modvayne

My first two surgeries happened 4 1/2 years ago. I was injured in an industrial accident. I worked as a die setter in a machine shop, loading and unloading metal stamping dies in and out of metal stamping presses. It was almost quitting time, and I was working on my last job of the night. I started moving a die around, preparing it for removal when it lost it's center and flipped out of the press. It severed my foot 3/4 of the way around, crushed every bone in my foot, and seperated the lower leg bones from each other. It was severe enough that my ex-wife was told that they rated injuries on a scale of 1-4 with 1 being minor and 4 being automatic amputation. The doctor said that I was as high a 3 as I could be without being a 4. In other words, chances were good that I would lose the lower half of my leg.

I was taken to the hospital, where a surgeon had to put my ankle joint back into place. I wasn't even aware at the time what was going on or why I had been taken to the hospital. I laid in a hospital bed for three days before I was taken in to have another surgery performed. This surgery was supposed to be reconstruction of the foot bones and to reconnect the leg bones together. It went so well that the doctor went ahead and performed the reattachment of the foot. It was expected that as soon as I came out of a cast, I would be having a below the knee amputation. Luckily I've managed to keep everything so far.

I was laid up and could only get around with the aid of a walker. This meant that I was bored to death, and not much hope of doing anything fun. It didn't help that I was Oxycontin pain meds either. I spent a lot of time with my nose in a book until a friend brought me crossword puzzles, word search books, and coloring books. Eventually, I got a laptop and was able to get online. I never felt so helpless in my life. I was down for 7 months after the surgery and I had o learn to walk again in that time as well.

About a year later, I was down again. The bones in my leg hadn't grown around the screw that had been placed in there to hold the bones together. At this time, I was informed that the tip of the bone was dead, and that the rest of the bone would be following over time.

Finally, at the beginning of this year, I had the screws removed from my foot. It has done nothing for my pain levels though. I have been seeing a pain management specialist since the surgery. I am still in a drug induced haze. I am currently on Neurontin and Vicodin with pretty much unlimited refills, so I won't be running out any time soon. I can't really function on the meds, although I am released to work and drive. Not that finding work is an easy task when you have to walk with a cane most of the time, or when you're on these kinds of painkillers.

My ankle is constantly swollen and sore. There are days that I can't put socks or shoes on my injured foot. It is extremely sensitive to the touch. If it gets touched even as lightly as a feather, I'm likely to jump through the roof. I have days that I can't even get out of bed because my foot and ankle either hurt too much or just won't support me. I'm in constant pain that not even the meds help alleviate. All they do is put my head in the clouds where I don't care so much about the pain. Another issue I have is that the scar surrounding my ankle itches constantly.

I'm tired of people trying to tell me that I can't hurt that bad or that I'm faking it. I have people say that I should be used to it by now and that I just need to deal with it. I always feel like if they have been through everything I have, then maybe they would understand just how much pain I deal with daily and how difficult it is to get through a day. No one in government agencies even understands. I've been told by everyone from child support to social security that I am physically capable of working. No one takes into account the pain or the meds that I have to take to even partially get through a day. There is no way that I can function and and get my head out of the clouds.