if I were to actually break my bone, it wouldn't just ache a little and feel sore. I just hope that more achy doesn't mean possible breaky.
My doctor's appointment is one week from today. I'm excited at the idea that this could be my last week with the fixator. If he does take it off next week, I'll still have the pins, but maybe I'll actually be able to get a pair of jeans on over them!
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2 comments:
Hi Allison,
I was super achy for several weeks and was told that was normal. That if I had broken anything, "YOU WOULD KNOW IT". I have also heard that the ache comes from the thin nerve covering over the bones. This is the pain I had before surgery, I was constantly trying to regrow my femur. Until the pain was gone, I hadn't realized how constant and awful it was. Good luck, you are almost there!
i think you should treat yourself to a new pair of jeans once fixator-free. i found the best jeans at this little shoppe called 'built by wendy' and i'm dying to go back for more. i've been wearing mine every day since i got them. brooks had to sneak them out of the house to wash them for me. i know none of this post is about bone ache, but i'm trying to distract you from the pain with thoughts of shopping. yeah jeans!
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