A Pregnant Woman with a Broken Leg: Part Two

Being the gullible naive young woman that I was, I laid back and watched as the preparations were made.  Finally it began.  The incisions were made and I didn't feel anything.  The drilling started and still I didn't feel anything.  In fact, it was kinda cool to watch the whole thing.  My bed was surrounded by doctors and nurses on all four sides who seemed just as fascinated as I was.  Suddenly, without warning, pain shot through my leg unlike anything I had ever felt before.  It took my breath away and I thought I would pass out.  I screamed and begged the doctor to PLEASE stop.  He said it was the rod being drilled through the bone and would someone make me be quiet.  Everybody's hands were on me to keep me still and all I could do was cry out in pain.

Finally it was over.  Nobody would look me in the eye.  There was a lot of bustling about and the doctor ordered the portable x-ray machine in so he could make sure the rod was in the right place.  But guess what?  He didn't wait for the machine and decided it should be moved lower and before I knew it he pulled the rod out of my leg and was preparing to do the whole procedure over again.  I cried and begged him not to but I was just the patient and what I wanted didn't matter.

The procedure started again and I wasn't the relaxed calm person I was the first time.  I knew what was coming and I couldn't stop it.  I closed my eyes and waited and although I didn't scream as loud or as long, I still screamed and cried and begged him to stop to no avail.  The x-ray was taken and the cuss doctor said it was perfect the first time and he should have left it there.  With daggers of fire shooting from my eyes, I looked him in the eye and told him it wasn't happening again.  At that moment I didn't care what happened to my leg, I wasn't going through that again.  And I didn't.

The next couple of hours were spent hooking my leg up to the constant motion machine and the weights for traction.  The worst was over and I was finally relaxing.  That evening and the next day, every single one of those doctors and nurses who were in the room during the drilling came and checked on me and apologized for the doctor.  It turns out that procedure is normally done under anesthesia.  One of the doctors also told me that my doctor had a reputation for a lousy bedside manner but was one of the top orthopedic doctors in the army.  I wasn't impressed!

Through all of this I still hadn't felt the baby move.  My OB doctor had been contacted and when he finally arrived, an ultrasound was done and everything was fine.  It was actually three or four days before I felt any movement. 

The next day, I had a visitor who was a patient on the ward.  He was the nicest young man and it turns out I had his constant motion machine!  This machine is quite common now, but at the time I was using it, it was being tested in select hospitals.  Womack was chosen because Ft. Bragg is home to the 82nd Airborne Division.  Men and women jump out of planes and helicopters everyday and some of them end up with broken bones.  It made sense for Womack to have one, but there was only one!  Anyway, he was curious as to why it was given to me and what all the screaming was about!  He was very sympathetic and came to visit a couple of times everyday for the next week until he was released.  He even brough his wife in one day to meet me.

I was the only female on the ward and I got all kinds of attention!  My room soon filled up with cards and flowers.  Medical staff as well as other patients would come just to see what was new or to smell the basket of gardenias from my best friend!  I watched my favorite soap operas everyday and someone was always in there watching with me.  For someone who doesn't like being the center of attention, I was having a blast!

Being pregnant, I had a craving for peanut clusters.  Michael brought me a bag and it wasn't long before the head nurse, a major who I believe enjoyed pulling rank, took them away and told me they weren't on my diet!  I was not happy.  The next day another nurse, a pregnant lieutenant, brought me a new bag and made me swear to keep them hidden and not mention her if I got caught!  We pregnant ladies had to stick together!

After the third week, the doctor said I was ready to go home on one condition.  I had to have round the clock care.  I was going to be on crutches for at least three to four months and I wouldn't be able to put weight on my leg.  He would not release me otherwise.  The army wasn't going to provide help and we were in no position to pay for it.  Everybody we knew worked.  The only solution was to move me to Arkansas to live with my family until the baby was born and my leg was healed.

After discussing it with my parents, we presented the plan to the doctor who wasn't thrilled but would approve it on another cuss condition.  I had to have an appointment with a doctor he approved of before I could leave.  Good grief!  I just wanted to go home.  He did some research and gave me the names of two doctors he recommended.  I passed this on to my mom who made me an appointment.  My doctor called that doctor and I finally had his permission to leave and was discharged on July 8th, exactly one month from the day of the accident!

The next few months were full of some pretty interesting, funny and painful incidents.  Try being nine months pregnant and getting down to and up from the floor without putting weight on one leg!  Physical therapy couldn't stop just because my stomach was in the way! 

My son was born on October 12th.  He really is my miracle baby and is here for a reason.  I still have scars from both drillings and I have never again trusted a doctor who said,  "You won't feel a thing".

A Pregnant Woman with a Broken Leg: Part one

In April 1983 I was three months pregnant with our son.  I had been pregnant twice before but both times had a miscarriage.  When I threatened a miscarriage this time, I was beside myself.  My doctor decided I should quit my job and stay home on complete bed rest at least until the symptoms subsided. 

I did what I was told and in late May I had no more symptoms.  My doctor was cautiously optimistic and told me to continue with the bed rest.  I was a good girl and followed doctor's orders until June 8th.  It was a gorgeous North Carolina late spring day and I needed some fresh air.  I decided I would go get the mail which was a short walk up the road.  When I got back to the trailer and opened the door, I stepped backwards off the three foot high concrete porch!

One second I'm standing on the porch and the next second I'm sprawled on the ground surrounded by the all important mail.  After a few seconds of confusion, reality slowly dawned.  I was laying on my left side and I couldn't move my right leg.  It didn't hurt but something told me I couldn't move it.  What was I going to do?

I started yelling for help.  All my neighbors worked but maybe someone stayed home that day.  No such luck!  I don't know how much time passed but I heard a truck on the dirt road that ran between the two rows of trailers and I started screaming at the top of my lungs and thankfully was heard.  My landlord stopped and came running to me.  He was in a panic and didn't know what to do!  I had to tell him to go inside, call an ambulance and call Michael and have him meet me at the hospital.  By the time the ambulance came, I was shivering from cold and my leg had started hurting. It didn't take long to get the air splint on and load me into the ambulance.  I was finally on my way to the hospital an hour and a half after I fell.

Womack army hospital at Ft. Bragg was my destination.  Since Michael was already on base, he met me as I was wheeled in.  I was so glad to see him but so afraid he was going to kill me!  I wasn't supposed to be off the couch let alone outside.  I shouldn't have been worried.  He was glad to see me and wanted to make sure both me and the baby were okay.

By this time my leg was aching but it wasn't painful.  That is until they removed the splint and started taking x-rays.  They made me turn and bend my knee, and up til that point in my life I had never felt such pain!  Thankfuly the worst was over for the time being and I was told I would be admitted because I had broken the right tibial plateau of my right leg.  In addition to that, I hadn't felt the baby move since I fell and there was some concern there.

I was taken to the orthopedic ward and waited for the doctor.  If I had known what was coming I could have waited forever!  He arrived with an entourage of other doctors and nurses.  It turns out that I was going to be a guinea pig of sorts.  This particular fracture would normaly be treated with surgery and a cast.  However, I was 5 months pregnant and surgery was out of the question.  Instead, they were going to put my leg in traction and use a constant motion machine to keep my knee from becoming stiff.

The procedure for inserting the metal rod into my leg for traction was explained.  My leg would be numbed, they would make an incision on each side of my leg and using a drill, they would drive the rod through the first incision, through the bone and out the other incision.  There would be 6-8 inches of the metal rod on each side of my leg.  I was assured I wouldn't feel a thing and it would be quick....

....to be continued