16 - Insanity from lack of minerals strikes!

My knee surgery was immense. 

As you can see from the above 3 dimensional snapshot that formed one of the many CT scans, the condyle of my thigh bone had broken free in the collision. It's splintered shape ran the risk of severing my main leg artery at any time during, after, or since the collision in hospital. This was the first task during surgery.

Second, the resetting of my knee bone (what was left of it) to its correct position was next on the list for the operation. It appears that the patella was shattered to almost nothing and the largest piece that remained had tried to heal itself to the end of my thigh bone. This had be cut free and then repositioned back to its original location.

Then, the placement of a large piece of titanium plating was added to my knee to help keep it all secured in place.

The knee plate viewed from the top, finishing mid thigh

(Looking at the 3D image, you can still clearly see the holes in the bone from the exterior fixator on my thigh that rant to my shin!)

"The operation lasted for hours"

The operation lasted for hours. My wife was getting somewhat aggitated in the waiting room of the ward, hoping all was proceeding well. After a long and agonising wait, I was brought back to the ward from the recovery room. 

My recovery from this operation was the worst. Under orders from the surgeon, I was to have, on my leg day and night, a CPM machine. This is a Continuous Passive Motion machine that bends the leg for you and can be preset to move to increase the speed and finishing angle. 

Image borrowed to highlight the machine used in my case

A similar functioning machine, like the one pictured above, I had to have working even when I slept to avoid my leg becoming static and ceasing to function properly. Or, as the surgeon put it, "I don't want your inability to walk to undo all of my good work!"

".. forced down your nose and into your stomach .."

My body reacted to this operation in another unforeseen way, however. For it was owing to the general anaesthetic and extended period I was under in theatre that shut my digestive system down. My bowels went on strike! 

I couldn't eat, nor drink, without being sick and, to really make my stay in hospital that more enjoyable, I had to have an NG tube. Again, for those not clear on medical practices, an NG (or Nasal Gastric) tube is a tube that is forced down your nose and into your stomach to drain its contents. As a consequence, I was only allowed sips of 60mm of water per hour to keep hydrated. Boy, was I lucky!

Another borrowed image to detail the NG

This went on for several days. I had to have regular blood tests to ensure my chemical balance was achieved but my veins receeded when these tests increased. It would have been easier to get blood from a stone than dip into my veins for a sample. 

Then, after an infection, I was moved to a single room on my own and that's where a chemical imbalance made me go loopier than a circus clown. You see, the body requires a delicate balance of minerals in order to function properly; sodium, potassium, magnesium and a whole host of others. My wife had arrived one day for visiting hours, only to be intercepted by the Sister of the ward who proceeded to tell her, "He's not himself today."

".. completely 'lost the plot'.."

Further investigation from her proved the Sister's comments to be right. I had completely 'lost the plot'. From my delusional perspective, I had died. For some reason, I had formulated some waking dream that I was needing to get to the next world by way of interstellar travel. I remember only two hours or so from those two days that  I was mentally impaired. They had assesed what the cause was: potassium deficiency. Such an innoccuous mineral could cause such a mental imbalance. 

I was quickly put on a potassium rich intravenous drip and by the morning on the third day, I waved at the Sister as she came in to the ward. An action, I can assure you, relieved her to the utmost. 

Me in the private room after my mental episode

By this time it December and it was rapidly approaching Christmas. I was determined to spend it at home and be temporarily discharged to have some time in my own environment. Working with the physios again, I had an arm gutter frame to support my weight and I had begun to stagger short distances. 

It was planned that I be discharged on the 20th of December and return for my ileostomy reversal on the 5th of January. Christmas was even more of a challenge than we dared to guess!