School of life

How my broken leg—and broken life—made me a better physician

Steven T. Fosmire, DO, tells how his lengthy recovery from a bike accident helped him understand how helpless patients can feel.

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This essay is adapted from an entry in Dr. Fosmire’s blog, DOctah Dad.

It’s funny how life-altering events often wrap themselves in days that begin like any other. On a beautiful September Saturday in Biddeford, Maine, I went out for a relaxing bike ride. Just two blocks from my apartment, I saw a large white object lurking in my peripheral vision. It was an SUV that was slowing to a stop, or so I thought. Crunch. In a split second, I was airborne. As I flew through the air, I thought, “I’ll wake up any second, this is only a dream.”

I hit the ground quite hard and was in a state of denial as I began to feel an intense burning sensation starting to ramp up in my left leg. My leg collapsed under its own weight as I placed it on top of my right leg. The sensation was brutal and gruesome.

This is the story of my broken leg, hospitalization and lengthy recovery. It happened in 2007 during my second year at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford. The experience provided me with a valuable window into the world of the patient and changed my outlook on medicine.

Specifically, I learned that emotional trauma often accompanies physical trauma, but that physicians usually aren’t trained to recognize and treat it in their patients. Also, I developed a greater understanding of the frustration and helplessness patients with limited mobility can feel.

Following the car-bike collision on that Saturday, I lay on the pavement in pain. The car’s driver, who I learned was drunk, pulled over and asked me if I was OK. Shortly after, the police and an ambulance showed up. I tried to breathe through the pain while the EMTs carefully wheeled me onto the rig. The pain was at such a level that my head was swimming, but morphine helped to alleviate it.

As I was wheeled into the trauma bay I remember seeing a blurry ocean of white and blue. I was bombarded with questions and probing hands as I felt the cold, hard sensation of trauma shears exposing my tattered naked body for all to see. IV lines were placed. Monitors attached. “What is your pain now?” medics asked me. “What is your name and date of birth?”

The effects of pain

Pain can turn an otherwise calm and collected person into a frightened, angry mess. In my case, I also passed out. When I came to, I was in my own trauma room where my nurse was waiting for me to wake up and urinate. I felt the pressure, but I just couldn’t go. She said the two words men fear the most: “Foley catheter.” Wait, no, please not that! But the nurse placed the catheter with the utmost degree of professionalism and empathy. I felt instantaneous relief.

I had officially become a human pincushion, or perhaps a mega-highway for IV fluids: They entered my hand and left via my catheter with a few stops along the way as my patient-controlled analgesia brought in numbing meds that made me oblivious to the whole ordeal.

The sensation of helplessness set in quickly. I couldn’t move my left leg at all without causing severe pain. I needed help to move around in bed. I had a clouded mind, 10/10 pain and complete exhaustion, and yet I was still expected to answer questions such as “How are you feeling?” from nurses and physicians. How the heck do you think I feel?

Eventually I was wheeled down to pre-op. The last thing I remember prior to surgery was the cold feel of the operating room and rubbery gas mask being placed over my face. Many hours later when I woke up, my wife and a few of our friends were at my bedside. I managed to mumble something nonsensical before drifting back into sleep.

I stayed in the hospital for a week, but it seemed like an eternity. My leg hurt, I couldn’t pee on my own, I had no appetite, I was bedridden and I was completely dependent upon everyone around me. And with my sheet-white complexion, I looked like the ghost of my former self. I later learned that I developed acute blood loss anemia, for which I was transfused two units of blood. I felt depressed and didn’t want people to see me this way.

When I was discharged, I had a bulky bionic-looking brace on my leg, crutches for getting around my house and a wheelchair for getting around town. I also had the knowledge that I couldn’t walk on my own for the foreseeable future. My hopes of returning to school were starting to fade. My then-pregnant wife, Senta, who is an occupational therapist, would become my personal care assistant. The line between home and work for her would be blurred for quite some time.

As I navigated my home and neighborhood, I developed a new understanding of how wonderful curb cutouts, automatic doors and elevators can be when one is reliant upon a wheelchair and the kindness of others to get places. Unfortunately, I also found that “kindness of others” was not as abundant as I had originally thought or expected from the community.

In my wheelchair, I was sometimes treated like a substandard citizen. Oblivious individuals nearly trampled over me while others ignored me or looked down upon me. Some businesses and parts of my school weren’t wheelchair accessible, so I had a hard time navigating my environment. My wife received looks of pity or horror from people around town as she helped wheel me around.

Emotional trauma

Independence, freedom and the ability to come and go as you please are very powerful. Losing that independence made me feel like a major hindrance upon my loved ones. I was angry with the drunk driver who did this to me. I hated my leg and myself. My life mirrored the damages my left leg sustained—it had become fractured too, and I was scared.

Emotional trauma is not easily diagnosed and is often overlooked. Not once did my surgeon, my nurses, my friends or family ask me how I felt mentally and emotionally. Everyone asked about my leg or about my physical pain. Senta asked on occasion because she could tell I was having a hard time emotionally. I couldn’t sleep, I was reliving the accident, and I was afraid to leave my house. Was I going through the stages of grieving?

I wish someone had asked me about my emotional trauma shortly after my accident. In addition to anger, I also had a lot of fear—of losing my Air Force scholarship, of not being able to pay my medical bills, of never again being able to walk or run. The best option, I realized, was to seek help for my emotional trauma on my own. I discovered that my university offered free counseling, and I didn’t hesitate to set up an appointment. It was one of the best decisions I made during the whole rehabilitation process.

I was homebound and out of medical school for the four months that I was unable to walk. Then I started intense physical therapy. After six challenging months, I could walk again on my own with minimal assistance from a cane. These days—six years after the accident—I am still healing after many counseling sessions, four surgeries and tons of physical therapy. But I no longer use an assistive device to get around. However, sometimes I miss my wheelchair because I could really get cruising in it!

I have discovered aspects of myself as a husband, a father, a son, and now a physician that I never would have learned had this not happened to me. I no longer hate the man who hit me. I forgave him long ago.

Revelations

As I reflect on my experiences from the opposite side of the white coat, I have a new appreciation for the saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I know how scary and otherworldly it is to lie helpless and in pain on a stretcher while people stare down at you, asking annoying questions ad nauseam when all you want are pain meds and sleep. And although it was temporary, I also know personally how it feels to be looked down on by society as an individual with a disability.

These insights translated into revelations when it came to patient care. I’ve learned that respect, eye contact, human touch and getting down to eye level are all of paramount importance. Patients also need to be included in discussions about their treatment options whenever possible. I am aware that pain can change a person both physically and emotionally. In providing comprehensive care to my patients, I try to address their physical and emotional trauma.

I know what it is like to learn to walk again, and how much of a struggle it is to reintegrate into society after a traumatic event leaves physical and emotional scars. My patients have benefited from my experiences. I’ve advocated for patients who were helpless or afraid to speak up, such as the gravely ill and those who felt ignored by the system and didn’t speak up for fear of being labeled a troublemaker. I’ve also helped patients take ownership of their own care, something I had to do on my own.

35 comments

  1. Chris Renaud

    Steve,

    Great Story, very nice insight into patients unseen/ unspoken hurts, which we as you and I know trouble almost all trauma patients we encounter and especially our wounded warriors.. Thanks for your words into your personal life.

    Chris

    Chris Renaud DO
    CPT MC US ARMY

  2. C Moon

    My PCP (MD) of thirty years just retired and I am seeing a DO for the first time. This is how I came across this researching OD medicine.

    Beautifully written!

    My horse tossed me into a gravel driveway and I so relate. Hopefully my new physician will be as understanding as you.

  3. OMS4

    Steve,

    That is a great article, thank you for sharing. I had a similar experience with a leg injury, extensive surgery and rehabilitation, it was complicated with compartment syndrome and moderate residual damage.Having been a patient with significant morbidity is actually one of the main reasons I went to medical school.

    I still look down at my scarred up leg and sometimes feel sorry for myself, but my ordeal has made me a better person, and will hopefully help make me a better physician in the future.

    I hope you continue to recover, good luck in your career!

  4. John M. Peterson, D.O.

    BRAVO Steve…Great article!!! I had my only bicycle accident after I attended UNECOM in the opening class and was already in private practice for several years.

    While I didn’t have any broken “bones”, I had a severe concussion and several chipped teeth as well as abrasions, etc. The driver of the large truck that hit me wasn’t drunk, but he was in a big hurry going over a very tight, twisty section of two lane road around a blind corner to get back home.

    When I arrived at my local hospital, they were going through a trauma drill…and I was left unattended for nearly an hour. To say the very least, I was not in any state of mind to complain about anything!

    When I got through the triage bit…no one ever asked me anything about my mental state either. I was very confused, very angry and very scared!

    It took me many months to recover and I was never fully able to resume biking on any public roads. Any time that I heard a large truck coming up behind me…I just froze!

    Besides all “those things that we do” for traumatic physical injuries, we always need to consider the mental status of the injured patient as well.

    Best wishes for your future career! I know that you’ll be a better Doc because of your unfortunate personal experience. John

  5. Ryan Smith, D.O.

    Steve,
    Fantastic story. As a psychiatrist who often does consultations in the medical hospital, I often hear from patients that non-mental health doctors rarely address mental health issues in their acutely ill patients. Very happy to hear UNE Counseling was able to guide you in a good direction. Keep up the great work; talk soon.

    Ryan

  6. Karen

    Thank you for sharing your story. As I write this I am in the hospital room of my niece who was hit head on by a distracted driver three days ago. She has extensive damage to her legs. Her left has already had a rod placed to repair a broken femur. Her right has a shattered kneecap and ankle and compound fracture of the lower leg. She has had surgery on the kneecap and awaits surgery for the ankle. She is 21, a dedicated nursing student and has dreams of becoming a nurse practitioner. She has her whole life ahead of her and we are all trying to come to terms with a potential of life long pain. I just thought I would try and find some uplifting stories and came across yours. I fear that there will be emotional scars from this accident, she was trapped in her vehicle for a half hour. She is fortunate to have lots of people gathered around her but I fear most feel as powerless as I do. Again, thank you for sharing. I will do my part to help her get attention for the emotional aspects of all of this, and share your story of healing with her.

  7. Steve Smith

    Steve, this is beautifully written. Your own trauma has deepened your capacity to care for others and to treat them with both competence and compassion. I’m proud of you for the man you’ve become. Wishing you and your family all the best!

  8. Erica

    i was in a terrible car accident and almost lost my life, my leg and my ability to move my lower body at all. I spent a month in the hospital, also had blood transfusions for anemia, my femur was completely shattered, fractured my sacrum and had a compound fracture in my tib and fib so I know exactly what u felt! I just started outpatient therapy 3 months later and have to depend on my parents for help at 29 years old! I have a long way to go before I can walk but I do know EXACTLY what u went through!

  9. Kimberly

    Thank you for this article… my accident was 4/12/15.. my femur was severely fractured and my knee was broken. My leg has about 18 inches of scars from the plates and screws as well as the road rash. I was a,passenger on a motorcycle when we went down… my emotional trauma has reached into every area of my life… i keep sinking lower.. i once had such zest for life and i feel as though i am in dark pit of morbid reflection… i have an appointment next week with a therapist. I need my life back. Thank you for your helpful article of hope

  10. Kate

    Thanks for the story. I had a simple fall off my front porch 11 weeks ago trying to avoid stepping on my toddler. I ended up having a nasty tibial plateau fracture that took 2 orthopedic. Surgeons to piece me back together. I had a horrible ED and inpatient experience. I was made to wait 4 hours in the ER without pain meds was yelled at by the radiology staff when they tried to manipulate my leg and I cried out I told them I was a nurse practioner and I knew there was a fracture but I was being told it was Probably just a sprain and deal with it basically. Anyway I se the other side. I always thought I was a compassionate health care provider. However when is go back to work. I will really keep on check my attitude and body language. If I ever treat anyone the way I was treated I will need to retire. It is very scarey bring dependent on strangers and depressing not to be able to care for yourself or family. I can gauantee I have become a better person. I have spend more time with my kids in the last 3 months after my Injury. I hope the next 3 months bring more progress and a return to work . I know what a 10 /10 pain feels like, I know what it feels like to be helpless, I know what it feels like to be stared at in public because of a wheelchair, I know what it is like to be called a drug seeker by nurses when in fact I have never taken narcotics until I had this fracture. I know now who my true friends are and who is not. Thanks for listening. This is a lot more than just a broken leg. It is a life changing event. Often it seems the unbroken don’t get it. I do now and my patients will benefit

    1. Danielle

      I’m a 40 year old female physical therapist who suffered an traumatic tibial plateau fracture with ORIF surgery. I was one month away from completing half Ironman triathlon prior to my injury and have did several Ironman races in the past . Now I’m non weight bearing for twelve weeks. I have two toddlers at home (2 and 1). I cant walk, can’t drive, can’t work, can’t take care of my kids. I went from superwomen to a girl reliant on husband to even get me In and out of shower. I feel so disabled and helpless most days. It takes me so long to complete one simple task. The one positive thing I can take away from my situation right now is that I know this ultimately will make me a more compassionate therapist. My approach to patient care with definitely change for the better. I’m Glad to come across this article and others stories to realize I’m not the only one going through something traumatic.

    2. Vicki Hogue

      I suffered a displaced tibial plateau fracture in a horseback riding accident almost a year ago. I went to hospital in ambulance and almost passed out from pain. The amulance crew was fantastic and fortunately the hospital did attend to me quickly. Just 9 months earlier I had broken my ankle on the same leg in a freak accident slipping on a rainy day. I was just starting to be able to hike and jog and ride my horse again from the ankle injury when the broken leg happened. My doctor has said my leg will never be the same and I will most likely need a knee replacement. I wear an offloading brace whenever I walk. While many strangers have been kind, I understand the feeling of being pitied and stared at because of the brace and that leg now being knockkneed. I worry about never walking normally again and find myself feeling depressed. The mental and emotional affects of injuries that leave people helpless and dependent are very real. I wish healing to everyone on this thread. Thank you for your article.

  11. Sang

    This article was written over two years ago, but I happened to came across only today while flipping through the internet searching for people with fracture experiences because I am right now going through a very frustrating period after a severe communited tabia and fibula fracture leaving me with rod, plates and lots of nails on my left leg. I totally agree going through the mental and emotional agony are as traumatic as the physical pain. I keep on asking myself how this has happen to someone outgoing like me, normally i am someone who hardly sits at home and now to have become disabled and stuck at home is making me more frustrated and this situation has also let me know people who actually cares for me. I am looking at another three months to gets some results, meantime all trying to be positive. By the way thanks Steve for sharing you great personal experience, I am someone staying thousands of miles away from wherever you are but your story has made me feel not alone and better. Thank you!

  12. Linda

    Thank you Steve. I’m still dealing with physical and more importantly the psychological after effects of femur fracture I fell 3 and 1/2 months ago. I have a titanium rod 2 screws at the knee and nail at the hip. I’m walking with a limp and back working almost full time I’m in my 60’s. I have a long road back to independence and not feeling worthless and vulnerable. I am seeing a therapist now to handle the anxiety and depression that comes with a life threatening injury. Every physician should be taught healing the body isn’t enough you must also help to the emotional scars. My sincere best wishes to you and your family for a life to be well lived.

  13. Dawn

    Thank you for sharing your experience. It helps to know that emotional trauma is a normal response..I fell 5 months ago and fractured my kneecap. I have just started walking with a cane. .A long recovery with no one around me who understands the emotional part of this recovery. I am thankful for each step of physical improvement but emotional recovery is harder to measure. Thanks for the insight that this experience and understanding may one day allow me to help others. May God Bless you and your family.

  14. Molly Moynahan

    Hi-I know this was written a few years ago and hope you are completely well. I fell down my mom’s stairs, so unimpressive, but managed to get a pilon fracture. We got splinted and then drove 12 hours from New Jersey to Illinois. The operation supposedly went very well, the pain management was terrible and I still feel traumatized by the unkindness of the night nurse who finally put me on a morphine pump after hours of my crying. What got to me most was the total lack of compassion. Anyway, in two weeks I hope to get the boot and start a journey towards health. Thank you again.

  15. Alex

    I just read this to my dad who is laying in bed 6 days after pilon fracture to both legs. Your story moved him immensely. The aspects of your emotional recovery as well as physical are profound. Thank you for your transparency in sharing he was blessed.

  16. Kathy

    Dear Steve, I am just reading your article, 6-1/2 months after a comminuted femur / hip fracture after a bike accident in Belize. Visiting an island without any emt / ambulance / hospital services, I laid on the pavement for nearly an hour after the accident, in the most pain of my life (far more than child-bearing) and was transported in the bed of a pick-up truck to the local airport where I was transported to the mainland for surgery; plate and 8 screws, two of which have loosened. There are alignment issues and my current ortho who doesn’t even ask to see me walk, let alone how my mental state is, simple shakes her head and says a total hip / femur replacement is the only solution, as if she’s suggesting I get a pedicure. My most recent x-ray reveals that the fracture is still not healed. PT has been ongoing for several months but I feel I have plateaued. I still use a cane for walking most of the time but am trying to walk more and more without the cane. All my life I have been an upbeat, active, high energy person but this experience has taken me to the lowest places of my life, mentally and physically. I hope and pray daily that full recovery will come and I will be able to walk again without pain, the limp and without the cane. I have been able to resume bike riding which gives me the greatest joy. Your article and the comments of others give me hope. I have never sought therapy before but am thinking that may be needed now. I would also like to find a support group with others who have had similar experiences.

  17. Maureen

    Glad I found this site. I am 72 years old, and a potter with a home studio. Four months ago, I lost consciousness and fell on the last of a flight of stairs sustaining a tibial plateau fracture.
    My recovery, first with PT/OT at home and now six weeks as an outpatient, has been agonizingly slow. Pain is the biggest problem. I can walk with a walker but fatigue after 200 feet and usually have significant pain for days. This pain limits what the PT can do. As a result, I have not progressed much at all. It is very helpful to learn from others on this site about what can be a lengthy recuperation period.
    I am so afraid of falling, I haven’t returned to my studio, which is an invitation to lose balance b/c of all kinds of equipment scattered about. I feel as if my life is on hold and that is stressful enough without constant pain. Pain is managed with Vicodin but I don’t want to depend on narcotics to get through the day. And yet, this is my life now. It looks like I will need to fashion my own rehab plan which can allow me to progress around, not into, pain. I feel like this will never end.

  18. Teresa Ryan

    April of 2018 I suffered a femoral neck break. I was rushed to Harborview in Seattle, surgery, 3 screws and a few days later I was home in Bellingham.
    I have seen 3 doctors since, 2 of which were actually in on my surgery. 2 doctors have told me they think they will have to go in any replace my whole hip…….but the last doc I saw, after 3 months of bed rest and not baring any weight on my leg, told me to stop using my crutches and start walking. Just like that? Yep!

    This doctor, and another in my past who misdiagnosed my ovarian cancer, dismissed me, didnt listen to me, wasn’t about to listen to what I had to say, about my own body!

    I’m sorry about your accident, I know the pain it causes. I am only 3 and a half months from my slip and break….so I hope my future doctors can understand, like I’m sure you do now.

  19. Susan

    More needs to be taught to doctors about the emotional trauma that follows a disabling break. Carers too and families need to understand that depression and sadness are a natural and almost universal reaction to the total loss of independence . Good luck all. Susan

  20. carmen

    Glad you published such article. I was wondering why my husband was laughing so loud while he is in bed recovering from surgeries to his left leg and left arm with nails and rods an plates with screws!!!
    He feels and has experienced exactly the same things.
    Thank you for sharing
    From Chile

  21. Patty

    Steve,
    Your article was just the medicine I needed! I’m 6 weeks into healing a nondisplaced patellar fracture. There are good days and bad days as you explained. I am positive most days, knowing that it could have been much worse, but other days I am frustrated and miss my active life. I wish you luck in your career and can see that you are already well on your way! I have always felt that DO’s are the best!

  22. Elle

    Thank you so much for this beautifully written article, I have a neurological problem which affects my walking broke my leg in 2 places 17 weeks ago the pain and frustration of depression that has decended on me is practically unbearable.Reading your article has helped me realise I’m not alone thank you again.

  23. Me the one in the chair

    Hello,

    Thank you for sharing your experience. I am an RN. I fell down stairs and sustained a tibial plateau fracture. It has been ten weeks now in a wheelchair depending on others. Some people are kind and some are not. I’ve gotten stuck in handicapped curbs that have a slight bump on the end. It’s nearly 50 degrees below zero a few days and I’m trapped. My eleven year old drags the wheelchair out of the car and in so I can get in places to shop. No one even offers to help the kid. If I ask questions I am given the “ you are a RN, don’t they do that in GI” speech which makes me feel worthless and stupid. I can’t go to anything for my daughter because the old buildings are not required to be handicapped accessible. I can’t even get a bathroom door with a closer open. I just sat and cried yesterday. There are some good people in the world, and there are some that take handicapped spots jump out of there car and run into stores. In the meantime I wait in my car for one to open.

    It’s winter in Wisconsin, I’ve been stuck in the crosswalks with yellow bubble things at the end of ramps. Imagine a hamster on his wheel. I get crates Monday and pray I can finally stand. My whole life has been affected.

    I have learned that compassion is more valuable than anything, I will be a better nurse because of this experience.

  24. Gypsy Hartman

    Dear Steve:
    Thank you so much for sharing your story and inspiring others to share theirs. You have given hope and a boost to those who may have felt forlorn in their post-surgery status. I was feeling sad, because my leg is still painful eight months after femur orif and I have a little difficulty going upstairs, which is why I accessed your article. Again, thank you for your kind insight. And I wish everybody better every day.

  25. Jordan Young

    Hi. I am a 22 year old man who has been having some really bad back problems in the last 2 years. When I was 6 years old I got hit by a car and broke my Fabula and Tibia on my left leg. Can that cause me back problems later on down the road that I’m having now? Sometimes I feel numb and tingly from the lower back and down my legs, sometimes I can hardly walk, I have had pinched nerves, and sometimes I can’t even get out of bed

  26. Betty

    You are definitely right I had Orif surgery and I was in complete mental despair I finally spoke with my primary care dr about it and go one some anxiety medicine. The loss of independence really hit me hard and the trauma of falling still replays in my head and the anxiety/fear can sometime be overwhelming. People don’t understand unless they have been thru it. I believe anyone with any type of mobility limiting injury should receive mental care afterward.

  27. Alan Murphy

    I am a retired Navy pilot and public school teacher of 16 years. I have also been a volunteer First Responder for 7 years. In September, 2019, I was responding to a car accident, when a distracted drive came across our marked off area and hit me head on going 45 MPH. I flew completely over a police car and was out.
    6 broken ribs and needed ORIF Leg surgery. I am up and walking, doing physical therapy, and have returned to teaching, although it is hard. I feel terribly depressed and without a future. In some ways I wish I had just been killed. Sorry about the downer attitude.

  28. Betsy Wilson

    I hate this happened to you, but happy there is a silver lining! At 65, with type 1 diabetes, I forget what I can no longer do. I blame my broken shoulder on my knees and adrenaline. As I was planning on rescuing my neighbors dog from a fight, I immediately threw my left foot on top of a 2 foot wall along side my driveway to hoist myself onto the lawn nextdoor and make a run towards the dog. I didn’t even come close to bringing my right leg/body up.
    I fell backwards onto the concrete, landing on my right elbow! I couldn’t move, was in severe pain and I laid there for 15 minutes. No one could hear me. I know my husband was in the house on the phone working. The things that went through my mind I have never before experienced. My only hope was that my husband heard our dogs barking on the deck and would come out to let them back in at which time I started screaming his name. He finally heard me found me and got me into the house. I was scared, desperate and anxious. Here I am on day 12, laying in bed, in pain. Although no surgery is required, I have to wait, wait and wait. I’m in a contraption that’s hot and claustrophobic. I remain half naked as I can’t get my pants up and down. There’s very little I can do at all. I am most frustrated and can’t even cry (thx menopause)! I love what u learned and how you can truly understand how a patient may feel. I want to scream, but even that may hurt. Thx for your story.
    P.S. the dog is fine…lol

  29. Cote lacourse

    Wonderful story! This is what I am going through right now, I broke my tibia and 2 different spots and fractured it up high at the top of the break. It broke at the bottom straight up the middle and to the side and that’s where the fracture is. Too many people have told me this will be a life altering injury and it’s so hard to think and deal with. I slid 15 foot down a metal roof to a 20 foot fall and landed like a pole. I am grateful it was just my leg and not my spine or head or tailbone. I could’ve been paralyzed or dead. The ambulance took me to a trauma center and sent me home with a referral and later that day I went to a different hospital because I was in to much pain and they got me into surgery the next day and I as well had a metal bracket on the outside of my leg. That referral didn’t call until 4 days later so I would’ve sat at home with a very bad broken leg for 4 days but I was fortunately taken care of but still in loads of pain with very little sleep and tons of iv fluids. Nurses would walk into my room at midnight and wake me up to take blood which was very irritating, they could’ve waited for morning. I was eventually discharged and had a very gas time getting comfortable and a few days later developed a constant pulsating Charlie horse in the arch of my foot which has lasted 4-5 days and I just got my second surgery where they took the bracket off and cut my leg open and screwed a metal plate to the bone. Woke up in the worst pain of my life.

  30. Murage Kariuki

    Murage Kariuki
    Am a counselor from Nairobi, Kenya trying to convince one of the best orthopedic hospitals the need for walking with patients emotionally as well as physically…
    Hope i will be able to make an impact in those struggling after unfortunate incidences and accidents maiming them through broken bones.

    Regards and appreciated

  31. Nelson A. M

    I will say that I’ve been very lucky through the ordeal with my spinal cord after a rollerblading accident, vertebra damage, and now spinal stenosis and post polio myelitis setting, each of my positions by top neurologist, I orthopedist, my podiatrist, have treated me with great respect and empathy, I go through many bouts of tendon tightening, which requires lengthy, casting, and what most understand is a compression cast. Yet I managed. Using my wheelchair or strapping on my kafov leg braces. Thank you very much for putting this article out for everyone to read.

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