I have an x-ray of the screw that will be removed from my knee below! I just wanted to let anyone know that might not want to see it!
In the month of July I won’t rest, I decided Januray 10th, the last time I saw Dr. Brandon Hull. We had an eight-week checkup, took standing x-rays, and discussed the last time we saw one another. At my three week post-op, he took my staples out. Three by my hip, three on the outside of my right knee, and five down the front of my knee. With a handheld staple remover, he took the most visible part of my accident away. They left scars, cosmetic, surface level scars. My injury now internal. Nobody knew.
I now have a 28-inch titanium rod through my femur, a metal screw in my hip and my knee, locking the rod in place. In July, the month I won’t rest, I am expected to get the screw passing through the medial collateral ligament to the lateral collateral ligament in my knee taken out.
They will copy the previous incision line on the exterior of my right knee. Using small tools, same as before, the screw I can feel through my kneecap will be taken away from me. I will, again, have three staples in my knee for weeks. Scar tissue will stiffen, needing to be broken up, while I start physical theraphy again. I will be actively healing for the month of July, not resting. It it typically a year after the initial surgery to remove this specific screw, however, Dr. Brandon Hull wants it out in summer. He claims to want it out as much as I do, but he couldn’t.
I want this screw out of me more than I have wanted anything. I have gone from resenting running to wishing my legs could carry me the same way. I roll the windows down in my car to mimick how the wind would whistle past during the last 100m of a race. I have been a runner for six years of my life. It has been five months since my last runners high. Since the metal entered my body, runing isn’t the same. My artificial leg is unable to exert the same force needed push forward into the next stride. I will not rest in July, I will be healing.
Left to Right:
L- The screw passing through my knee, also showing the staples at the time, that will be taken out in the summer.
M- This is showing the femur fracture around the 28in titanium rod. Bones heal themselves, meaning new bone has formed around the break, making my right leg stronger in theory.
R- This is the screw placed by my hip, it will also stay forever.