Has anyone undergone this procedure, and if so, what was your recovery like? Time (to walk, swim, bike again)? Amount of PT (physical therapy)?
Any tips or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Eight years ago I had “bone surgery” on my left distal femur to remove a 7 cm Chondrosarcoma tumor. Low-grade, slow-growing, but had to come out. Here’s a summary of the procedure…
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Incision from hip to knee down the outside (where the IT band runs) of the thigh. Not positive but I envisioned the surgeon exposing the femur by literally prying and clamping my IT band and muscles open so they could work on my femur.
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A “window” (think of hollowing out a canoe) was cut in the distal femur with a Dremel tool and then the tumor and some bone material was removed with a burring tool.
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Cryosurgery was performed via pouring liquid nitrogen into the cavity to kill any microscopic cells.
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Freeze-dried bone from the Bone Bank (which I didn’t know existed) was packed into the cavity.
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Blood drawn from my hip bone and injected on and around the bone graft site to promote faster bone regeneration and growth.
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Capped off with bone removed in #2 above and then slapped on a titanium plate and seven screws to keep it in place.
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A week in the hospital. And a male nurse rammed a catheter in my weenis around 2am the night after surgery. Felt great.
Recovery and Rehab:
- 6 weeks on crutches. No weight bearing activities. Did some PT work. Wasn’t that bad.
- Started swimming a week after surgery.
- Did some super easy spinning for 30-45 mins after getting off the crutches.
- Running took a long, long time to come back. Started with running on the treadmill to control the environment and reduce impact. Started by speed walking, then progressing to doing a lap of walking and a lap of running, going back and forth, etc. and then running a continuous 1-2 miles during a walk/run. Slow progression.
- Ran first marathon two years after surgery. I suspect though that progression could be faster but my body just wasn’t ready for it.
- Run faster today than I did pre-surgery.
- Only side affect is I have a metal plate directly under my ITB and muscles in that area. I have to roll my ITB a lot and have to take care of it. On long, long bike and run days my “surgery area” is extra sore.
Good luck with your procedure.
Thanks for the feedback. Hopefully I will be up and running a bit sooner than that. I’m going nuts!
Here’s a x-ray from before and after surgery for those interested.
Holy turd looks bad. What did you do?
Also is that turd in the top left of the top x ray?
What did you do???
Best wishes on your recovery. Recall, we tend to overestimate what we can do in the short term and underestimate what we can do over the longer term. Having said that, your current fitness bodes well for rapid recovery as does your attitude. Just don’t ever make yourself go to the back of the line!
KP
Cathy, I was in Cleveland visiting the in-laws. I was at my sister and brother in-law’s house, took one step out the front door onto black ice, legs came completely up from under me and I landed on my hip on the top step (cement step), slid down the stairs and was done for.
The scary part was that it was 5:00 AM and no one knew I was outside and I couldn’t move. It took over 30 minutes for me to inch (more like a fraction of an inch) my way towards a broom handle and use it to pound on the walls of the house before someone found me. I was freezing, and in complete shock. Ambulance came, of course it was too icy for them to make it up the driveway and then the highway was so icy that we were sliding all over the place on the way to the hospital. VERY FUN!
I went under the knife shortly after and then the cool part came…They wouldn’t give me medical clearance to fly home to California for three weeks. Luckily I can work remote.
So here I am at home again, bored out of my mind, stuck using a wheelchair and walker, and going nuts!
Anyway…waaa waaaah waaaah poor me 
Ouch. All the best wishes in healing.
-Jot
Holy moly!! Sorry to hear this. Yea for broom handles. At least you didn’t conk your head. Heal quickly.
clm
Hope you heal quickly and well. You know they left an allen wrench in your leg, right?
Holy Hell man, that’s awful.
I’ve broken both my ankles (separated by 5 years), so I know a little about your feeling of incapacitation.
I did lots of upper body work just to keep up my metabolism b/c I eat like a horse.
After the PT, I was stronger and faster compared to my fitness prior to each fracture.
Hang in there! Find a sports oriented PT… those guys can assist with your recovery time.
For me, the worst part was over after awakening from the surgery to experience immense pain; more than at the time of injury.
I wish you a really speedy healing, and I hope you’re not in much pain now. ((((hugs))))
I have a similar plate on the distal end of my femur (except I have a locking fracture plate, and it looks like you have a blade plate). I had a distal osteotomy done to lengthen one side of my femur (the lateral side of the femur is surgically broken, and then the gap is filled in with a wedge of donor bone).
Unfortunately, following the procedure–which went swimmingly and I has having (relatively speaking) little pain from–I went to put on a sock, and felt a crack and some REALLY solid, nice pain…and ended up with a break very similar to yours across and up from my osteotomy site (so, flip yours upside down and make it supracondylar, instead of subtrochanteric, as yours looks to be. And mine is medial.).
As that side (the trauma fracture) is NOT pinned…I am on bed rest (surgeon felt the risk of opening me back up to pin the OTHER side wouldn’t be worth it, and that the brace, combined with the plate (8.5 inches, 8 screws–mix of cortical and locking)) by and large until it shows sign of healing. I am now 23 days post-op (first fracture), and at 19 days out from the trauma fracture. Xrays yesterday show no change–which is good, meaning that the second fracture hasn’t MOVED…but it also hasn’t “taken” yet.
At this time, we are thinking I will be out of the brace in 8 weeks from now (so, mid-April). At which time I will be allowed to spin and swim. I will also begin transferring off the crutches at that time, which will be another 4 weeks or so to get down to a cane. I can ramp up my riding as tolerated by June. No running for at LEAST 6-8 months, possibly a year.
My only permitted PT right now are straight leg raises in my brace, and trying to regain ROM to 90–also in brace, and quad sets.
So…yes, I feel your pain, literally and figuratively. 
Feel free to PM me if you’re bored. If my CD of cray images ever shows up, I’ll post a copy and we can compare.
Hid, It seems that nobody has answered your questions. I have alot of experience but from the other side of the drill and hammer. Your intertrochanteric hip fracture with subtrochanteric extension (or vice-versa) was reduced (aligned) anatomically with a proven technique (95 degree blade plate). Your surgeon did an excellent job. You can expect 6 weeks or more of toe touch weight bearing on crutches. Then progressing to fulll weight as tolerated. Healing time is usually 3 mos. Biking at the 3 month point, starting with easy spinning on a trainer or stationary bike (no falls!), then full biking as your ROM and comfort/confidence allows. Sometimes even sooner than that. Swimming at about the same time (3 mos), maybe with a pull buoy at first. Physical therapy is very helpful for early ROM and later strengthening and extinguishing your limp (which is often inevitable). Don’t underestimate the soft-tissue component of you injury and the surgery. Running takes alot longer. Maybe 6-12 mos. There is alot of variability in healing rates and tolerance to rehab. Consider this a rough guide. Good luck!
Hey… I answered. 
Although mine is supracondylar… But my protocol is similar to what you described. I take it you are an OS?
mmrocker13,
You’re right, your recovery protocol is quite similar but your problem is very different! You may need even more time for everything since, from your descrpition, you no longer have rigid fixation plus you have to allow time for a graft to incorporate. But the end result should be the same
RCope… You’re right. My plating and screws are in the lateral side with the first fracture, which also had a bone graft…so is pretty stable. Originally, I was only looking at 6 weeks in the brace, w/ toe touch the whole time. At 6-12 weeks, I’d progress to FWB.
The lovely fracture on the medial side set me back by a whole passel o’ time–probably a full mont or so, since I have to basically be immobilized so it can set. My surgeon felt that the risk of working around the nerve and artery (peroneal and femoral, if I recall) and cutting more muscle just wasn’t worth it since the other side was fixed, and I was more or less immobilized anyway.
In the end, I agree with him…although after 3+ weeks of bed rest, with another 4 or so at least to go, I am going a wee bit nutters. But it is what it is, I knew the risks going in…although this one is a bit of an unusual complication. As far as complications go, though, this was def. the best of the worst. A hardware failure or an intraarticular fracture or a completion of the osteotomy site would have been disastrous. AT least this second fracture doesn’t damage the correction at all. But again, because it does, indirectly connect to the osteotomy, the risk of it shifting is still there (hence bed rest).
Funny thing, the osteotomy/first fracture feels FINE. The IT band, which they cut parallell along, is super tight, so I’m working on ROM, and that hurts, but the fracture has not really bothered me at all. This second one, though? Holy hannah. That bastard continues to sting.
Out of curiosity…what would you have done w/ the second fracture?
Oh my! To Hid and mm, wow, my thoughts and prayers are with you both. I’m nursing a hamstring and was feeling sorry for myself. Hid, the thought of you being outside for half an hour alone just chills me (no pun intended). This has become a rebuilding year for you both and I wish you both patience, and pride in your past accomplishments, knowing you’ll come back stronger and even more appreciative of how lucky we are to do what we do. Best to you both.
you will be back to easy running pace in about 6 months or so. Meanwhile, sue the in-laws and get a new bike.
Thanks to everyone for the responses, advice and well wishes.
MMRocker - my dearest wishes for your speedy recovery!