Our 1st Real Doctors Appt After Surgery

We had an appointment last week but our Doctor was out of town so we saw a substitute who doesn't specialize in External Fixators so we knew to hold our questions until this week.

First Mary had her 1st of many X-rays with an external fixator on:

She had two views taken but unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of the second view. You can buy a disc at the end with  all of the X-rays taken during this process. We will because it will be neat to have.

Then we met with the doctor and got our questions answered:

• How do the pin sites look? Some are not so pretty in our opinion. He explained they are fine and the two on her thigh look the way they do because those are the 2 that go through muscle. She is doing a good job using the muscles so there is a "path" being created. The one wire on the top of her lower leg that she doesn't like is the one he explained went in first so that's why the skin is "dented" in around it. He explained infections will be red round halo like circles further from the actual pin site. He wants us to come in when we suspect one so they can verify vs. having an antibiotic on hand to fill when we suspect an infection. Once we know what a true infection looks like we will have a prescription for an antibiotic we can just get filled.
• Is there any concern to her retaining fluid in her lower leg? He stated no, some people just do.
• Do we still need to elevate? He said its not necessary anymore.
• We understand there will be discharge but is pure blood OK? He said yes.
• Does he recommend cleaning the pin sites everyday with peroxide? He says yes. (FYI: Some doctors prescribe just soap or water and some prescribe saline.)
• Do we need to turn the struts at a similar time everyday? He said no.
• Is it OK to break up the different struts at different parts of the day? He said yes.
• What do we do if the struts slide back to a lower number? He said it happens and its OK, just catch it up at the next turning.
• We confirmed just because we have turned the struts "x" many millimeters doesn't mean that the bone has grown. X-rays are the only way to verify the bone growth.
• We explained Mary has taken Tylenol with Codeine only a couple of times since we were discharged. If she has taken meds it has been regular Tylenol and lately she really isn't taking any meds for pain. We asked if that is the new normal or will there be times the pain comes back? He explained we should expect the pain to return at different times in the future.
• Mary tends to get chills without a fever now. He didn't have an explanation. We assume it's just from physical exertion.
• What does he want achieved in Physical Therapy? He is looking for range of motion in the knee and to make sure she is using her walker which she is.
• Can we make a strap for her toes? Yes.
• Should we be concerned about being in the pool too long and getting "pruney" opening up the pin sites? He said no.
• Can we use lotion on the fixator leg if we avoid the pin sites? He said yes but didn't recommend sunscreen.
• What is our schedule of visits? He will see us next week but then will probably skip 2 weeks. We will never go 3 weeks without seeing him.
• How frequent will she get X-Rays? He said probably every other visit (1-2 per month.)

Dr. Scott said Mary is doing great because at this point most patients are still getting used to having the fixator and have anxiety about moving with it etc.