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[nad21]

My father has had SCI since 1975, he is now 53 yrs old, C5/6 incomplete quad who regained capacity to walk, as well as use of wheelchairs over the yrs, including electric one as his mobilty has decreased as he has gotten older. He was until recently still able to walk with use of 2 canes, and for very short distances and mostly in the home, and had what he would say was a somewhat 'acceptable' capacity of movement, despite significant and increasing pain levels in back due in part to crushed discs, and wide range of other pain and problems of the bladder, stomach, neck etc etc.
However, he had a bad fall a couple days ago and he broke his femur which required surgery for rods to be put in place. We are really concerned about the long term implications of this injury for him, including additional pain that he may experience in long term and what rehab services, techniques etc may be available to him in order to have the best poss opportunity for him to regain his mobility. Unfort he is in a general hospital (in Scotland) and the medical staff have very poor understanding of the nature of his SCI and the physical effects of his disabilty - they are unable to offer an opinion on the liklihood of full recovery, and indeed do not seem partic aware of the severe impact of this for him - i.e. doctors and physio assuming he can use crutches, self propell etc.
I am obviously trying to elicit an approp medical (inc physio) assessment and opinion, but its a slow slow process apparently.

Hoping that people could share their views and /or experiences regarding any associated issues, and indeed if you have any ideas on best ways forward, your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Nad

[StillFingers]

Nad,

I'm not sure I can help much but I'll at least share my broken femur story with you. In 1978 I broke my neck, c4-6, I'm considered c5 incomplete, I have not regained any movement, but have regained much of my sensation back in these last thirty years.

In late winter of 1994 I fell out of my chair while transfering into bed. I suffered a 9 inch spiral fracture of the left femur. A 16 inch titanium rod, four screws; two near my knee, 2 near my hip, a bit of wire and some, well a lot of stitches later, my leg was back together...the Docs helped a bit to...and my left side looks a bit like Frankinstein.

It took about fourteen months for my bones to properly nit back together and another three months to rehab my hip/leg/knee...the first time trying to bend my knee was a bit scary. Given my long recovery, due to the complexity of the break, I did find that my tendons were very tight and what muscle I did have had atrophied some. The PT afterward was tough, sometimes painful, lots of daily slow steady stretching.

Over the years the only things I've noticed are, my left leg does seem to get a bit colder, there is some minor pain in my hip but nothing unmanageable and I do seem to get more swelling in the leg when I'm in my chair for extended periods of time...i.e. more than 12/16 hrs straight.

I imagine, given your dad's level of recovery, i.e. his ability to walk, that his mobility might me reduced a bit and he might experience more pain...over the years, but I'm probably not the best judge of that, given I've not regained the ability to walk.

BTW...I went back to work five weeks after my surgery and except for the awkwardness of the leg brace and a bit of early fatigue I was able to perform my design/programming duties quite well. And now, fourteen plus years later, I have not noticed any problems, it's never bothered me, never held me back.

Hope all works out, my best to your dad.

Jerry