Sunday, July 22, 2007
OF MEDICAL AND PHOTOGRAPHIC.....
Boy am I glad to have made it to this point in the week in one piece.
The last week has been rather taxing physically, but at the same time I've moved forward in my recovery.
Wednesday was particularly harsh, I started work at 8 and didn't finish until after 7 due to not one, but multiple spanners being thrown into the works that day. ( my current return to work plan is 6 hours a day, 3 days a week, which will change to 3 full time days as of next week ) )
We were down 3 technicians , 1 out of 2 service advisors ( not including the new one who had only started on Monday and hadn't quite got a grasp on how the place operates ), then after the spare parts bloke left for the afternoon on pre arranged leave, the remaining advisor took over his role, leaving me on the front desk with the noob and a shit load of angry customers.
I wasn't obliged to stay there that long, but couldn't let myself leave the place in a state of chaos, especially with a new service advisor having to go through a baptism of fire.
By the time I got out I felt like it was sunrise after a night of serious drug ingestion of every kind, or a round in the ring with Cassius Clay, both having the same affect.
The visit to the ortho surgeon on Thursday ended with some pretty good results really.
Of the 7 plates reinforcing my bones, 5 will be coming out.
The plate in the pelvis was inserted by a different bloke, so that's staying, and the the plate on the right ulna will also be staying.
The ulna ( part of the forearm ) has not healed, as I had suspected.
There is a clear gap which will be rectified by applying bone graft ( using the bone drilled out to remove the rods in the femurs ) and reattaching the plate.
The avascular necrosis of the femoral head ( the dying of the ball part of the hip joint ) appears to have been arrested, with no collapse and good cloudy look to it indicating the bone graft took well.
The acetabulum ( the socket part of the hip joint ) is looking good too, with the bone graft also having taken well there.
Now it's a case of having a meeting with the main plastic surgeon to discuss what, if anything can be done with my leg.
Can the muscle graft be replaced to its rightful place of residence and can the scar be reduced somewhat?
For those not familiar with my degloved leg, there's an entry here, the square bit at the top is actually my calf muscle that's been relocated to cover the metalwork to make it possible for the skin graft to be applied.
After that it's back to the chopping board, unfortunately not for the last time.
It looks as I'll need one more operation after that to remove the plate on the ulna when that comes right.
One crucial difference with this upcoming surgery under general anaesthetic is there will hopefully be photographic evidence for all to enjoy and ponder over.
I spoke to the surgeon about it and he said was more than happy to have a photographer working in the theatre and suggested I contact the clinical photography department at the hospital
I haven't taken much in the way of photos this week, probably due to having so much on and being so knackered, but I did go to an exhibition of celebrity potraits by Karin Catt.
It was an interesting experience as I found myself looking at these portraits from a photographic point of view and trying to work out techniques and tricks that were used to make the shots into the pieces of art that they are.
As the week wore on I just got became more and more frazzled and had to revert to nanna naps on two occasions.
Damn it!!
I thought I was back on the nanna nap wagon, but it appears that's not the case.
.
The last week has been rather taxing physically, but at the same time I've moved forward in my recovery.
Wednesday was particularly harsh, I started work at 8 and didn't finish until after 7 due to not one, but multiple spanners being thrown into the works that day. ( my current return to work plan is 6 hours a day, 3 days a week, which will change to 3 full time days as of next week ) )
We were down 3 technicians , 1 out of 2 service advisors ( not including the new one who had only started on Monday and hadn't quite got a grasp on how the place operates ), then after the spare parts bloke left for the afternoon on pre arranged leave, the remaining advisor took over his role, leaving me on the front desk with the noob and a shit load of angry customers.
I wasn't obliged to stay there that long, but couldn't let myself leave the place in a state of chaos, especially with a new service advisor having to go through a baptism of fire.
By the time I got out I felt like it was sunrise after a night of serious drug ingestion of every kind, or a round in the ring with Cassius Clay, both having the same affect.
The visit to the ortho surgeon on Thursday ended with some pretty good results really.
Of the 7 plates reinforcing my bones, 5 will be coming out.
The plate in the pelvis was inserted by a different bloke, so that's staying, and the the plate on the right ulna will also be staying.
The ulna ( part of the forearm ) has not healed, as I had suspected.
There is a clear gap which will be rectified by applying bone graft ( using the bone drilled out to remove the rods in the femurs ) and reattaching the plate.
The avascular necrosis of the femoral head ( the dying of the ball part of the hip joint ) appears to have been arrested, with no collapse and good cloudy look to it indicating the bone graft took well.
The acetabulum ( the socket part of the hip joint ) is looking good too, with the bone graft also having taken well there.
Now it's a case of having a meeting with the main plastic surgeon to discuss what, if anything can be done with my leg.
Can the muscle graft be replaced to its rightful place of residence and can the scar be reduced somewhat?
For those not familiar with my degloved leg, there's an entry here, the square bit at the top is actually my calf muscle that's been relocated to cover the metalwork to make it possible for the skin graft to be applied.
After that it's back to the chopping board, unfortunately not for the last time.
It looks as I'll need one more operation after that to remove the plate on the ulna when that comes right.
One crucial difference with this upcoming surgery under general anaesthetic is there will hopefully be photographic evidence for all to enjoy and ponder over.
I spoke to the surgeon about it and he said was more than happy to have a photographer working in the theatre and suggested I contact the clinical photography department at the hospital
I haven't taken much in the way of photos this week, probably due to having so much on and being so knackered, but I did go to an exhibition of celebrity potraits by Karin Catt.
It was an interesting experience as I found myself looking at these portraits from a photographic point of view and trying to work out techniques and tricks that were used to make the shots into the pieces of art that they are.
As the week wore on I just got became more and more frazzled and had to revert to nanna naps on two occasions.
Damn it!!
I thought I was back on the nanna nap wagon, but it appears that's not the case.
.
