Really, dude? You're posting your x-rays?

The timing can't help but look suspicious.

😂

Thanks!

if that makes sense.

I'm not a podiatrist, but I found one for you on the internets.

http://www.aofas.org/footcaremd/treatments/Pages/Calcaneus-Fracture-Surgery.aspx

There is an explanation and a very similar looking set of screws in a foot.

They do make sense. But its *him* and he has a history of holding up pictures that are just totally fictional, so he has little credibility. Remember Cecille Richards schooling him on his little drawing that some anti-choice propagandist made for him in pretty colors?

So he could be telling the truth, and some reporters can ask him how he feels about health insurance, preexisting conditions and his nefarious plans for American citizens while his own care is paid for by them.

Or he could be full of the usual GOP BS and we can still ask him the same questions

Exactly

And a recent xray showing how its going now.

Because he couldn't open his mouth wide enough.

It looks like he had a fractured calcaneus. The worst foot injury you can have and still have a foot. I would love to not know about it.

The thing that makes no sense to me is the bit about risk of infection from leaving it in. That's nonsense as far as I can determine. It's heavy and clunky and zingy but the wounds are all healed. Removing the hardware includes a risk of infection.

Try not to break that porous little heel bone. It's a bummer.

The bone looks like it healed around the screws and plate. Maybe the screws are poking through the other side. That would make sense.

I actually feel for the guy. Good luck Chaffetz. Think about what a drag it would be if you were uninsurable as this is a preexisting condition.

May it enlighten him and be as painless as possible.

If the bones are poking through, then maybe there IS a risk of infection. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense.

infection developing inside one of small bones of the foot-and we have many bones in the foot. An infection inside the bone is very serious (could travel through blood steam to any other part of the body and develop sepsis) and surgeons do not mess around when they suspect this condition. The hope is that--- if there was an infection, it is localized in the foot bone. Still, as I said, a bone infection is serious and would require very long term IV antibiotic therapy (weeks)-many times followed by oral antibiotics, depending on the cultures and blood tests. My guess is that the surgeon determined immediate surgery was needed to remove the source of the problem (each entry and exit point into the bone by all those screws are potential sources for an infection).

I would not wish it on anyone. I have not read any follow up and we probably will not know the details anyway.

I was-still am a nurse--and I am not making a diagnosis. But I do that medical docs and surgeons move fast when bone infections are suspected.

That's unsettling, since so many people have metal parts of one sort or another . . . dental implants, hip implants, etc.

Thanks for the info, riversedge.

He has very good health insurance and he doesn't have to worry about paying for in this case a prexisting condition which would also cost way more than an unlocked iPhone for sure. But he feels it's ok to deny other people that same care.

It was a family member. A couple of thousand out of pocket in the end but the pain endured made these the worst weeks of my life.

He hasn't had the hardware taken out yet and may never.

Of course Chaffetz deserves criticism.

Welcome to DU.

from a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula. I have 2 plates and 9 screws, they drilled 2 more from one side of the ankle to the other to stabilize the plates. I know I can still feel the screws. It wasn't an easy repair.

His looks like he had a lot of small pieces they tried to put together.

does that mean his insurance company can drop him when they drop us for having one?

Just asking.

The left is a pretty straight forward lateral view. The right is an axial, dorsoplantar view that is usually taken with the patient lying on their stomach and the foot held in a position as if standing. The aperture is angled diagonally from above and toward the heel.

Retired orthopedic RN.

A healthy male 28 year old who is experiencing discomfort three years after calcaneus surgery wants to know. He's not getting as much excercise as a result and went from very fit before the operation to less so now.

His orthopedic surgeon isn't inclined one way or the other.

An old friend who had his hardware removed said he felt much better afterward, hiking and running again.

Is removal as hard on the patient as the original surgery? Is it normal to use stainless steel for the hardware as opposed to titanium? Is there really an increased risk of cancer from leaving the hardware in, as another poster stated?

Thank you very very much in advance.

Understand that even though injuries and illnesses may seem similar, they are not identical, and we are all individuals who respond differently to trauma, pain, and treatment and healing. That neither implies anything good or bad, it's just the nature of any living thing that is subjected to a severe injury.

The type of accident described in this thread is a severe, major disability and most patients do have life long problems to some degree following that type of trauma. If the fracture is severe, recovery can take 1 to 2 years and some permanent loss of strength and range of motion should be expected. This can vary widely, but even a generally mild recovery can become more debilitating as we age. Humans can, and do, live long and trouble free lives with all manner of hardware and devices inside them, but there is no way to predict what treatment plan will be most effective, or how anyone will respond to the healing process.

If he opts for a 2nd opinion, then try to locate a top notch surgeon in a different locale, preferably in a large metro area where specialists have opportunities to keep current, train and perfect their skills. Even if the young man finds there is no other outcome, if he isn't already working with a comprehensive pain clinic, a knowledgeable physical therapist, and a certified personal trainer, he should do so and get into a custom designed, long term exercise regime and pain management support.

Best of luck to him.

I'm deeply grateful. Aloha.

Ps we are in Honolulu, so there's no metro area around but us. I'd thought about traveling for his calcaneus surgery but there was no way to move him back then...even driving to the doctor's office was a bit challenge with bumps in the road.

I remind myself to be grateful it wasn't his head.

Again, mahalo nui and much aloha to you.

To post his X-rays as proof. He knows how little credibility he has right now.

but that foot is a mess.
My orthopedic surgeon took 3 screws out of my foot in 2005 that he had put in in 2004.
Then had to put them back IN when the bones became unstable without the screws in
2006.
So yeah BUT I had the option to have the surgery and when, the pain wasn't agonizing,
It COULD have waited. I think bubble head is using an opportune moment to hide
until things "cool down".

Hoping you're feeling better.